MENTAL HEALTH & STRESS Julian Eyears, Medical Director of Occupational Health at travel
and medical security company, International SOS helps employers understand workplace stress and offers advice on how to ensure employees receive appropriate support in every situation.
As mental health in the workplace rises on the corporate agenda, it is increasingly important for organisations to consider the wellbeing of their mobile workforce. From short-term travel to longer term expatriate assignments, on shore or off shore, or even getting caught in a security incident, pressures can be particularly acute for this business critical workforce.
In the UK, an estimated 11.5million working days were lost due to work related stress, depression or anxiety in 2015/16 and accounted for 37% of all work related ill health cases as well as 45% of all working days lost. When you consider that the mobile workforce accounts for over 38% of the total global workforce, absenteeism and impact on productivity due to mental health issues is a potentially significant threat to UK business continuity and effectiveness.
BUSINESS TRAVEL
STRESS FACTORS The very nature of the working life of a business traveller or employee posted overseas, and their families, intrinsically incurs some of the most common and well documented work related stress factors. These include factors such as sudden and unexpected workload, fast changing events and blurred reporting lines and responsibilities. These are consolidated with a number of stress factors specific to the mobile workforce, including:
• Jet lag • Poor sleep and diet • Diminished peer support • Severance from home and family
Trepidation to speak about concerns or issues in case it negatively impacts the perception of their ability to carry out their job.
The list doesn’t stop there. In the current global environment, business travellers are also faced with a perception of heightened travel and security risk. While this is something that impacts everyone, the business traveller may be required to more often pass through territories that are uncommon to them or work in a higher risk environment as businesses increasingly look to expand global footprints and trading relationships.
Organisations sending employees on long or short term assignments should be mindful, and have in place, emotional and wellbeing support that is appropriate to the region. In order to identify the level of support that may be needed it is important to consider barriers such as distance and time difference, diminished family network support and in-country medical support. For instance, counselling is not readily available in some Asian and Middle East countries,
www.tomorrowshs.com
while mental illness is stigmatised in some countries and therefore there are little or no medical facilities in the mainstream medical system.
DUTY OF CARE Identifying stress factors and implementing strategies to manage potential mental health issues in a mobile workforce may be difficult, but employers have a duty of care to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees working and travelling abroad – this applies both to physical and emotional health problems.
It’s important not to underestimate the impact a mental health issue may have on an individual and could potentially have on an organisation from a legal, as well as business continuity, perspective. For example, some employees who struggle with depression may never return to full time work. If such an eventuality was foreseeable: for example, an employee or spouse being sent abroad with a pre-existing mental health condition, then potentially an employer could be held liable.
Medically and confidentially screening employees and their families prior to travel is highly advisable as well as having well communicated confidential support processes in place so that employees are able to easily seek help if they need it.
SUPPORTING A MOBILE WORKFORCE Organisations need to start putting stronger risk management procedures in place to help employees deal with workplace stress. This is particularly necessary for the business traveller and expatriate community, which is more vulnerable to stress-related health issues. If there is lingering doubt about the continuing fitness of an employee to travel, then an opinion can be sought from an occupational health physician who will be experienced in the field of mental health in the workplace.
HR departments should ensure all employees take a pre-placement medical assessment prior to travelling and working abroad to make sure they are not at risk of becoming depressed, developing a chronic anxiety state or another medical condition.
Work place stress is now a well understood science: organisations can implement inexpensive programs to assess and manage stress in the workplace and, indeed, demonstrate to regulators that they are doing so. Employee resilience training, employee assistance programs and regular employee surveys can be implemented to mitigate stress. Supporting workers abroad with regular ‘catchup’ calls with no specific agenda can be helpful as is allowing adequate rest between assignments.
www.internationalsos.com 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56