Creating a healthy workspace

A healthy workspace is one where employees and managers actively contribute to the working environment by protecting and promoting the health, safety, and overall well-being of all workers. Interventions can be taken in a 3-pronged approach:

• Protecting mental health by reducing work-related risk factors
• Promoting mental health by developing the positive aspects of work and the strengths of employees
• Addressing mental health problems, no matter their cause

There are steps businesses can take in order to create a healthy work environment, which include:

• Having awareness of the workspace environment and how it can be adapted to promote better mental health for different employees.
• Learning from the motivations of organisational leaders and employees who have taken action to improve mental health services and their workspace.
• Understanding the opportunities and needs of employees as individuals and by doing so, helping to develop better policies for mental health at work.
• Developing an awareness of sources of support and where people can find help if and when they need it.

Good practices and interventions that promote and protect mental health in the workplace include:

• Introduction and enforcement of health and safety policies and practices, including identifying distress, harmful use of psychoactive substances, and illness and providing resources to manage them
• Making staff aware of the support available to them
•  Involving employees in decision-making, portraying a feeling of inclusion and control, and organisational practices that support a healthy work-life balance
• Programmes for career development for employees and recognising and rewarding employee contributions

Mental health interventions should be provided as part of an integrated health and well-being strategy that covers prevention, early identification, support, and rehabilitation. At My Occ Health we can support you in introducing these interventions where they are available, but even when they aren’t, multiple changes can be made that can protect and promote mental health.

Supporting individuals with mental disorders at work

Businesses have an important responsibility to support employees with mental disorders in either continuing or returning to work after an absence. Research has shown that unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment, can have a negative impact on mental health.

A lot of the initiatives outlined above could help workers with mental disorders. We can help you promote positive mental health services, ensuring good dynamics in the workplace as well as increased productivity.

My Occ Health provides remote mental health services nationwide through our experienced panel of NCS, UKCP and BACP accredited counsellors.

We recognise that if employees feel encouraged to discuss their challenges, and supported when times are hard, they will feel more valued and take less time off. They are also more likely to feel incentivised to remain with the company than to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Did you know? Stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 17.9 million days lost due to work-related ill health with, on average, each person suffering taking around 21.6 days off work

My Occ Health is working to support employees that may be at risk of mental health problems and enabling employers to make the right adjustments for them, through our reliable mental health services.

Nearly half of all UK businesses are now considering some sort of improvement or addition to their workplace health offering which includes mental health and stress management services.

Making positive changes to your workplace does not need to be difficult. There are some simple steps which you can take to start your journey of improvement, and MyOccHealth is ready to support you on that journey.

Find out more about our mental health services below:

Counselling and talking therapy

Make An Enquiry Today

Make an enquiry today by completing our contact form below.

For more information about our mental health services please email enquiries@myocchealth.co.uk or call 0330 094 5866.