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Workplace Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Education Guide (2026 for HR & Managers)
2026.06.30 09:40
Practical Guide for HR, Managers, and Safety and Health Officers
Workplace suicide prevention and mental health education is
A system that detects danger signals and connects safely is important.
A system that detects danger signals and connects safely is important.
Workplace suicide prevention and mental health training is designed to prevent employees' difficulties from being viewed solely as personal problems, and to identify warning signs within the organization early and safely connect them to support.
This article summarizes the target audience, procedures, practical checklists, and crisis response standards for training required by HR personnel, safety and health managers, and administrators.
This article summarizes the target audience, procedures, practical checklists, and crisis response standards for training required by HR personnel, safety and health managers, and administrators.
The most important point in this article
Identify danger signals → Listen → Ensure safety → Share internally → Connect with specialized agencies
If you suspect imminent danger, do not make a decision on your own; you must immediately contact 109, 112, 119, etc.
📌 Key Summary
Suicide prevention education consists of awareness-raising education covering the importance of respecting life, self-understanding and care, and asking for help, and life-saving education covering suicide risk factors, warning signs, and suicide crisis response skills.
🔎 What is Workplace Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Education?
Workplace suicide prevention and mental health training is not intended to diagnose or counsel employees. The purpose of the training is to establish response standards within the organization so that verbal, behavioral, and situational signals from members are not missed, and so that managers do not attempt to resolve issues alone.
Korea Life Respect and Hope Foundation's Life Guardian Education See, Hear, and Speak It is structured around a flow that involves observing verbal, behavioral, and situational signals foreshadowing danger, checking for suicidal thoughts while listening to the story, confirming safety, and then connecting the individual to professional help.
In the workplace, one more thing is required: determining “who within the organization will intervene, when, and to what extent.” Since mental health issues are closely related to an individual's private life, procedures and principles of confidentiality must be provided to prevent excessive scrutiny, rumors, or negative evaluations.
👥 Who needs to check this?
Workplace suicide prevention and mental health training is necessary for all employees, but the following personnel in charge must prioritize understanding the training content.
| Target | Reasons why it is needed |
|---|---|
| HR Manager | Procedures for counseling, leave of absence, return to work, and referral to external agencies must be designed. |
| Safety and Health Officer | Risk factors such as job stress, long working hours, and shift work must be managed. |
| Manager/Team Leader | Employees are most likely to see changes and warning signs first. |
| Management Support Manager | Crisis response, personal information protection, and communication standards need to be established. |
| EAP Implementation Reviewer | There is a need to integrate the operation of counseling, training, organizational diagnosis, and crisis response. |
🏛 Mandatory and Effort Targets for Suicide Prevention Education
| division | Main targets | Operating standards |
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory subjects | State agencies, local governments, public institutions designated by presidential decree, elderly welfare facilities, social welfare facilities, elementary, middle, and high schools, and hospital-level medical institutions | Training must be conducted at least once a year and the results reported. |
| Effort target | Universities, workplaces with 30 or more regular employees, alternative education institutions | Although conducting training and reporting results is not mandatory, institutions and workplaces are making efforts to implement it. |
Therefore, it must not be announced as a statutory mandatory training that applies equally to all general companies. Workplaces with 30 or more regular employees are subject to the effort requirement, and the decision to conduct the training and the method of operation may be reviewed in consideration of the organization's job stress levels and the need for crisis response.
🧭 Procedures for the person in charge to check
When you discover warning signs of mental health risks in the workplace, you must follow procedures rather than approaching them with good intentions alone.
STEP 01
Record danger signals
Check for repeated instances of increased absenteeism, drastic changes in work attitude, extreme lethargy, severed relationships, and expressions such as “I want to disappear.” Record based on observed facts, such as “was absent three times in the last two weeks and said ‘I want to quit everything’ during the interview,” rather than “frequent recent absenteeism.”
STEP 02
We converse without judging or interrogating.
