Mental health risks at the occupational environment
Positive mental health tends to manage the daily life changes, workloads, and bereavement (grief) by bouncing back from the strivings. However, the problems with people’s mental health can generate characteristic negative impacts on people’s behaviour, thinking abilities, and performance, leading to expanding anxiety and depression. One of the relevant examples can be seen in Northern Ireland, where one in every 5 people is recognised with poor mental health. (Leavey, 2020). Various factors can be considered to affect people’s mental health, either making people depressed or encouraged. For example, the situations of long-term unemployment make people addicted to wrong habits. On the contrary, an employed person can face various issues in his/her workplace. Hence, due to excessive workload, people can further undergo depression. The further discussion will include several topics related to workplace safety and health, which are
Mental health risks at the occupational environment
Employment tends to improve the mental health of the people as it provides the opportunities to humans to being self-worth, make new friends, and get different opinions of people of that environment. However, several factors at the workplace are associated with causing stress and worsening mental health. Many of the workers are considered very ordinary for which no safety measures are applied. Those employees face ignorance from the higher management leading to detrimental conditions of such employees. For such people, working conditions are very exploitative on social scale as they have discrimination, social exclusion forced labour and low wages. Low, A. (2018).
Some of the common types of detrimental health hazards of workers in organisations are described as below:
- Unrealistic work-pressure:
- Long hours or imbalance life
- Non-progression in career
- Harassment or bullying (intimidation)
- Lack of staff retention (maintenance) and morale (confidence)
- Physical environment (lighting, ventilation, noise) (Medisauskaite et al., 2020)
Various chemical, biological, or physical factors creating unsafe working conditions can impact the health and, thus, the safety of the workers. A study of an international labour organisation has found that working for more than average working hours on the occupation cam exposes the employees’ attributable burden. A global range of workplaces has recorded of death range of 2.78 million in a year, which are supposed to suffer from depression or anxiety. However, 374 non-fatal injuries have been recorded, all associated with work-related pressure at occupations. According to the study, an estimated 745,000 fatal cases were determined in 2016, all of which were associated with strokes and heart disease (Rueter et al., n.d.). A critical issue has been raised in northern-Ireland, in which the mental health of the employees and workers is not focused by the upper management system. The result of poor working performance of workers has impacted the economy drastically. Thus, a high cost to resolve the mental health related issues of employee’s costs pound 790 million each year (Lafond et al., 2014).
The expectations of the diseases are supposed to be depression of excessive work pressure in any field of occupation. (Chandrasekhar et al., n.d.)
- Hearing loss is a common physical hazard with other side injuries such as crushing, cutting, burning, shearing and striking in noisy industries, especially in construction, transportation and maintenance factories.
- Microbial infection exposure in laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and agricultural workplaces is an example of biological hazards. The impact causes severe health illnesses such as immunity disorders, respiratory illnesses, and blood-borne infections through viruses, fungi, bacteria, and other microbial attacks (de Carvalho et al., 2021).
- Chemical exposure is especially recognised in the construction industries such as mines. Non-smoker workers are associated with chronic illnesses such as cancer due to inhalation of certain lethal chemicals, gas extraction, dust and fumes exposure for the long term (de Carvalho et al., 2021).
The healthy environment of the occupation should maintain the health programs to protect the human welfare affected by the occupation environment. Occupational health is dependent on three main objectives promoting the health and working capacity of workers, providing a conducive working environment and developing different working cultures supporting social climate and smooth operation for supporting health. The implications of such an objective in the working environment can be helpful in enhancing the productivity of undertaking. (Righteous, I., & Chibuzor, n.d.)
Detrimental health hazards for workers
Policies to provide positive well-being at the occupation
An act named compliance with disability discrimination (CDD) act 1995 has been formulated to prevent discrimination against workers and provide equal opportunities to be promoted to different levels of work (Bell & Heitmueller, 2009).
The rules and policies made by the International Labour Organization (ILO) cover the fundamental principles of great peace and harmony regarding improving governmental and non-governmental workers and employees (Beland, 2005). National laws, regulations, technical standards ensure a healthy workplace where workers can be protected and prevented from injuries. A system of inspection is considered to maintain compliance with labour legislation under ILO policies. A framework of promotion and recommendation for OSH (organisational safety and health) convection. The standard committee of policymaking revised the standard issues of international labour standards and published the guidance to address the labour standards in the year 2005 under ILO. The committee also proposed the 90th session agenda of the International Labour Conference revising the standards to the governing body.
According to WHO, the aspects related to workplace safety and prevention of health hazards are defined under positive occupational health. a positive, healthy environment is an essential requirement in all occupational areas to increase the self-retention of employees Atamuradova, 2021). A case study of the workplace in Singapore in 2014 recorded 16 death and 87 accidental injuries, including paralysis, blindness, amputation due to overlooking, failure of structures, equipment, workload, and collapse. The workers associated with such injuries suggested that they were either busy managing workload or in a rush to wrap work during festive seasons instead of enjoying festivals (Hemes, 2015).
