MENTAL HEALTH & STRESS
The mental health of workers is an issue capable of making many managers squirm with discomfort - but if the people running businesses and organisations choose to ignore the fact that employees really do suffer from depression, anxiety, and stress- related illnesses, the economic and human costs will only get worse.
This is why the Building and Engineering Services Association (BESA) have embarked upon a campaign to raise awareness of mental health at work, leading discussions and organising a seminar in partnership with the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), and mental health charity Samaritans.
Across all industry sectors, mental health problems are costing UK businesses £30billion every year, according to public body Acas, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. This figure reveals the magnitude of productivity lost and expenses incurred as a consequence of employees’ diminished performance levels, increased rates of absenteeism, and staff turnover. In addition, the Centre for Mental Health estimates that presenteeism - turning up for work when not well enough - costs the UK economy £15billion per year.
The other cost is human. Nowhere is this more shockingly evident than the statistic that suicide kills six times as many construction workers as falling from heights, according to mental health volunteers. This serves as an uncomfortable reminder that whilst positive action has been taken to safeguard people from physical dangers at work, far less is being done to safeguard their health, least of all their mental health, which can be so difficult to monitor, assess, or even talk about.
Paul Reeve, Director of Business Policy at the ECA, expressed that current industry culture too often ‘simply labels anyone with a mental health issue as weak. It won’t be easy, but we must challenge this sort of prejudice.’
Acknowledging this, BESA’s new initiative seeks to raise awareness of mental health and break down the taboo by getting people to talk
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about it. Having conducted a range of seminars on the subject, the group are encouraging the provision of specialist training as part of health and safety programmes.
“ACROSS ALL INDUSTRY SECTORS, MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS ARE COSTING UK BUSINESSES
£30BILLION EVERY
YEAR, ACCORDING TO PUBLIC BODY ACAS.”
BESA Chief Executive Paul McLaughlin commented: “There are thousands of risk assessments being carried out across the industry and very few even mention mental health. If something is important, you need to start measuring it, which is what the industry does with physical injuries and accidents. We need to introduce something similar for mental health.”
Latest HSE statistics show that 1.8million new work-related illnesses are reported in the UK each year, and no fewer than 428,000 of these are due to stress, anxiety or depression. In fact, mental health problems are overtaking musculoskeletal problems as the leading cause of sickness in a number of European countries. The World Health Organisation forecasts that by 2020 depression will be the second most common cause of disability globally.
It is worth remembering that some forms of mental illness, including depression, are classed by law as a disability, and the Equality Act of 2010 make it unlawful for an employer to treat a disabled person less favourably for a reason related to their disability. Employers are obliged by law to manage all types of risk to workers’ health and safety which includes identifying, preventing and managing all risks that are associated with mental health and work-related stress.
The HSE identifies six key management standards for the effective control of work-related stress, whose symptoms can include an increase in unexplained absences or sick leave, poor performance, poor timekeeping, poor decision-making, lack of energy, and uncommunicative or moody behaviour. These standards are:
1. Demands - this includes issues such as workload, work patterns and the work environment.
2. Control - how much say the person has in the way they do their work.
3. Support - the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues.
4. Relationships - this includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
5. Role - whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles.
6. Change - how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.
BESA’s Paul McLaughlin adds: “Unfortunately many British workplaces are still a long way from regarding mental ill health as a disability in the same way that they see physical disability. BESA’s new initiatives, allied to the similarly bold measures being taken in the construction industry, are designed to kick-start the crucial process of changing that.”
Over the coming months, BESA and the ECA will be seeking to continue the conversation on mental health – reminding companies that it is ok to talk about mental health with their employees (in fact it should be encouraged), highlighting success stories from companies in the sector about the initiatives they are trialling, and providing resources to help employers really start addressing this issue.
www.thebesa.com
www.eca.co.uk
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