32 HEALTH AND SANITATION
Mental health awareness – the struggle
by
Chris Coetzee , OHSS Consultant
Mental health awareness is important for construction safety because mental health issues can increase the risk of accidents in hazardous work environments .
Mental health issues can affect a worker ' s ability to concentrate and make decisions .
With so much information regarding mental awareness and the benefits of developing a mental awareness programme for your own company , you may ask questions like : “ Where do we even start ?” or “ What should be in the mental awareness plan or procedures ?” Let us look at some areas in which plumbers may experience mental distress due to the scope of work they provide , we hope this will answer the above questions sufficiently for you to be able to make your own more suitable mental awareness procedures .
Long hours Statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) in 2016 show the total number of hours worked in year across the world – and how South Africa compares .
While South Africa isn ’ t listed in the particular measure , weekly working hour data from the OECD shows that the average South African worker is on the job for 43.3 hours a week – or 8.7 hours a day .
Considering there are 250 working days in the South African business calendar ( excluding weekends and public holidays ), it ’ s fair to extrapolate this data to say the average South African worker puts in 2 165 hours a year . This would place South Africans third on the list of hardest workers , below Mexico and Costa Rica . In 2018 , AfriForum Wêreldwyd in its online blog stated : “ South Africans are listed as the fifth most hardworking country in the world .”
It ’ s not hard to see that South Africans are in fact hard workers , a statistic we are both proud of , and concerned about , when it comes to workplace health and safety . Long hours and irregular schedules can disrupt circadian rhythms , which can lead to anxiety and depression . Disrupted circadian rhythms are linked to increased accidents , absenteeism , and decreased productivity among construction workers .
Solution : Flexible work schedules and sleep health programmes can improve mental well-being and safety . While studies have shown that sleep timing influences safety and health , they often overlook sleep , quantity , work , shift start time and a broad range of health and safety outcomes .
Work schedule adjustments and better sleep practices may mitigate adverse effects on workers ' health and well-being .
High workload Burnout and being overworked can lead to cynicism , exhaustion , boredom , worsened job performance and depression . Having too much to do and not
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