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An Inextricable Link: The Safety Benefits of Holistic Wellness in the Workplace

Written by Mark L. Morgan on . Posted in Leadership Development.

There is an inextricable link between employee safety and mental and physical wellness that is often overlooked. Taking a holistic view of your employees includes looking wholly at each person to better understand and address their mental and physical health challenges and related distractions that can affect their personal safety and the safety of others.

Additionally, demonstrating you care about your employees’ well-being can translate into improved morale, engagement, productivity, and recruitment and retention.

At its foundation, your employee safety program should be viewed as an act of caring about your employees. However, our safety focus can often be siloed. It’s time to break through the silos and take a more comprehensive look at how we can – and should – take care of our employees.

But first, a question. Why do we view employee safety almost exclusively through the lens of a traditional safety program in terms of training, safety rules, tools, equipment and compliance? The simple answer is that we are not typically trained to do otherwise.

To illustrate the opportunity, here’s another question. How do you think your employees would respond to an anonymous survey that asked this: Does my leader care about my well-being? Unfortunately, according to a recent Gallup poll, “Fewer than one in four U.S. employees feel strongly that their organization cares about their well-being” (see www.gallup.com/workplace/390776/percent-feel-employer-cares-wellbeing-plummets.aspx).

‘His Head Just Wasn’t in the Game …’
You’ve heard a statement like this before. It’s recognition of the potential effect of a mental distraction when performing a task. Do you agree that distractions can lessen the focus on personal safety and increase injury risk? If so, do you want your employees to engage in work tasks – particularly high-risk tasks – when they are significantly mentally or physically distracted? In many injury events, it only took a second for a distraction to lead to the injury.

What about an employee who was served legal papers late yesterday and is anguished and distracted today? Would you want them attempting to correctly use fall protection or follow a lockout/tagout process today, on their own without extra care and supervision? What if they’re on a new medication that makes them sensitive to heat until they acclimate to the medication? Would you want them working outside in the summer or inside a hot warehouse in their normal role for the next few days?

These types of distractions are very real and can affect your employees’ personal safety.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into some other emotional and physical stressors (distractions) that leaders can learn to better recognize and address with their employees:

  • Anxiety or depression. The employee’s demeanor has changed; they may appear to be sad and/or nervous, display signs of low energy or have trouble concentrating. Learn more about signs and symptoms at www.nimh.nih.gov.
  • Argument with a spouse or significant other. The employee has a bad argument the night before and comes to work distraught.
  • Money/debt issues. Perhaps creditors are calling the employee, or they have financial worries that are disrupting a relationship; these issues can be significant distractors.
  • Negative performance appraisal or discipline rendered. A poor employee review and/or discipline can be potential sources of anguish and even anger, both of which can lead to distraction.
  • Not fitting in with co-workers. The employee may be socially excluded from their work group. Signs include the employee regularly taking a break or lunch alone and being left out of work task planning and meaningful tailboard discussions.
  • Children. There may be health-related or other challenges with an employee’s child that are causing stress and distraction on and off the job.
  • Off-the-job injury or illness. The employee comes to work ill or injured, which can cause distraction.
  • New medication. Some medications initially affect mental alertness, reaction time, perception, stamina and personality.

Would you want an employee facing any of these challenges to perform high-risk work? Further, since you are likely not a mental health or other medical professional, how do you navigate these challenges? Are they even any of your business?

Employee Safety is Your Business
When it comes to the safety of your employees, these types of challenges are your business. Sometimes all that’s needed is to have a one-on-one conversation with an employee and listen with sensitivity to understand that they are in some way compromised. Simply acknowledging that these challenges could be safety distractions can help increase the employee’s safety focus as well as your own.

Work toward creating a culture that provides a psychologically safe environment in which to talk to one another. Communicate to your employees that you have an open-door policy. Let them know they don’t have to be specific about their stressors; the goal is to make them comfortable enough to willingly speak with you when they are feeling stressed or dealing with other challenges that could make them vulnerable to distraction and injury.

