Every Year the Health and Safety executive publishes work-related ill-health and injury statistics. In the year 2020/21 the results showed that in the UK the estimated number of workers suffering from a work related illness or injury was 1.7 million. The number of cases with stress, depression and anxiety is recorded at 800,000.
The latest publication for 2021/2, published in November 2022 has shown that in the UK the estimated number of workers suffering from a work related illness or injury is 1.8 million. The number of cases with stress, depression and anxiety is recorded at 914,000, accounting for half of the cases. This is clear evidence that mental health is a serious issue for businesses and it is on the rise.
Of course there are various health and safety legislation that that ties in to Mental health e.g. : Health and Safety at work act 1974, Mental Health act 2007 and the Equalities Act 2010 to name just a few, but for a workforce you can’t beat actual Mental Health training.
Mental health can be defined as:
“A person’s condition with regard to the psychological and emotional well-being”
It’s fair to say that everyone has mental health, as it is a state of well-being that covers how we approach our day to day lives and cope with problems like stress and anxiety.
To see that a friend, work colleague or even a family member is struggling with a mental health issue can be scary, so it is vital that everyone has an understanding of what they could do in this situation.
Here are some common conditions associated with mental health and what to look out for.
- Anxiety – A feeling of uneasiness e.g. meeting a deadline, starting new job or having a family reunion – wedding / funeral etc.
- Things to look out for may include:
- Nervousness
- Feeling restless
- Shortness of breath / feeling panicky
- Depression – A feeling of low esteem that interferes with your daily life.
- Things to look out for may include:
- Sadness
- Lack of enthusiasm
- Sudden weight loss or gain
- Things to look out for may include:
- Things to look out for may include:
- Stress – finding it hard to leave work related worries behind when you leave work at the end of the day.
- Things to look out for may include:
- Restlessness
- Difficult in concentrating
- Increased smoking or drinking
- Things to look out for may include:
In essence, the symptoms of Mental Health are numerous, but if you have an awareness of the common conditions, then you may just be able to see that someone is struggling with a potential Mental Health issue and point them in the right direction for the help they need and deserve.
At Sampling International we take the well-being of our workforce extremely seriously, and in 2022 we introduced a program of mental health awareness training sessions, provided by our Human Resources experts Lamont Jones Ltd.
This consisted of group training sessions for every member of staff at all levels of the business with videos, and training documentation given to all attendees.
We have also three designated members take the FutureQuals Level 3 award in Mental Health: Workplace First Aider qualification. This qualification is aimed at individuals who intend to work as mental health workplace first aiders with responsibility for responding to workplace mental health episodes, intervening and escalating, as appropriate.
By Nick Brooke Health & Safety Officer