Mental health considers the overall well-being of individuals, i.e. positive health, including coping well with life stressors, being able to work productively and engaging with their community.
At work, protecting staff’s mental health is not just morally justified, but is also required legally as part of occupational safety and health legislation.
Protecting staff’s mental health will minimise the likelihood of them experiencing work-related stress which places staff at risk of suffering mental health conditions such as depression, substance misuse or a number of anxiety disorders. Work-related stress can also be associated with job-related syndromes, such as burnout or compassion fatigue. In some trauma-exposed professions, staff will also be at increased risk of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD).
Assess the support that is available for workers.
Support within organisations is one of the factors that boost workers’ mental health.
Introduce a buddy-buddy approach to encourage team members to pair up in order to check on each other’s welfare.
Line managers should ensure that staff are buddied up and buddies will be asked to make active efforts to keep an eye on each other for potential indicators of distress. Where possible, buddies should take their breaks together (whether they work online or face to face).
Workers should be encouraged to take an active, but not intrusive, interest in each other’s mental health.
All workers should be provided with a brief outline of ‘what to look out for’ indicators which show when someone may be having trouble coping and instructed to not be reticent in either speaking to the potentially distressed colleague, or raising their concerns to a supervisor.
A keen awareness is needed of the barriers to seeking support, including stigma, for mental health difficulties (particularly if jobs are insecure), so staff may need to be encouraged to do so.
Explore if anyone on the team has caring responsibilities, inclusive of those who are required to home school their children, and how best they can adjust their work patterns.
If your would like a detailed PDF copy of the Mental Health Post COVID-19 Toolkit contact us info.dbdsolutions@gmail.com
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