Mental health in the workplace

Mental health issues are reported to affect 20% of the population, with depression and anxiety among the highest in prevalence and incident rates on the rise. The direct effects of emotional and behavioural disorders are clearly significant and distressing for the person, family and community.  However, the impact of mental health issues to workplaces and employers has been less clear and received less attention to date. The magnitude of the issue both in terms of costs and the dangers of mental health problems to organisations should not be underestimated: there is a greater need now more than ever for business and employers to consider how to make work a safer place to be.

Unlike physical illness and disease, mental health disorders as well as mental health prevention and treatment programs receive less attention and resources than other health conditions, largely due to a lack of understanding and the stigma surrounding mental health. Yet the results from the US National Comorbidity Survey reported that 18% of working adults said they had experienced symptoms of a mental health disorder in the previous month. Similarly, in a study examining the amount of money companies spent on medical cost for employees and the cost of lost productivity and absenteeism, depression ranked the first most costly health condition for employers, and anxiety ranked fifth - with obesity, arthritis and back and neck pain in between (World Health Organization-WHO).

In Australia, the cost of workers compensation claims for stress-related mental disorders alone is estimated at a staggering $200 million every year (Australian Safety and Compensation Council), but the burden to businesses is far greater than just outgoing costs in insurance and compensation. The symptoms and behaviours associated with the more common mental health issues of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, mental stress, bipolar disorder and ADHD can include:

• Low mood,
• Excessive worry,
• Irritability, aggressive or unpredictable mood swings,
• Sleep disturbance and fatigue,
• Inattention and difficulty concentrating,
• Clouded judgement,
• Risky decision-making,
• Disorganised approach to tasks, and
• Social withdrawal.

When these symptoms appear in the workplace, companies feel the repercussions through costly increases in:

• Absenteeism,
• Presenteeism (that is, being physically present at work but under functioning due to illness or injury),
• Staff turnover,
• Lack of engagement or negative commitment to work,
• Lack of productivity,
• Poor morale in work groups, and, critically,
• Higher rates of workplace injury, accidents and unsafe work practices.

The Australian Workplace Barometer (AWB) published in 2012 estimated that the psychologically unhealthy Australian workforce cost companies nearly $18 billion annually in lost productivity alone.

Put simply by Professor Phyllis Gabriel of Cornell University: “The burden of mental disorders on health and productivity throughout the world has long been profoundly underestimated … mental health problems strongly influence employee performance, rates of illness, absenteeism, accidents and staff turnover.”

When it comes to protecting the health and safety of its workers, most companies’ primary investments have been in engineering, PPE and policies. However, injury and incident data reveals that up to 95% of workplace incidents directly or indirectly stem from personal choices and person-based errors - two causes plainly affected by mental health disorders and mental stress. When 44% of Canadians reported in the Conference Board of Canada’s study ‘Building Healthy Workplaces’ that they’ve coped with a mental health problem such as extreme stress, substance abuse, schizophrenia, depression, burnout and addictions - but almost 50% of managers had no training in managing workers with mental health issues - it becomes clear that mental health awareness, prevention and treatment are a business priority.

What can employees do?

It is not uncommon for workplace factors, such as bullying, burnout or harassment, to contribute to the onset of mental health problems, but organisations can still do much more than just implementing equal employment opportunity policies or diversity training as their sole safeguard against mental health issues affecting their frontline. Within the spectrum of worker health and safety, a concept usually considered solely in terms of avoiding physical illness and injury, sits a new idea in occupational health: psychological health and safety.

Psychological health and safety refers to protecting the mental health of employees; similarly, psychologically healthy and safe workplaces are those that actively take steps in policy, leadership, work environments, HR practices and work management to promote worker psychological wellbeing and prevent psychological harm due to negligent, intentional or reckless acts. Psychologically healthy workplaces reduce risk factors for developing or exacerbating mental illness.

In a new set of standards released by the Canadian Center of Occupational Health and Safety, 13 organisational factors that impact psychological health and safety (termed psychosocial risk factors) are outlined in an effort to educate and promote psychologically safer workplaces among companies. The psychosocial risk factors include the way actual work is carried out, and the context in which work takes place (source: www.guardingmindsatwork.ca):

1. Psychological support  - When employees perceive organisational support, it means they believe their organisation values their contributions, is committed to ensuring their psychological wellbeing and provides meaningful supports if this wellbeing is compromised.
2. Organisational culture  - The degree to which a work environment is characterised by trust, honesty and fairness.
3. Clear leadership and expectations - Effective leadership and support that helps employees know what they need to do, how their work contributes to the organisation and whether there are impending changes.
4. Civilly and respect - Work environments where employees are respectful and considerate in their interactions with one another, as well as with customers, clients and the public. Civility and respect are based on showing esteem, care and consideration for others and acknowledging their dignity.
5. Psychological job fit - A good fit between employees’ interpersonal and emotional competencies and the requirements of the position they hold. This means that employees not only possess the technical skills and knowledge for a particular position, but they also have the psychological skills and emotional intelligence to do the job.
6. Growth and development - Employees receive encouragement and support in the development of their interpersonal, emotional and job skills.
7. Recognition and reward - Appropriate acknowledgement and appreciation of employees’ efforts in a fair and timely manner.
8. Involvement and influence - Employees are included in discussions about how their work is done and how important decisions are made.
9. Workload management - Tasks and responsibilities can be accomplished successfully within the time available; not limited to just the amount of work, but also the extent to which employees have the resources (time, equipment, support) to do the work well.
10. Engagement - Employees feel connected to their work and are motivated to do their job well.
11. Balance - Recognition of the need for balance between the demands of work, family and personal life.
12. Psychological protection - Workers feel able to put themselves on the line, ask questions, seek feedback, report mistakes and problems, or propose a new idea without fearing negative consequences to themselves, their job or their career.
13.  Protection of physical safety - Management takes appropriate action to protect the physical safety of employees.

When companies address the health and safety of the ‘whole’ worker, that is, the physical and psychological health of employees, the returns on investment are immense. By improving worker psychological health levels, the AWB estimated that between $18-32 billion would be saved in lost productivity alone. Add to this the saving in compensation claims, turnover and insurance premiums, and the performance benefits of driving a creative, engaged, cooperative workplace, and the benefit of psychologically healthy workers becomes evident.

The future of healthier, safer and more profitable workplaces lies in investing in appropriate training of managers to become better leaders, access to mental health prevention and treatment services, and building a fair and just organisational culture that cares as much for its profits as it does its people.