A new report from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has called on employers to treat mental ill-health in the same way as physical health issues.
Published earlier this week, Guidance for workplaces on how to support individuals experiencing mental health problems, outlines practical advice to help employers better support individuals experiencing a mental health issue so they can stay in work or successfully return to work following sickness absence.
EU-OSHA’s report also calls on employers to prevent work-related risks that could negatively affect workers’ mental health and wellbeing.
As the report notes, good-quality work has a positive impact on people’s health and most individuals that experience mental ill-health want to work.
‘While a lot of stigma surrounds mental health problems at work, many individuals with mental health problems can continue to work or successfully return to work if they are provided with the right support and work accommodations,’ says the report.
‘Adopting supportive policies and practices will help to reduce sick leave, retain valued workers and meet legal obligations. And work accommodations can be simple and low-cost.’
The guidance reminds employers that they have a legal duty to prevent and manage work-related risks and that exposure to psychosocial risks such as high work demands, lack of support and poor change management can contribute to an individual’s anxiety, depression and stress.
The guidance starts by exploring how employers can create a supportive work environment for mental health, including details on workplace mental health policies; strategies to support these policies; and interventions to support workers struggling with mental ill-health.
It then moves on to look at what employers can do to support employees return to work, outlining the different steps in the process. This section also includes advice on implementing work accommodations and how to support an employee with a serious mental health condition.
The EU-OSHA report contains a list of appendices that provide targeted advice for specific groups such as micro and small enterprises (MSEs) as well as links to a detailed set of resources. This section also covers a wide range of specific issues that employers should find useful, notably suicide prevention, trauma and PTSD and severe mental health conditions.
Concluding, the report notes: ‘The more a workplace is inclusive and takes account of diversity, the less need there will be for individual accommodations and the stigma involved in asking for them.
‘Focusing on preventing risks at source, incorporating adaptability and promoting wellbeing is also part of making a workplace inclusive. Having specific policies for all workers and flexible working arrangements, such as adaptable working hours and teleworking, can support continued working while experiencing a mental health problem or other health conditions.’
Source – Ioshmagazine.com
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