Murphy Cares: Connecting the Dots of Holistic Employee Well-Being

Murphy Company is a nationally recognized leader in workplace mental health. Employee well-being is a core value of the company. Ricky Reams, vice president of safety and quality, said: “Support for our workers’ overall well-being, both physical and mental, is shared across every level of the company, from ownership to the field.”

Human Resources Director Barry Engelhardt added: “Our culture is built on trust grounded in employee well-being, enduring relationships, integrity and professionalism. Employees experience that trust through consistent transparency from leadership, and this openness creates an environment where people feel comfortable speaking up and asking for help when they need it.”

These values and beliefs are at the foundation of Murphy Cares.

The Birth of Murphy Cares

Reams reminisced how the Murphy Cares initiative was born: “Like many construction companies, Murphy had experienced the loss of employees to suicide over the years but did not fully understand the depth of the connection between the construction industry and employee mental health.” As data began to emerge showing alarmingly high rates of suicide and addiction within the industry, it became clear that action was necessary.

The realization became deeply personal once conversations about mental health and suicide prevention began in the field. The response was overwhelming: Nearly every craft professional shared they had been affected in some way by suicide or substance use, either personally or through someone close to them. “The stories we heard of individuals struggling silently and of lives lost were devastating,” said Reams.

Engelhardt also recounted his personal connection to these challenges, as well as the impact a program like Murphy Cares can have. “Suicide prevention is deeply personal to me,” he said. “As a veteran, I’ve lost more friends to mental health struggles than to combat, but I’ve also seen the difference support can make when someone feels safe asking for help. I firmly believe that creating environments where people feel comfortable admitting they need help can save lives.”

From those conversations, Murphy Cares was born. Murphy Company leadership committed to educate, train and equip employees with the resources they need to confront these challenges and support one another.

Weaving Mental Health & Substance Use Education Into Safety Practices

Murphy maintains a “Lifesaving Commitment” calendar focused on the 12 potential serious injury and fatality (SIF) hazards common in the industry. The company decided to address SIF hazards every month by focusing on one physical safety lifesaving topic through targeted training and toolbox talks. Recognizing the critical importance of mental well-being, mental health was added as a 13th commitment. This means that every month, a specific mental health, addiction or suicide prevention topic is also addressed. This helps to normalize these conversations and embed these lessons within workplace and worksite culture.

The mental health and addiction-related topics in the Lifesaving Commitments Calendar include:

• Reducing stigma
• How to get help
• Alcohol and substance use
• Opioid risks versus safety practices

Strategies to Promote Workplace Supported Recovery

Murphy Company is increasingly emphasizing best practices for promoting recovery in the workplaces as endorsed by SAFE Project. Murphy focused on removing barriers to care and building bridges to help employees and families seek care for substance use and mental health challenges. Representative actions Engelhardt and Reams highlighted include:

• Promoting awareness, understanding and utilization of employee and member assistance programs (EAPs/MAPs) for employees and their family members
• Partnering with multiple union halls to ensure their MAPs are effective and that members are educated on the benefits and resources available to them
• Implementing support for employees navigating mental health or substance use challenges while maintaining dignity, respect and accountability
• Maintaining flexible policies that support treatment and recovery
• Providing opioid safety education and promote evidence-based alternatives to opioids for pain management
• Establishing partnerships with community recovery organizations to connect employees with peer support specialists and treatment resources

Murphy Company is partnering with SAFE Project to continue addressing the intersection between substance use prevention, mental health, suicide awareness, overdose prevention and recovery.

Helping Address Challenges Industrywide

According to Reams, the company recognized early on that this was not a Murphy-specific challenge but an industrywide issue. In the early days, there were very few mental health resources tailored specifically to the construction industry. To address that gap, Murphy partnered closely with the Associated General Contractors of Missouri and several other metro St. Louis contractors to develop a program that was both practical and effective for the field.

This collaboration resulted in a set of best-practice tools, including a guidance framework, dozens of toolbox talks, videos, posters, stickers and the widely adopted “HOPE 988” chips.

“These resources helped educate our workforce and gradually break down the stigma surrounding mental health,” said Reams.

“The company then focused on moving beyond supporting the mental health of our own employees and to help drive meaningful, lasting changes across the construction industry,” Reams explained. Through various industry groups, including the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP), the Associated General Contractors (AGC) Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Task Force, and the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) mental health committee, Reams met SAFE Project and had the opportunity to highlight this integrated approach combining substance use, mental health and suicide prevention. This also led to dozens of presentations at industry events nationwide, raising awareness and helping contractors build practical, effective mental health programs.

“Today, employees are comfortable engaging in these discussions and are well-informed about the resources available to support them,” Reams said. “Ultimately, mental well-being, addiction treatment and recovery, as well as suicide and overdose prevention, are no longer viewed as programs at Murphy; they are simply part of who we are. Employees at Murphy are introduced to these conversations and the accompanying resources on day one, often before anything else, because the company cares as deeply about them as people as we do about them as workers.”

“This commitment is woven into our safety culture and ingrained in our DNA.”