Item - 2018.EX34.16

The Executive Committee:

1.  Received the report (April 30, 2018) from the Medical Officer of Health for information.

As a leading cause of premature death, suicide is an important public health issue. Suicide accounted for an average of 252 deaths per year in Toronto from 2004-2015. Suicide deaths have lasting health and other effects on family and friends of the deceased, as well as first responders. When these deaths occur as a result of a jump or fall from a bridge, they also pose a risk of injury to motorists, and pedestrians and cyclists using roadways and trails beneath the bridge.

Municipal authorities can play a key role in suicide prevention in public places. From 2004-2015, there were a total of 125 suicide deaths from bridges in Toronto, an average of 10 suicide deaths per year. Many jurisdictions have erected barriers at bridge locations and found them to be effective in preventing or reducing suicide deaths with little displacement of suicide deaths to other bridges or substitution to other methods of suicide. Other options to prevent suicide on bridges include crisis phones, signage and monitoring and surveillance of the bridge. However, there is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of these interventions. This report provides an overview of the burden of suicide deaths from bridges in Toronto, the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions to prevent suicide from bridges, as well as information on interventions used by other jurisdictions.

As a next step, Transportation Services is planning to review the feasibility of implementing barriers and/or other interventions on priority bridge locations. This is a complex process that will involve engineering design and, in some cases, environmental assessments. These studies will be undertaken in conjunction with the Transportation Services state-of-good repair capital bridge program.