Workplace Suicide On the rise in the UK since 2007 Prof Craig Jackson Head of Psychology BCU.
Download
Report
Transcript Workplace Suicide On the rise in the UK since 2007 Prof Craig Jackson Head of Psychology BCU.
Workplace Suicide
On the rise in the UK since 2007
Prof Craig Jackson
Head of Psychology
BCU
Worldwide attitudes . . .
Suicidal death just another outcome
UK Suicide over time
Mostly a White Male Problem
France Telecom Case
Privatised in 1998
40,000 jobs lost since 1998
186,000 employees
45% of those outside France
4.3% fall in profits in 1Q of 2009
182 million customers in 5 continents
France Telecom Internationale'
45% of customers outside France
182 million customers in 5 continents
France Telecom Suicides
30 staff committed suicide 2008-2009
23 staff committed suicide 2010
French suicide rate:
26.4 per 100,000 male pop
9.2 per 100,000 female pop
17.8 per 100,000 all pop
France Telecom Staff Situation
Uncertainty
New working conditions
Modernisation
Internal job transfers - Japanese problem
Cultural & organisational changes needed
France Telecom Cases
9th Sept: 49 yr old male employee stabbed
himself in meeting – told he would be
undergoing internal job transfer
11th Sep: 32 yr old female employee leapt to
death from office window
14th Sep: 53 yr old senior manager overdosed
1st Oct: 51yr old male employee jumped from
road bridge – note blamed work “atmosphere”
France Telecom's 2 Point Defence
“There were 28 suicides in the company in 2000, so 23
suicides over 17 months is actually an improvement and
not evidence of an epidemic”
“Most suicides caused by personal problems not
professional ones”
France Telecom "Solution"
Oct 2009
Deputy CEO Louis-Pierre Wenes resigned
CEO Didier Lombard – vowed to end the “Spiral of death”
Phone helpline
Counselling
Suspending job transfers
French Labour Minister, Xavier Darcos wants:
2,500 biggest companies to plan “anti-stress” strategies
Planned with Unions
Govt has 27% stake in FT
Health & Happiness now on “National Agenda” in France
GGB Suicide Statistics
82% of male jumpers were White
11% Asian, 4% Black, 3% Latino
84% of female jumpers were White
4% Asian, 4% Black, 4% Latino
4% Mixed race
Foxconn and the iPad
Manufacturing giant in China
Renowned for efficiency
400,000 employees
Laptops, mobiles - Nokia, Apple, Dell HP
14 suicide deaths since Jan 2010
Foxconn and the iPad
Explosion Fri 20th May 2011
2 dead
16 injured
Multiple Approach Required
• Conditions: long shifts, rigid, oppressive, poor pay
• Company asked workers to sign a letter promising
not to kill themselves (now withdrawn)
• Legally immune agreement
• Intensity of labor - twelve hour shifts
• Compensation for families in poverty too tempting
• Building giant safety net to prevent jumping deaths
• Hiring counsellors and Buddhist monks
Our own attitudes . . .
Difficult to study. . .
•Suicide multi-causal
•End-stage of complex process
•Attracts emotive reporting in media
•Receives little / no academic attention
•Workplace attribution straightforward in many cases
Samaritans gets in the way on www
Worldwide epidemiology
1 million suicide
deaths / year
10-20 million
attempts / year
50% of first time
attempts fail
23X more likely
to die from suicide
if tried previously
Over-simplified theories
Following are all common to
suicide & attempts:
• current mood disorder
• previous suicide attempts
• prior outpatient psychiatric treatment*
• admission to psychiatric hospital within the previous year
• low income
• absence of educational qualifications
• recent stressful events (legal, work-related life events)
• never married*
Beautrais (2001)
GGB Suicide Statistics
55.4%
of jumpers were never married
39%
of jumpers were under psychiatric care
Suicide case: WPC Paula Tomlinson
Armed response officer, aged 37
One of first female snipers in UK
90-strong team (88 males)
Hanged at home 2004
2003 Dismissed from firearms duties
Complained:
•Colleagues viewing porn video on a residential course
•Felt victimised in macho culture of firearms unit
•Fell out with a number of influential male colleagues
Sefton Coroner Christopher Sumner: “Paula Tomlinson
killed herself at a time that she was suffering from stress,
a contributory factor of which was work related.”