Rather than asking “What is wrong?”, it is better to ask about the current status, such as, “You seem to be having a hard time lately; I would like to check if you are safe.” Managers should focus on verifying current safety and connecting the individual to necessary support, rather than analyzing the cause of the problem or forcing solutions like a counselor. Instead of promising to keep everything confidential from the start, it is appropriate to explain that information can be shared with the necessary personnel if an immediate risk to life and safety is identified.
STEP 03
Check for imminent danger
If there is suspicion of an immediate risk of self-harm or suicide, managers should not assess the risk alone or attempt to persuade the individual for an extended period. Instead, safety must be prioritized in accordance with the organization's crisis response procedures, and immediate assistance should be requested via 109, 112, or 119. The Ministry of Health and Welfare advises that the suicide prevention hotline 109 performs suicide prevention functions, including counseling, emergency dispatch, and referral to mental health welfare centers.
STEP 04
Minimize the scope of internal sharing.
Employee mental health information is sensitive. It must be shared only with the necessary personnel and managed to prevent it from leading to performance reviews, rumors, or retaliation. When internal sharing is required, records must be kept detailing who shared the information, for what purpose, and to what extent.
STEP 05
Connects to professional support
Guide employees to support channels appropriate to their condition, such as in-house counseling, EAP, local mental health centers, medical institutions, and suicide prevention hotlines. Rather than forcing specific counseling or treatment, it is advisable to explain available support routes and how to use them, helping employees make their own choices. However, in situations where an immediate risk to life or safety is suspected, emergency response procedures take precedence over general counseling appointments or EAP guidance.
✅ Practical Checklist
Check if a training system for personnel, external agencies, information management, and managers is in place before a crisis occurs.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act stipulates that employers must maintain and promote the safety and health of workers by creating a work environment and improving working conditions that can reduce physical fatigue and mental stress. Furthermore, Article 669 of the Rules on Occupational Safety and Health Standards suggests measures such as evaluating job stress factors, improving working hours, referencing counseling materials, and implementing health promotion programs for high-stress work, including long working hours and shift work such as night work.
📊 Here's how to use the check results
7~9 pieces
A basic crisis response system has been established. We regularly check whether the actual communication networks and procedures function even after changes in personnel or organizational restructuring.
4~6 pieces
While some procedures are in place, there may be gaps in personnel, external collaboration, information management, or administrator training. We will determine the responsible parties and deadlines for supplementing the incomplete items.
0~3
Before a crisis occurs, it is necessary to prioritize establishing personnel, emergency contact systems, internal sharing standards, and manager response procedures.
The number of checks alone cannot determine a specific employee's suicide risk or whether the organization is complying with its legal obligations. This checklist is not intended to diagnose or screen individuals, but rather as a reference to review the organization's preventive training and crisis response systems.
RELATED RESOURCE
Things to check when detecting a danger signal and
If you want to see the linkage criteria in more detail
If you want to see the linkage criteria in more detail
The items to verify when a manager detects an employee's risk signal, as well as the criteria for internal reporting and coordination with specialized agencies, can be found in more detail in the practical checklist below.
⚠️ Commonly missed points
Please check to ensure that the following points are not omitted during the actual training and response process.
You must not stop at the level of saying, “If you are having a hard time, please seek counseling,” but provide specific information regarding confidentiality, usage methods, counseling fees, and availability during business hours.
Managers should focus on the role of a connector, not a counselor.
You must design the return procedures and measures to prevent recurrence together following the crisis response.
If difficulties are recurring in a specific department, you must also consider workload, leadership, organizational culture, and job stress factors along with individual support.
🍀 Situations where EAP is needed
EAP is not merely a system that provides individual employee counseling; it can be utilized as an organizational support framework that connects training, organizational assessment, manager coaching, crisis response, and return-to-work support.
| situation | Directions for EAP Utilization |
|---|---|
| Employees want counseling but find it difficult to speak up internally. | Providing external consultation channels |
| Managers have difficulty responding to employees in crisis | Providing manager training and coaching |
| Recurring burnout and conflict in a specific team | Organizational Diagnosis and Group Intervention |
| Shocking incidents such as accidents, deaths, verbal abuse, or assault occurred | Crisis Intervention and Psychological Emergency Support |
| Management of employees returning from leave is necessary. | Return interviews, job adjustments, and reintegration support |
guide · EAP is an organizational support system used for routine counseling, preventive education, managerial consultation, and return-to-work support; it does not replace emergency response for situations involving immediate life or safety risks. A separate communication system must be established to distinguish between emergency situations and general counseling situations.
