The Challenge: Your wellbeing's impact on safety and health at work

Would you be able to identify if someone is feeling gradually more overwhelmed, frustrated, or under pressure?

This video was first published to mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April 2023, serving as a reminder to all of us about the importance of mental wellbeing and its impact on safety and health in the workplace.

We’re inviting you to reflect on The Challenge.

Our approach to safety and wellbeing is a holistic one, with an equal focus on emotional and physical harm. We consider the duty of care we have to our people, as well as to our clients and partners.

Even when we’re challenged, Our Code is here to help us make good decisions and do what’s right. It sets out our standards and expectations on the issues that matter to us. But what happens when our ability to make the right decision is impaired?

Imagine, you’re running late for work, you’re thinking about a meeting first thing, and you’re feeling tense and not concentrating on your surroundings. You go to cross the road, but you forget to look.

Perhaps, you’ve had a disagreement with a colleague, you feel frustrated as you head onto the site and your mind is elsewhere. You climb the scaffolding but forget to clip your safety harness on.

Maybe it’s not one specific moment in time. Perhaps it’s months of a growing feeling as you push to progress at work and take on more responsibility and the associated pressure. Sometimes, you can handle it, sometimes the smallest things feel overwhelming. Eventually, all it takes is one moment to set you into a state of panic, and catastrophising.

This World Day for Safety and Health at Work, consider if you would recognise colleagues feeling like this.

Would you be able to identify if someone is feeling gradually more overwhelmed, frustrated, or under pressure? How could this impact their physical safety in the workplace, or the safety of those around them?