FEATURE


employees to feel more comfortable about opening up about any issues they may have.


ERGONOMICS AND HUMAN FACTORS Where we work also has a link with mental health.


Ergonomics is known for solving physical problems, whether it’s fitting workstations at the correct height or buttons that can be easily reached. However, it also addresses the psychological and social aspects of the person and their work too, including managing heavy and stressful workloads.


According to the Health & Safety Executive, taking account of ergonomics and human factors can help to reduce the potential for accidents, reduce the potential for injury and ill health, and improve performance and productivity. For example, giving people too much information can make them become confused or panicked, so it’s particularly important (especially in an industrial environment, where safety is paramount) – to provide easy to understand, clear and concise instructions.


“MORE THAN A FIFTH OF ENGINEERS IN THE UK HAVE HAD TIME OFF DUE TO THEIR MENTAL HEALTH.”


Similarly, badly organised shift scheduling, increased excessive overtime or juggling work with a busy homelife can lead to tiredness or exhaustion – therefore, increasing the likelihood of accidents and ill health.


Poor workstation design can also take its toll, especially if people are sat uninterrupted for long periods of time. For example, using sub-optimal equipment fixed at the wrong height (such as a chair, desk and computer screen) or poor lighting can lead to a number of complaints, such as poor posture, repetitive strain injury, eye strain and headaches.


If someone has persistent physical problems like these, it can have a knock-on effect to their mental health too and needs to be addressed. Whether it’s at home or in the workplace, ensuring employees have the correct set up is incredibly important, as is making them aware of its impact.


NUTRITION Our diets can affect our brains, with some foods


making us feel better and other foods, such as caffeine, processed foods and saturated fats (including butter and palm oil) having a negative effect. A healthy balanced diet packed full of fruit, vegetables and nutrients is one way to improve mental health, wellbeing and mood.


Promoting healthier choices in the workplace is a good starting point, whether it’s serving less


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processed foods on the menu, providing employees with free fruit or simply making them aware of the link between mental health and their diets.


SLEEP The impact of a mental health problem can affect


our sleep and in turn, poor sleep can affect mental health – with tiredness and low self-esteem continuing the negative cycle in the day. For those working in industrial sectors, operating heavy or complex machinery and equipment, a lack of sleep can have safety and productivity implications.


Therefore, it’s vital to build awareness about the link between sleep and mental health, and ensure that employees are accessing flexible work schedules and adjustable shift rotations to help them get the rest they need.


There are some really simple things that we can all start doing now to help our colleagues (and ourselves) to stay mentally healthy at work, and with it achieve a significant improvement in happiness, productivity and safety. These are just a few tips on how to begin:


Go home on time. It’s so easy to leave later than planned if a colleague asks you to ‘read something quickly’, with five minutes soon turning into an hour – while also setting a precedent that you’ll stay later than you need to. In industries such as engineering, where it is not always as simple as ‘just popping back to the control room’, this takes preparation and thought. Unless the matter is related to safety, it’s ok to tell your colleague that you need to go home.


Take a lunch break. Lunch breaks are there for one important reason, to give you time to switch off; literally. Step away from your computer, control panel or workspace if you can and take your lunch elsewhere.


Set realistic deadlines. Being honest with your workload will help you to manage your time, as well as reduce any anxiety or pressure about getting everything done.


Take your holiday leave. Full-time workers in the UK spend more time at work than our European counterparts – according to the European statistics agency, Eurostat, we work an average of 42.5 hours a week, compared to the European average of 41.2 – so we need to have time to stop, in order to prevent us becoming unproductive, un-engaged and burnt out.


Allocate time to do the things you enjoy. We all need something to look forward to, so it’s just as important to build time into our personal diaries as well. Whether it’s a way of keeping active or socialising with friends and family, don’t miss out on the things you love doing outside of work.


Prioritising mental health in the workplace can help to reduce stigma, improve the health of our colleagues, and also create happier, safer and more productive working environments. It’s up to all of us to support each other and talk more openly about mental health.


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