Suicide locations . . . Impacts
Rail network
Underground
Car parks
Forests
Bridges
Homes / Gardens
Workplace
Male / Female differences
75% Suicidal deaths
are male
Sex-split same
since 1991
Females - suicide highest among 75 yrs plus
Males - suicide highest among 15-44 yrs
GGB Suicide Statistics
75% of jumpers were male
25% of jumpers were female
UK Suicides
Males
Females
30 suicides per
10 suicides per
100,000 in Scot
22 suicides per
6 suicides per
100,000 in Wales
18 suicides per
5.6 suicides per 100,000 in NI
17.5 suicides per
5.2 suicides per 100,000 in England
5,554 UK suicides 2006
5,377 UK suicides 2007
5,706 UK suicides 2008
5,675 UK suicides 2009
Suicide Space
•Access to lethal means
•Opportunity for solitude
•Only resort available (perceived)
•Lack of support (perceived)
•Location away from assistance
Methods differ by Sex
Males: violent, instant, impact, gunshot
Females: slower, non-visceral, pain-free
•
•
•
•
Hanging
Firearms
Co-proximal
Other poison
Car CO poisoning reduced by
catalytic converters
Paramedic attendance improved
Hanging
Most common method in UK
Majority in homes / gardens
Minority in prisons & psychiatric hospitals
Rope / cord most common ligature
47% did not achieve full suspension
Oxford study (2009)
Firearms
Shotguns used in 75% cases
Minority had contact with psychiatric
services
Small percentage had a history of
previous self harm
Sports & Work were main reasons for
gun ownership
Oxford study (2009)
Co-proxamol
More than 40% of individuals were aged
55+ years
Almost half had a history of self harm
Alcohol used in more than half the
overdoses: alcohol use = fewer tablets
needed
Co-proxamol was less often prescribed
for younger than older cases
Death occurred in most cases before the
Oxford study (2009)
individual could reach hospital.
Other poisonings
Pesticides, herbicides, drain
cleaners, other prescription
meds
25% who died from overdose
reached hospital alive
Paramedics assisted in
nearly 75% of cases
Half the cases had a history
of self harm
Oxford study (2009)
Suicide in the Midlands
City.
Rate.
Cases.
UK rank
Wolves
22.1 per 100,000
146 cases
#101
Birmingham
19.3 per 100,000
541 cases
#172
Dudley
18.0 per 100,000
147 cases
#215
Coventry
17.3 per 100,000
146 cases
#245
Sandwell
16.6 per 100,000
125 cases
#268
Walsall
15.9 per 100,000
105 cases
#294
Solihull
13.8 per 100,000
74 cases
#363
Cumulative Model
Emerging issues
Copycat Suicides
Norway press ban
Reduced copycat suicides
Over-reporting
Emotive, simplistic, gender-biased
Social Networking
Smaller world, greater individual influences
Emerging issues
Death of the Suicide Note
Once vital evidence in suicideology
Non-paper society replaced notes
Tweets
Facebook
Texts
Blogs
Video diaries
Emerging issues
Assisted Suicide
Suicide tourism
120 visitors to "Dignitas"
Failure to prosecute
Human rights
Law will change - Lord Carlisle & Baroness Finlay
Emerging issues
Internet Suicide Forums
William Melchert-Dinkel
Encouraging 2 suicides
Freedom of speech
Law not caught up with www
References
Etzersdorfer, E., L. Vijayakumar, W. Schöny, A. Grausgruber and G.
Sonneck (1998). Attitudes towards suicide among medical students:
comparison between Madras (India) and Vienna (Austria). Social Psychiatry
and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 33. 3. 104-110.
Gibb, B. E., M. S. Andover and S. R. Beach (2006). Suicidal ideation and
attitudes toward suicide. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior. 36. 1. 12-8.
Hawton, K and van Heeringen, K (eds). (2000). The International Handbook
of Suicide and Attempted Suicide.Chichester, Wiley.
Jackson CA. (2008) Work-Related Suicide. Management of Health Risks.
126: 2-8.
Karasek, R. and T. Theorell (1990). Healthy work: stress, productivity, and
the reconstruction of working life. New York, Basic Books.
References
Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude and mental strain:
implications for job design. Administrative Science Quarterley. 24. 285-308.
Mellanby, R. J. (2005). Incidence of suicide in the veterinary profession in
England and Wales. Veterinary Record. 157. 14. 415-7.
Sawyer, D. and J. Sobal (1987). Public Attitudes Toward Suicide
Demographic and Ideological Correlates. The Public Opinion Quarterly. 51.
1. 92-101.
Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward
conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 1. 27-41.
Stack, S. (2001). Occupation and Suicide. Social Science Quarterly
(Blackwell Publishing Limited) 82. 2. 384.
References
Stansfeld, S., R. Fuhrer, M. Shipley and M. Marmot (2002). Psychological
distress as a risk factor for coronary heart disease in the Whitehall II Study.
International Journal of Epidemiology 31. 248-255.
Stansfeld, S. A., R. Fuhrer, J. Head, J. Ferrie and M. Shipley (1997). Work
and psychiatric disorder in the Whitehall II Study. Journal of Psychosomatic
Research. 43. 1. 73-81.
Vilhjalmsson, R., E. Sveinbjarnardottir and G. Kristjansdottir (1998). Factors
associated with suicide ideation in adults. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric
Epidemiology. 33. 3. 97-103.