December 2, 2025

Many companies, when they look at building their safety programs focus only on OSHA regulated safety measures. The theme of the December safety meeting was mental health. The presentation was geared to broaden our current perspective on safety. There are a lot of things to think about when it comes to safety but we don’t often think about or include mental health as an issue to train on but it impacts safety more than you may think. It could simply be operating heavy equipment or trucks and not have your head in the game. It could be issues at home, with a child, the death of a loved one. All of these things can take someone’s mind off a task that they have done hundreds of times, but when we have something in our heads that we are trying to deal or cope with, it is easy to take our mind off of things and that is when accidents can happen.

Everyone gets busy and everyone has problems, be it at work or at home. However, for many of our employees they can become overwhelmed by their problems and can become despondent. These feelings can not only impact their work performance and safety but it can impact their lives, literally. The fact that you could have someone on your team who’s mental state is at such a low state and they might need help. At the very least this is something that all employers should be aware of and if possible train on. It is not hard to make ourselves and our team aware of the signs.

Mental health is not an easy topic to approach, but it is important to have a culture that your people can at least feel comfortable approaching you if they have questions or concerns about themselves or someone on their team. Consider expanding your programs to include this very important topic.