We Cannot Achieve One Without the Other

It’s Mental Health Week, so we want to discuss how important mental health is to workplace safety and vice versa.

There is no question – none of us can achieve an effective Safety Culture without considering the state of our workforce’s mental health. Moreover, your Safety Culture mustn’t be seen as something separate from workplace mental health – they must be integrated to achieve a high standard for both.

Any Safety Culture will be the sum of its parts. Organizations with a strong Safety Culture have unanimous buy-in, from the entire team, to the beliefs, attitudes and practices that make up their culture. Their dedication and observance of these standards is unfaltering – because any letdown can provide an opportunity for an incident to occur.

Those suffering in silence with mental illnesses cannot be expected to function the way they usually would. Their struggle can become a workplace hazard if we do not have a team that is capable of identifying signs and addressing them in a caring and conscious manner.

Many tasks require workers to have a serious presence of mind and attentiveness. Those suffering from mental health hazards may be so compromised that they are incapable of maintaining the level of attention and focus needed to protect themselves and others from the dangers posed by their work. Add to this that mental illness is not an uncommon occurrence. So many of us suffer or are impacted by mental illness that the quality of our workplace safety can certainly come into question if we aren’t minding this in our organization.

It’s encouraging to see that awareness is growing and we are no longer afraid, as a society, to discuss this topic openly. However, we must keep pushing the envelope so that individuals who are suffering can be as open about it as we are collectively. We need to normalize discussion around mental illness and mental health. There are so many physical ailments that we do not feel embarrassed or exposed to divulge – we must get to the same place with mental illnesses as well.

We have to build a culture of cohesiveness throughout our team if we hope to provide support to those managing the symptoms of their illness. Caring and supporting each other at work is built into the fabric of the statement – everyone wants to go to work, do their job well and get home safe. To accomplish this belief, we must integrate mental well-being into all facets of our workplace and beyond.

Clearly, mental illness can have a serious impact on workplace and personal safety. But, what about the other way around. We must also consider how workplace safety, or the lack thereof, can impact mental health and well-being.

After all, it’s not hard to understand how an unsafe work environment could cause stress, anxiety, low morale and many other difficulties among the workforce. If you are aware of an unsafe condition in the workplace but are being made to feel that you have no recourse and must continue with the work, this kind of environment can easily and quickly wear on you. Before you know it, you are burnt out and fatigued. You become extremely discontented with your work and you dread going every day. You begin experiencing body aches and you are unable to achieve restful sleep because you’re worried about the conditions you and your coworkers are being subjected to on a daily basis. But you feel that you can’t speak up because leadership hasn’t shown support for safety grievances. And, you feel trapped because you can’t lose or leave your job – there are bills to pay. So, you keep your head down and hope that no one gets hurt. All the while, your quality of life continues to dwindle because you are continuously anxious.

Unfortunately, this situation is far too common. Workplace safety and the culture that supports it are invaluable in upholding a high standard for mental health and well-being. Our people must be encouraged and endorsed to speak up when they identify an unsafe condition or act. By creating an open-door culture, you are stimulating an environment where the team can work as one to make the workplace safer for everyone. Furthermore, this open-door approach to safety also translates into a safer environment for people who are suffering with mental illness to come forward and ask for help. Strong Safety Cultures cultivate trusting and respectful relationships – the very thing we need to convince people that it’s okay to seek help.

During this year’s Mental Health Week and going forward, let’s continually innovate to prevent physical and mental health hazards from impacting our lives, and the lives of others, and let’s listen to and support those who are suffering. We are all in this together.