We know health and safety in the workplace is the number one priority – but what about mental health?
The light continues to be shed on the importance of recognising mental health as a part of the work health and safety mix; and what better time to be part of the conversation than this Mental Health Week!
We go on to see the importance of recognising the effects of both good and bad mental health states that impact our daily lives, and the way we are able to manage our weekly workload.
The Positive Effects of Mindfulness
In recognizing the importance of opening the discussion around work mental health and how we can manage work stress, the role of mindfulness becomes crucial.
Well-known companies, such as General Mills, Intel and Google, have long recognised the benefits of these. Many have their own in-house meditation programs, and conduct research in-house to showcase its effectiveness.
Why invest in these types of programs?
As today’s society seems to run a 24/7 non-stop work environment, many business leaders are having to deal with the fallout. One of the largest contributing factors is the increased levels of executive function burnout, leading to poor resiliency to work-related stress and shortening attention spans.
It’s interesting when we observe the relevance of this to EHS practices and activities. It teaches us to control our attention, which increases focus and reduces mistakes caused by distraction. For example, in a 2010 study conducted by the University of California Irvine, it was revealed that 73% of trips and falls are caused by inattentiveness and distraction.
A Vital Ingredient
With research showing us the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for organisational effectiveness, leadership and bottom line results, we can see that investing in taking care of our employees’ mental health as well as their safety at work is a vital ingredient to an organisation’s overall success strategy.
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