Personal Projects – Critical Research Journal

Which professions have higher rates of death by suicide?

Here in the UK, suicide risk differs strongly by line of work. Reliable recent data from the Office for National Statistics and research reviews show that certain jobs have much higher suicide rates than others. (Office for National Statistics)

Workers in construction and manual trades stand out with some of the highest suicide rates in England and Wales. Men in low-skilled building roles often face a suicide risk up to about four times the national average, and skilled trades such as plasterers, roofers and decorators show elevated rates too. (Office for National Statistics)

People in culture, media and sport roles also show high suicide risk, especially among women. Within this group, musicians, actors and performers appear in the top five occupational categories for suicide risk in recent analyses. (Goldsmiths, University of London)

Healthcare professions also carry elevated suicide risk. Nurses and paramedics report high stress and burnout, and male paramedics show notably higher suicide risk than the national average. Doctors overall historically show elevated rates compared with the general population, though the exact comparison depends on the study and time period. (GOV.UK)

Historical research (not current UK data) has also shown elevated suicide rates in professions like veterinarians, dentists and certain manual occupations, though such findings span earlier decades and may not fully reflect the present UK context. (PubMed Central)

Overview of high-risk professional groups in the UK

Construction and building trades: Consistently among the highest suicide rates for men, especially in low-skill and finishing trades. (Office for National Statistics)
Culture, media and sport: Includes musicians, actors and sporting professionals with elevated risk relative to other fields. (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Healthcare workers: Nurses, paramedics and to a lesser degree doctors face above-average suicide rates linked to stress and burnout. (GOV.UK)
Agricultural workers: Agricultural and related roles show higher suicide risk than the national average in some analyses. (Office for National Statistics)

Data like these help target suicide prevention and workplace support. It is important to note that occupational suicide figures vary by age, sex and other social factors. For instance, suicide is much more common among men overall, particularly in middle age. (House of Commons Library)

References

Office for National Statistics. (2017). Suicide by occupation, England: 2011 to 2015. (Office for National Statistics)
UK Government. (2017). New data reveals suicide prevalence in England by occupation. (GOV.UK)
Goldsmiths, University of London. (2025). Music industry suicide risk data. (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Zero Suicide Alliance. (n.d.). Evidence review: suicide risk in healthcare workers. (Zero Suicide Alliance)
Doctors in Distress. (n.d.). Suicide among doctors. (Wikipedia)
Sky News. (2024). Construction workers suicide report. (Sky News)

I needed to clear the staircase, so I thought I’d see which photography books have settled there in the last couple of months.

James Redbanks (2016) The Shepherd’s View – Modern photographs from an ancient landscape.

As inspiration/research for a long-term project that I’m currently doing on a wool farmer and how work.

Janine Wiedel (2025) Life at the Fence – Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp 1983/84

As inspiration/research for another long-term project, recently started, on the current nuclear threat, impending 2nd cold war, and the ritual dance between peace camps and nuclear facilities.

Simon Martin & Marco Livingstone (2008) Colin Self – Art in the Nuclear Age

For the same reasons as above. I saw some of Self’s work at an exhibition in Bath earlier this year and I was curious about more artistic applications of photography to support my project.

Sarah Meister (2013) Bill Brandt – Shadow and Light

I took a course by Sarah a few years ago, and was inspired by the depth to which she considered individual bodies of work, and Bill Brandt has always fascinated me, so when I saw that she had curated an exhibition of his work at MoMA NY, I was keen to get the accompanying book. So glad that I did.

Colin Westerbeck & Joel Meyerowitz (2017) Bystander – A history of Street Photography

It is on my stairs because I was double checking something before responding to a comment on a forum.

Adam Broomberg (2021) Glitter in my wounds

I recently attended a lecture by Broomberg, who was professor of photography in Berlin and currently teaches an MA in the Hague. Currently, he has to be the most consistently daring, long-term project, activist photographer who literally puts his life on the line for the sake of his cause. This book is a relatively straightforward exploration of the experience of trans-people. It was the only one of his books that I could afford! His recent work (“Anchor in the Landscape”) on the Israeli settlers destruction of 1000+yr old olive trees in Palestine is awe inspiring.

George Steinmetz (2024) Feed the planet – a photographic journey to the world’s food.

I met Steinmetz at the Visa Pour l’Image-Perpignan this year. His exceptionally long-term project on the world’s agriculture, from an environmental perspective, is a perfect illustration of how a photographer these days has to truly understand their subject matter.

No idea whether this will interest anyone, but it was a useful exercise looking at them again, albeit briefly.