Recommended articles to read together
Suicide Risk Signal HR Crisis Response Standards Checklist → What should I do if I hear remarks implying self-harm? → Information and Checklist to Prepare Before Inquiring about Crisis Counseling →💬 Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Is workplace suicide prevention and mental health training a legally mandatory training for all companies?
This is not a statutory mandatory training that applies equally to all general businesses. National agencies, local governments, public institutions, elderly welfare facilities, social welfare facilities, elementary, middle, and high schools, and hospital-level medical institutions are subject to the obligation to conduct training and report results once a year. Businesses with 30 or more regular employees are subject to the requirement of making an effort to provide training, but conducting the training and reporting the results are not mandatory.
Q2. Is it permissible for a manager to directly ask an employee if they have suicidal thoughts?
If danger signals are clear, it may be necessary to have a conversation confirming safety rather than beating around the bush. However, since managers are not counselors or therapists, they should not make judgments on their own. If a specific danger is suspected, you must contact 109, 112, or 119 in accordance with the organization's crisis response procedures.
Q3. What content should the educational materials include?
Basically, it is recommended to include awareness of respect for life, self-care, methods for seeking help, suicide risk factors and warning signs, crisis response skills, and procedures for connecting with professional agencies.
Q4. Can the company know the details of the consultation?
In principle, the specific content of EAP or external counseling and its usage status must be managed within the scope of confidentiality. It is appropriate to provide the Company only with aggregated usage data or organizational improvement information that makes it difficult to identify individuals. However, in cases where there is an immediate risk to the life and safety of the individual or others, information sharing and intervention may occur to the extent necessary.
Q5. It is an issue with just one employee, so is it really necessary to conduct organizational-level training?
Mental health crises can originate from individual difficulties, but they can also be linked to organizational factors such as long working hours, excessive workloads, organizational conflict, harassment, and isolation. Therefore, it is advisable to implement both individual support and organizational-level preventive education.
NEXT STEP
Organizational employee mental health and
If you would like to design a crisis response system together
If you would like to design a crisis response system together
Review the operational methods suitable for your organization through a Nudge EAP implementation consultation.
Go to Nudge EAP Implementation Consultation →📚 Source
· Korea Life Respect and Hope Foundation, Suicide Prevention Education Guide
· Korea Life Respect and Hope Foundation, Apply for Online Suicide Prevention Education
· Ministry of Health and Welfare Announces Integrated Operation of Suicide Prevention Hotline 109
· Information on the Health and Welfare Counseling Center and Suicide Prevention Hotline 109
· Republic of Korea Policy Briefing, Briefing on Mental Health Policy Innovation Measures
· National Assembly Library National Strategy Portal, Mental Health Policy Innovation Plan
· National Law Information Center, Article 5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
· National Law Information Center, Article 669 of the Rules on Industrial Safety and Health Standards
· Korea Life Respect and Hope Foundation, Apply for Online Suicide Prevention Education
· Ministry of Health and Welfare Announces Integrated Operation of Suicide Prevention Hotline 109
· Information on the Health and Welfare Counseling Center and Suicide Prevention Hotline 109
· Republic of Korea Policy Briefing, Briefing on Mental Health Policy Innovation Measures
· National Assembly Library National Strategy Portal, Mental Health Policy Innovation Plan
· National Law Information Center, Article 5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
· National Law Information Center, Article 669 of the Rules on Industrial Safety and Health Standards
This content is intended for general informational purposes. Specific legal, labor, medical, and psychological counseling matters may vary depending on the situation and may require review by a relevant expert.
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