In our latest webinar produced by Make a Difference Summits, Group Director of Research and Innovation, Kate Platts, is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the key challenges and practical solutions to support the health and wellbeing of non-desk-based workers.
The wellbeing of non-desk-based workers is an issue that many employers are grappling with, especially since the pandemic. With long-term sickness due to musculoskeletal health and mental health challenges on the rise, their health and wellbeing is more important than ever, yet employers often struggle to address the unique challenges that manual workers face on a daily basis.
Kate Platts explains the broad characteristics of the manual workers cohort
Some aspects of this cohort can be generalised as about 80% of our non-desk-based workers are male, generally with a lower educational attainment and lower social economic status which has an impact on things like health literacy and access to health care.
We see vastly higher rates of musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, stress and obesity and this leads to higher rates of sickness, absence and early retirement in this cohort. We also have a higher average age of workers in the manual workforce. The average age of logistics workers in the UK is about 48, which is about 10 years older than the general average working age. So, people being older in physically demanding roles places a greater toll on the body.
There is a higher sense of stress — and maintaining a work-life balance in times of stress is challenging, especially when you consider things like shift patterns and night work that we traditionally see in this cohort.
Additionally, a lack of engagement with wellbeing initiatives correlates very much with the male demographic. We know that men generally are less likely to engage with wellbeing initiatives and seek wellbeing support at work, so this is a complex picture.
Key challenges for manual workers
The challenges faced by this cohort include psychosocial hazards, stressful work environments that are often noisy, lacking in natural daylight and include lots of different psychosocial stresses that can affect people in manual work.
When people are working shift patterns, they might be working on production lines where they can’t step away for breaks at times of their choice, which increases levels of stress. More than half of people in the interactive webinar poll (55%) said that physical demands was the key challenge for manual workers.
With physically demanding jobs this includes heavy lifting or strenuous work that contributes to chronic health issues, but can also lead to mental health issues. A major challenge faced by non-desk-workers is dealing with stress anxiety and depression and that is exacerbated by shift and night work, which we often see in this cohort as well.
Finally, one of the major challenges we face is the physical activity paradox. Traditionally, we consider physical activity to be healthy, but the physical activity paradox highlights that high levels of occupational physical activity can lead to poor health outcomes. Working long hours at a low or moderate intensity can keep your heart rate variability uneven; it does not improve cardiorespiratory fitness, and it can increase blood pressure and inflammation — all of which lead to poorer health outcomes.
Practical solutions to support manual workers
There is no one size fits all approach to wellbeing initiatives —businesses should consider ways to ask their people what they need. Larger businesses might benefit from a tailored, consultative approach to improve their scope as employee experience can differ across different departments.
Some key solutions discussed by the webinar panel include:
Creating trust within your company culture
Having an actively supportive culture funnel through the company is effective so people know where to turn. Having complete trust from the CEO down in occupational health and wellbeing is essential for businesses, not just in terms of business objectives — but because it is the right thing to do.
To get the best out of your teams, trust must be built slowly so employees feel able to discuss any needs and express any mental health issues with their line manager. Individuals should be able to see the effect of wellbeing benefits within the business to feel confident in utilising wellbeing support and feel able to express their needs. This will help prevent any reservations towards utilising benefits that are beneficial for mental or physical wellbeing. The support should be consistently re-emphasised in a proactive and preventative way.
Building support for mental health
Make sure your organisation has the tools, the training and the awareness to be able to have the confidence to start conversations about mental health and wellbeing. Whether you begin with wellbeing training or mental health first aiders, having that line of support is crucial.
Occupational health referrals through this support system can act as preventative care, but can also be used if someone does reach a mental health crisis. With the main demographic of manual workers being male, and what we know of the higher suicide rates among men, suicide first aiders could also be an option to help mental health within your organisation. All managers should have knowledge and awareness of where to signpost employees depending on their individual needs.
Make access accessible to everyone
Different methods of communication can increase the reach of wellbeing within your business. People have different preferences and different shift patterns, so it can be difficult to make awareness universal. This could mean adding in newsletters, holding events, using podcasts or promoting activities through various in-person debriefs and business meetings.
This communication can be used to highlight wellbeing benefits that people may be unsure how to access or encourage people who feel as though they cannot through the stigma associated to mental health support. It could also lead to more employees wanting to become mental health first aiders or want to take further steps to increase their own wellbeing in and outside of the workplace.
Watch our free webinar on supporting the health and wellbeing of non-desk-based workers
Our panel of experts discuss the key challenges and practical solutions to support the health and wellbeing of non-desk-based workers.