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Wellbeing requires definition to help employers, report says
Lack of definition around wellbeing hinders employers’ efforts to support workforce, new study finds.
The lack of an agreed definition of wellbeing, and no shared way to quantify it or measure interventions to improve it, is holding employers back from supporting workers’ wellbeing, new research has revealed.
The study, Being Well in a Changing World produced in collaboration between the British Safety Council and the Institute of Occupational Medicine, sets out to identify and examine current practices that employers are implementing to improve the wellbeing of their workforceIt found that there is no consistent definition of wellbeing across both academic and industry sources, organisations are not consistently measuring wellbeing and there is a need for a more inclusive and targeted approach.
Mike Robinson, British Safety Council CEO
While the majority (87%) of employers’ wellbeing strategies are grounded in health and safety, a disconnect exists between what is known about wellbeing and what is being applied.
The research canvassed 609 employers across a range of organisational sectors, sizes and locations around the world, between June 2023 and September 2024.
It reviewed 74 pieces of academic and 44 of grey literature (such as white papers and reports) on workplace wellbeing; as well as in-depth interviews with 10 employers in different sectors and locations.
The research found no single definition exists for ‘wellbeing’, and no common way to measure it, or quantify the impact of any interventions to improve it. This lack of agreement about what wellbeing is, and no standardised metric for measuring it, makes it harder to assess and compare wellbeing interventions across different organisations, sectors, industries, cultures, and nations.
Commenting, Mike Robinson, CEO of British Safety Council said: “Without shared metrics, or ways that employers can learn from each other, workers risk being left behind, in a world where rapid change is the norm. The recommendations we are making based on our research would help employers adapt better to change and make the difference between them merely surviving or thriving.”
Same as physical injuries
Tina Catling
Meanwhile, a corporate psychologist is calling for mental health ‘injuries’ caused by work-related incidents to be treated with the same approach as physical injuries.
Tina Catling, a Principal Practitioner at the Association for British Psychology and a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, is lobbying for mental health ‘injuries’ to come under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).
“We need to ask ourselves a fundamental question – why do we separate mental health from physical health?” Catling said. “Our heads are connected to our bodies. Yet, if someone sustains a mental health injury due to work, there is no legal obligation for employers to investigate and report it
“Recognising and recording mental health injuries would lead to better protection for employees and encourage employers to take proactive measures, such as implementing psychological safety risk assessments and addressing workplace factors contributing to stress-related harm.”
Incorporating mental health and wellbeing into RIDDOR, Catling suggested, would encourage a more nuanced approach to wellbeing. “Employers would look closer at issues such as microaggressions, unconscious bias, bullying and the general psychological safety of their employees.”
Wellbeing requires definition to help employers, report says
Lack of definition around wellbeing hinders employers' efforts to support workforce, new study finds.
Mark Glover - SHP Editor
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