A healthy and positive employee can perform the best way to make the company’s benefits leading in company production. Employees mental health should be on priority as they are the main constituents of growing the companies or industries. For example, if an individual is stressed for his long working hours, he should discuss the management system. The management should provide some relaxation for some time and then apply some strategies, through which work can be done efficiently in lesser time. Several checks and campaigns are involved under the ministry of Empowerment in Singapore. Such campaigns were formulated to protect unsafe work practices such as people working on heights, traffic management, and people working with heavy vehicles such as cranes (Chandrasekhar et al., n.d.). The strategies should be specific and assist in accordance with the employees. Some of the interventions which are required to be followed in each occupation to improve the workers mental health are provided as below
- Work takes place through all safety measures consistent with workers’ well-being and human dignity.
- Working with personal achievement, self-fulfilment and workers right
- A proper infrastructure should be formed for the employees through education and training because proper training is the vital component of a healthy working environment (Kirsh et al., 2019).
- The presence of better staff retention is a fundamental need of every occupation that enhance the reputation of employees
- Establish decent conditions in working environment such as standing desks, sports activities, pharmacological agents, a healthy cafeteria, insulin testing on-site, health monitoring tests, walking meeting, stress counselling and cognitive behavioural therapies, resting time and areas, and workplace satisfaction surveys (Kirsh et al., 2019).
The health promotion programme (HPP) is an effective strategy included in the workplace that addresses individual and environmental influences on the workplace due to its multimodal and comprehensive model. HPP is frequently independent to analyse the effects of smoking, alcohol use, and excessive sleep on employees’ performance after analysing humans’ conditions. HPP is also involved in managing chronic diseases, smoke cassation, obesity management and promoting mental health (Png et al., 2016).
Better life-work balance: by recognising the best way to balance life and workload, they can help them fulfil their ambitions in the working environment and outside. Employees are required to be provided with full opportunities to perform extracurricular activities. They should be motivated for their activities to earn their trust in themselves and acknowledge their capabilities. The culture of the occupational environment should be so that employees feel free to share their problems with upper management, which they are experiencing. The problems should be intervened on the priorities.
Policies to provide positive well-being at the occupation
From last few decades, foremost modifications have been formulated in the workplaces to improve the conditions of employees all over the world. The constructions of the workplace, infrastructure, construction, facilities, job security, flexible working hours, and intra-curricular activities are some examples that are intervened in the occupation. The changes in the workplace policies and working conditions have been proved very effective in reducing employees’ mental stress with other effects. The other effects of promoting positive well-being at occupations are:
- Strengthened capacity
- Improved working relationships
- The reduced stigma of employees
- Reduced staff absentness and enhanced creativities lead to extra savings (Sparks et al., 2001)
Singapore is the highest employed country in Asia. According to a survey of 2017, a recognised range of the employed population in Singapore is up to 81% (covering over 2.2 million people). Out of 10 Singaporeans, 8 people aged 25-65 years are employed in different sectors. However, the competition in employment and seeking more advanced capabilities in people for employment make it more hazardous to work in a safe and healthy workplace, leading to workers’ deteriorating mental conditions in any sector. The broad focus is paid on the trending issues in the working environment affecting the well beings and recommendations to ease the stress level of employees (Toh et al., 2002). Occupational trending issues involve a high level of chronic illness such as cardiovascular diseases, no-awareness of mental health, poor relationship with employees and colleagues, smoking and obesity prevalence. Following are some interventions followed in Singapore to reduce the arrival of certain issues in occupation:
- Supporting employees through evidence-based tried and tested interventions: a framework for employees-’ positive health have been developed that support the cross-cutting focus on incorporation, supervision and rights under some categories, including chronic disease management, work-life balance, health screening, workplace-infrastructure, and physical activities (Phillips et al., 2015).
- To support and improve further investment in private and public sectors, workplace health programmes need to study the return on investment (RoI). The RoI utilises new technologies to focus on the next generation health programmes of employees, employers, and health providers. However, testing for the interventions continues (Phillips et al., 2015).
- The key entities in Singapore’s works well-being are the ministry of health, the health promotion board, regional health systems, the ministry of the workforce, workplace council determining workers’ safety and health. The mission of all the entities is to promote health, develop the strengthening partnership, engage communities to enhance capabilities, pursue affordable medical healthcare, develop the workforce, secure retirement, and jobs (Phillips et al., 2015)
- Under the norms of HPB, company-based approaches made the awards granted to wellness solution providers in private and large-sized companies. However, in the sector-based approaches, various customised interventions have been brought to the doorsteps of healthcare, cleaning, security, education and transport workers (Phillips et al., 2015).
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