Construction workers say a programme encouraging them to be aware of suicide risks has already saved lives.
Mates in Construction received government backing last year, but it says more funding is needed to ensure the mental health of tradies is prioritised, in years to come.
It's hard to speak over the noise on a busy construction site, but that's exactly what Ramen Lee is encouraging tradies to do and here's why.
Lee says suicide is an issue in the industry, "where we are six times more likely to lose someone to suicide from our site than we are to a workplace accident."
The construction industry has the highest suicide numbers for any single sector in New Zealand.
And Mates in Construction is building awareness and teaching preventative measures on work sites.
The group's research shows workers under the age of 24 and between the ages of 45-49 are particularly at risk.
"We're losing about a builder a week," says Lee.
It's a statistic the government is trying to fix.
"It's nothing that we should be anything other than deeply concerned about," says Health Minister Andrew Little. .
Workers who go through the Mates in Construction programme earn stickers for their helmet.
There's a sticker for induction to spread awareness
Green's for a connector they're tasked with linking workers to helpful resources.
And blue means they're ready to assist in the event someone is considering committing suicide.
"Sort of a paramedics course for suicide intervention," says Lee.
Health and Safety coordinator Andy Colclough has earned his blue sticker and has already put the teaching to good use.
"It worked perfectly, that person came down off the building and on that day he was saved, Colclough told Newshub.
An invaluable service that Colclough now sees more people accessing.
"A lot of the guys on site here do also work on smaller sites so if you hit a big site with big numbers that can filter down through the community," he said.
The government invested $600,000 into the Mates in Construction pilot programme for a year allowing the teams to fly in to sites in all regions.
"Anything we could do to provide support to our construction workforce which is growing by the day, is going to help," says Little.
CEO Victoria McArthur says that access to the regions needs to continue being funded.
"They've been waiting for us for the last two years, we're now there so we need to stay there," she says.
Because for many on site feeling alone in their problems...it's not just a workmate they need... but a mate at work.
