One cannot deny the fact that every person has their mental health and our minds can become unwell just like our bodies. Usually the discussion centers around severe conditions when we discuss mental health including psychological breakdowns, severe depression, and suicide. Although, surely someone we may know can be suffering from extreme cases, discussing everyday mental health also plays a very important role. What makes our daily life more rewarding is a proper life balance and an unambiguous vision of the world around us. A proper life balance also makes us ready for the daily life challenges. Now these challenges can come in different forms such as a financial suffering, loss of a loved one, relationships problems at personal level, and even work place problems.
Now one thing about hardships is that their timing is never ideal and usually arises when we are already going through challenges. Accordingly, it gets extremely vital to evaluate our mental health over the normal pattern of our everyday routines and being aware of the warning signals. Therefore, discussing and evaluating our mental health in the place of work is essential. Above all, the construction industry has the highest suicide rate per industry. There are various reasons for this such as, for some roles the employees have to work in isolation and usually most their time is spent away from their families and friends. More to the point, during economic downturns the job security in the construction industry can become uncertain.
Purpose of Mental Health Toolbox Talks in Construction
The purpose of mental health toolbox talks in construction is about promoting healthy mental well being in the workplace and can prove to be a promising initiative to get everyone sharing about how they actually feel. A mental health toolbox talk can be very helpful for early intervention when things don’t feel right, in the same way as we would for our physical health. Mental health toolbox talks addresses issues about mental health including our own, our colleagues, our family and our friends. By conducting these types of toolbox talks we are able to offer information and alternatives when we discuss about mental health and suicide prevention and it provides reassurance to others that they are in a secure environment to do so. In order to write mental health toolbox talks in construction, the supervisor must define the concept of mental health, its warning signs, the preventive measures to deal with them and the controls that can be implemented.
What is Mental Health?
Basically, mental health is described as a form of well-being in which every person understands their own potential, can handle the normal life pressures, work effectively and productively and is capable to play a role to her/his community. When a person is facing problems with their mental health, we may notice some warning signs that indicate them acting differently than usual. These warning signs may be initial alerts and it is extremely important to have an understanding of how to respond in these situations. It can be a change in personality like someone is behaving like a different person, or not acting or feeling in the way they usually do. The warning signs could consist of them having a short temper, being easily distracted, moods swings, short of words and avoid socializing at personal or work level.
Writing a Mental Health Toolbox Talks in Construction
In this perspective, there is a key role of connecting to those people who may be suffering mental well-being or even consider suicide. It can be a lifesaving act to offer support and reach out for those who have separated themselves from others. Therefore, the preventive steps should be addressed as a must in a mental health toolbox talk. The value of living a purposeful life must be highlighted and everyone should be encouraged to clearly understand and define what is most important to them. Employees should be encouraged to find a suitable time balance between work, family, hobbies, interests and relaxation. In addition to that, the effect a healthy and balanced diet can have on our mental health can be discussed. In preventive measures, proper exercise and fitness can play a key role for having a stronger mental health condition.
If you need to provide a toolbox talk on mental health, then our Mental Health Toolbox Talk might be of interest to you.
Alternatively, if you are looking for a larger amount of ready to deliver toolbox talks, then we have a range of toolbox talk packages available which include large quantities of toolbox talks at a cost effective price.
