Introduction
The author has written this guide with the aim of filling gaps in knowledge around mental illness in the workplace, and occupational health consultation and report writing.
Of course, mental health issues were a concern before the Covid-19 pandemic and they have been exacerbated as a consequence of both the personal and workplace psychosocial stressors it created.
Based on the prevalence of mental health issues, it is a natural progression that, as occupational health and safety professionals, we will engage with workers in the workplace who need help tackling their mental health issues. For many of us, this is a daunting experience and one we often feel ill-equipped to manage.
If you want to understand how to recognise a worker with mental health disorders, how to help a worker in crisis, or where to refer a worker who clearly needs more than you can offer, this book is for you. While written in an informal manner, it provides a treasure trove of resources and insights for both health and safety professionals working in the occupational setting.
Content
This book explores the practical side of managing mental health issues in the workplace.
Primarily written for the occupational health professional, the focus is the identification and assessment of worker mental health issues and how to write a detailed report that provides management with the recommendations necessary to facilitate worker recovery.
Yet it has a wider audience appeal. It provides the reader with simple-to-understand explanations for mental health issues, the signs and symptoms associated with these conditions and their risk factors, and how this affects workers and relationships with work. The author has used her professional experiences and case studies to demonstrate the skills needed to help workers with mental health issues.
A strength of this book lies in the resources it offers the reader, which includes organisations that provide support in times of crisis, tips on how to communicate with individuals who need help and templates that can be used to conduct stress risk assessments where needed.
Rather than chapters, the book is made up of short, easy-to-read sections covering: risk factors for, and signs of, mental distress; adjustments to support a recovery; detailed stress risk assessment and action plan. The author emphasises the importance of primary interventions in the workplace, the value of keeping workers safe and well, and information about the value of occupational health consultation, support and intervention.
Evaluation
The small font in this book is a distraction, but one which can be overlooked. Though this is aimed mainly at occupational health professionals, it provides useful insight in this area for occupational safety and health (OSH) practitioners, particularly those involved with workplace adjustments to support recovery and return to work, or those wanting to increase their knowledge and understanding. It also looks at developing workplace initiatives to support mental health in the workplace, and leading and influencing positive OSH culture.
For occupational health professionals, this book is appealing for its simplicity in providing the guidance needed to assess a worker with a mental health issue, its examples of how to write reports and the case studies used, which explore the diverse situations that can be experienced.
The reiteration that the occupational health advisor’s role is limited to making recommendations, with the responsibility of the organisation being to take these recommendations on board, is both helpful and affirming.
Mental health in the Workplace limits the use of medical jargon (and where used it is explained), which is one of its appeals to the non-health professional, such as the human resources team.
For the safety professional, this book offers an easy-to-understand approach to mental health, with tips on how to manage a worker’s return to work process, or the evaluation of stress risks in the workplace. At the same time, it provides insights into why so much of what a worker discloses to the health professional is confidential and not to be shared.
This guide ‘brings together the crucial aspects of supporting and managing mental health in the workplace’ and as a resource is a good example of the importance of health and safety professionals collaborating for the benefit of the worker and, ultimately, the organisation.
This book was reviewed by IOSH magazine's book club review team
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