This week (10th – 16th June) is Men’s Health Week. Organised by the Men’s Health Forum, the week seeks to encourage all men to talk about and address any health concerns they may be experiencing.
When we think about health risks in construction, we usually consider things like physical injuries, musculoskeletal disorders or lung issues caused by exposure to dust and pollutants. But did you know that construction also has the largest burden of occupational cancer amongst the industrial sectors? Please read this week’s blog for some advice on what you can do to reduce the risks and/or catch cancer early.
One in four of us will, at some point in our lives, be affected by mental health issues. This ranges from common problems like anxiety, stress and depression to rarer, highly complex conditions such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and psychosis.
While in recent years people have started to talk more openly about poor mental health, in many societies and communities there remains a stigma around the subject and the problem appears to be on the rise.
Today is World Mental Health Day and this year the theme is ‘making mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority.’ Taking the global perspective may be a bit beyond our reach but we have found some tips for how people can prioritise their own mental health. Read on to find out more.
In 2020-21, 1.7 million workers suffered from a work-related illness. For 800,000 of them, this was related to stress, depression or anxiety. Before COVID, it was estimated that mental health issues like these cost UK employers up to £45 billion a year. The pandemic has undoubtedly made things worse and, with mental health issues on the rise, workplace stress is now reported as the number one reason for sick days in the UK.
In response, a new campaign called ‘Working Minds’ is calling for a culture change in Britain’s workplaces, asking them to recognise and respond to the signs of stress as routinely as they would manage workplace safety. Find out more about the campaign and what you could do to tackle work-related stress in this week’s blog.
A couple of weeks ago, we used our blog to tell you about how and why Sheriff is setting out its ‘social value’ – the principles, policies and actions we can take as a business to support and promote social, economic and environmental wellbeing in society.
In part 1, we particularly looked at how we can make a greater positive impact on the communities we live and work in. In the second of this series, we want to focus on our company’s greatest asset – our people – and so we begin this week’s blog with a question:
How can we support the people who work with us to prosper at work and across all aspects of their lives?
A team of workers from Sheriff have recently spent their weekends improving the outside space at our office, creating a little sanctuary where staff can take a break and nature can flourish. The project has involved clearing away overgrown trees, shrubbery and debris from a stream that runs along the back of the office, as well as creating a small decking area and flower beds which have been seeded with a wild flower mix to support increased biodiversity. On top of this, almost all the materials used were reclaimed from our building sites, thereby saving them from landfill. Take a look at what we’ve done in more detail in this week’s blog.
While we may have become partly accustomed to how some of these things affect our daily lives, the strangeness, chaos, sadness and uncertainty that’s gone hand-in-hand with the pandemic has undoubtedly had a huge impact on many people’s mental health and wellbeing. As this week is Mental Health Awareness Week, today’s blog serves as a timely reminder to place just as much importance on your mental health as you would on your physical health. Find out more about the campaign, some simple measures you can take to support your wellbeing plus details of other organisations who can help if you’re struggling.
Did you know that the average person in the UK spends 22 hours of each day indoors? That’s 90% of their day! While our on-site construction teams may be the exception to this, for office staff, the indoor life can have an enormous impact on productivity, health, wellbeing and overall happiness. What’s to be done?…