How Recyclers Can Recognize Mental Health in the Workplace

Mental health becomes a safety issue when it shows up at the job, and therefore it's important to recognize and deal with it early. Small steps like adjusting workload, speaking up, and using available resources can stop problems before they turn into injuries.

May is recognized as Mental Health Month through Mental Health America (MHA). ReMA's Safety Team is a great resource for ReMA members who are navigating issues surrounding mental health in the workplace. ReMA's Vice President of Safety Mike Marino can be reached at [email protected].

Additional resources and tools for learning about and improving mental health can be found here to access the MHA website. Helpful tips in the annual Mental Health Toolkit provided through MHA are included below:

• Mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being, and mental illnesses are common and treatable.
• While 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health.
• There are practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency, regardless of the situations they are dealing with.
• It's important to accept the situations in life that we cannot change, actively work to process the mental struggles associated with big changes, manage anger and frustration, recognize when trauma may be affecting your mental health, challenge negative thinking patterns, and make time to take care of yourself.
• Knowing when to turn to friends, family, and co-workers when you are struggling with life's challenges can help improve your mental health.
• One way to check in with yourself is to take a mental health screen. It's a quick, free, and private way for someone to assess their mental health and recognize signs of mental health problems.
• Living a healthy lifestyle and incorporating mental health tools to thrive may not be easy but can be achieved by gradually making small changes and building on those successes.
• Seeking professional help when self-help efforts to improve your mental health aren't working is a sign of strength, not weakness.

In addition to the resources from MHA, there are available OSHA resources for promoting workplace mental health, including its Workplace Mental Health Fact Sheet and materials for addressing workplace stress and fatigue, and suicide prevention, which is known to disproportionately impact industries such as construction.