Mental health in the workplace
What is mental health and how it affects us?
Work is a major part of our lives. It’s the place where we spend a lot of our time, the place where we interact with many people and we make our friends. The most important part of good mental health is having a fulfilling job. If you enjoy good mental health:
You can make the most of your potential.
You can cope with what life gives you.
You can play a full part in your relationships, your workplace, and your community.
A mental health problem appears when we have significant challenges in our home or work life, and it can have a lot of different symptoms and signs. At work, we might notice that we are more tired than usual, and we can make uncommon mistakes, or we can be irascible.
We might look or feel very tired. We might isolate ourselves, avoid colleagues or appear distracted. Or we might speed up or become chaotic, obtruding into others’ conversations and work, and taking on more work than we can do.
Currently, the oil and gas industry’s main concern is on physical health; however, although working in oil and gas fields is demanding and stressful – workers often live in remote areas far away from their families, face sleep problems or skin irritations.
“Employees are often working in isolated or hostile locations. This can lead to a lack of genuine downtime, with offshore work being particularly draining. They spend a lot of time on the edge in high-risk situations,” Kilany said, adding that “stress and fatigue can quickly become overwhelming and could lead to mistakes that put the lives of others at risk.” Moreover, “the pressure and expectations on employees can lead to the inner conflict based on balancing a career with family.”
What can we do to maintain our mental health?
There are things we can do to help our mental health and comfort at work as well as trying to find positive work-life stability.
Handling your work role:
Limit extra working hours
Schedule meetings during your work hours
Take numerous breaks
Not working from home
Set deadlines and deliver on time
Use of Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Walking during your break, a walk can help clear your head
Learn something new, take opportunities at work to learn
Talk to your manager if you feel you are unable to manage the demands on you.
Employers in the oil and gas industry should be conscious that having employees who suffer from poor mental health will be very costly to the company as the issue leads to a decrease in the workers’ productivity. Moreover, replacing employees who leave as a result of these mental health issues adds another cost to employers as unstable staff negatively affects the return that employers seek to gain with the recruitment process. To avoid that, employers should work to maintain a mentally strong environment and be careful to identify and act upon cases of low mental health.
Kilany believes oil and gas companies should do more to offer solutions to treat anyone in the industry who is fighting with mental conditions, suggested that workers with these disorders do not focus on things that are out of their control. Instead, they should focus on themselves and how they respond to the challenging circumstances they face. “I strongly believe that real change starts from the inside. So, work on yourself first and you may be surprised by how things change,” he said.
SOURCE
https://egyptoil-gas.com/features/mental-health-in-the-oil-gas-sector-a-pillar-that-must-be-built/
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-support-mental-health-work
https://www.thinkmentalhealthwa.com.au/about-mental-health-wellbeing/ways-to-look-after-your-mental-health/workplace/