Keep in mind that it’s unlikely you are going to solve the underlying issues (if the employee chooses to disclose them), but kindness, compassion and caring go a long way to help relieve stress.

When you become aware that an employee is struggling, it’s a good idea to consider adjusting their work tasks as needed or delaying safety-sensitive tasks until a more appropriate time. Be sure to meet with your organization’s human resources representative or team to confirm any dos and don’ts regarding temporary job modifications.

The Stigma of Using EAP Resources
Many companies have employee assistance program (EAP) resources available. The ideal time to promote these resources is both routinely – including during new-hire onboarding – and when your employees are obviously stressed.

Unfortunately, multiple studies show EAP utilization rates are typically less than 10% across an employee population. There is still a stigma that EAPs are mostly intended for people who are mentally ill, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or facing marital issues. Thus, one of your opportunities as a leader is to help your employees overcome the typical reluctance to use the EAP. Let them know that using EAP benefits is easy and confidential, and doing so can help in addressing a broad range of mental well-being challenges, such as stress, anxiety and depression.

Here are some additional strategies to promote safety, mental wellness and physical well-being.

Leader Training
Employees with mental health challenges may not take the initiative to reach out to their leaders. When they don’t reach out and don’t seek help elsewhere, their challenges may go unaddressed and potentially get worse. With the proper training, leaders can make a profound difference by recognizing the signs of mental health challenges and referring employees to the appropriate resources. Check with your EAP provider for available leader training.

Holistic Communications and Campaigns
Many companies have separate internal publications and campaigns covering safety, physical wellness and mental health. Consider combining these into a single publication with one holistic theme. Explain how improved mental and physical wellness positively affects personal safety and can improve overall quality of life. The message you want to send is that the organization’s leaders care about – and have resources to help – employees and their families.

Broaden Your Safety Meeting Agenda
Include physical wellness and mental health challenges in your agenda for safety and other team meetings. Periodically invite an EAP or benefits representative to review the scope of mental health and physical well-being services offered. Invite the speaker to discuss why seeking help is critical to keeping your head in the game. Other guest speakers could include an athletic trainer to discuss exercise and ergonomics as well as a nutritionist to speak with your team about food choices to support a healthy lifestyle.

Model the Way
How are you personally demonstrating best practices – both in terms of safety and mental and physical health? Revealing how you are working on a personal challenge can increase employee engagement and even loyalty. Show vulnerability!

Use Testimonials
Solicit testimonials for your internal publications from employees who have benefited from a wellness service offered by your company or who are willing to discuss physical or emotional distractions that led to an injury or a near-miss.

Incident Investigations and Wellness
Have you dug deeply enough into your event investigations to determine if physical or mental health issues were contributing factors?

In addition to the tips above, event investigations are another opportunity to better understand and address the connection between safety and mental and physical wellness. Here are some specific questions to ask:

  • Was the employee’s mental state a contributing factor when the event occurred?
  • Did the employee have physical limitations, either temporary or permanent, that led to the event?
  • If the answer to either of the questions above is yes, what were the missed leadership opportunities to address the employee’s mental or physical wellness issues?

By identifying these contributing causes, you can then develop more effective countermeasures that also address supervisor recognition of employee physical and mental wellness challenges.

In summary, when you take a holistic view of your employees, you can capitalize on an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference. Following this strategy can create additional goodwill with your employees while helping them improve their well-being. A great byproduct will be safer employees.

About the Author: Mark L. Morgan combines his unique skill set, observations and experiences from a 35-year career spanning three Fortune 200 companies to help leaders focus on how to make a difference in safety. He recently completed his service as the founding chairman of the Florida Chamber Leadership Cabinet on Safety, Health and Sustainability. Morgan is also a public speaker, a guest columnist and the author of “The M.A.D.* Safety Book for Leaders (*Make a Difference).”

Editor’s Note: This article contains edited excerpts from “The M.A.D.* Safety Book for Leaders (*Make a Difference).”

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DECEMBER 2024-JANUARY 2025

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