Recognizing Mental Health As A Core Workplace Safety Pillar

Recognize mental health as a fundamental pillar of workplace safety

Mental health in the workplace remains a neglected and stigmatized topic, and this neglect puts the well-being of employees and businesses at risk.

• Written by Andrea Foster Mack
• November 1, 2023

Prioritizing mental health in the workplace is essential to safety and overall well-being. It includes the emotional, psychological and social aspects of health, which affect the individual's thoughts, emotions, actions, stress management, relationships and decision making, all essential elements of the work environment. Currently, 1 in 5 adults suffer from a mental health problem, meaning most businesses have felt the impact to some degree. Despite this impact, mental health is often a neglected and stigmatized topic in the workplace. This oversight not only endangers the well-being of employees, but also poses risks to the company.

Mental health may seem like a more personal issue for employees, but its many variables can impact the workplace and vice versa. For example, remote work has been shown to improve workers' well-being by reducing travel time and allowing them to spend more time with their families at home. However, this has created a greater sense of burnout and isolation, blurring the lines between people's work and personal lives. In fact, 23% of employees today feel lonely due to remote work and 77% of them experience symptoms of professional burnout.

Managing mental health in the workplace does not follow a one-size-fits-all formula. However, there are still common mistakes in many businesses today. These include perpetuating social stigma around mental health, treating mental health as an environmental health and safety (EHS) or human resources (HR) responsibility, and, most notably, deprioritizing "mental health" over physical health and safety. . . . Addressing these challenges is essential to creating safe workplaces, which requires a collaborative effort between EHS and HR professionals and allows for a deeper understanding of the importance of mental health and safety.

Let's see how it feels.

Dr. Paul Conti: How to Create and Maintain Healthy Relationships Huberman Lab Guest Series