What Is a Mental Health Risk Assessment Checklist?
A mental health risk assessment checklist is a form used to analyze mental health risks in the workplace and aids in the development of an action plan to control these risks. Due to the increasing public awareness of mental health illnesses, risks regarding work-related stress have now become one of the main focuses of human resources.
Also, employee mental health issues have significant effects on their productivity which, in turn, generates a large number of losses in terms of company revenue. According to the study made by Gallup, an American consulting company, the losses generated amount to $400 to $500 billion dollars each year. These losses also affect a country’s economy and that is why many countries have put up laws that protect the mental health of workers.
According to the psychiatric risk assessment template designed for work-related mental health issues, there are six main contributing factors to this:
- Demands – This refers to an employee’s work schedule, work environment, and workload.
- Control – This refers to the scope of control that an employee has over their projects, approach, and decisions.
- Support – This refers to how much resources and encouragement a company allocates to their employees in order to fully accomplish their workload.
- Relationships – This refers to the quality of the communication and work dynamics between co-workers.
- Role – This refers to how much employees understand and appreciate their role in the company.
- Changes – This refers to how a company handles changes that majorly affects their employees.
Below is a three-step guide based on the Health and Safety Executive’s workplace mental health risk assessment template on how to combat these contributing factors.
In this article, the following points are explained:
1. Step one to identifying mental health risks
2. Step two to evaluating mental health risks
3. Step three to creating an action plan
4. Benefits of a digital solution for mental health evaluations
Step 1: Identify Mental Health Risks
Although there are common factors for work stress, companies have varying circumstances and thus need a customized approach in order to create an effective action plan. That is why using the sample mental health assessment form is the first step is to first identify what mental risks are present in the workplace. This step also includes knowing the people who are the most exposed to mental health risks.
Analyze Existing Data of Employees
Existing employee data refers to the already collected information by the company through various means such as personal information, conducted interviews, and company records. This will give a useful hint if there are prevalent mental health risks in the workplace.
The first useful existing data that can be used is looking for a large number of absences in the attendance records. A large volume of absences shows a lack of motivation and may therefore indicate work-related stress. This is really significant if there are certain work areas or departments that show this behavior.
Another useful data point mentioned in the HSE mental health plan risk assessment form is the turnover rate. A high turnover rate indicates that there is a work-related problem that causes new employees to quickly quit their jobs.
Aside from the previously mentioned, it is worth checking the company’s productivity data and performance appraisals. Meetings are also a good opportunity to identify possible mental health risks.
Conduct Surveys
For large organizations, surveys can be a powerful tool to identify mental health risks. Although some argue that a survey might be erroneous, it can still provide insight into workers’ outlook if the questions are designed properly.
The HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool is a good survey questionnaire to use for this matter. It has questions that target how employees feel about various aspects of their work. These questions can also be customized to suit the needs of various companies, but it still has to tackle the six main contributing factors of work-related stress.
It is recommended to compare the results of various work departments and then communicate the results of the survey with the whole team. This will give way for a healthy discussion on how to possibly address these issues.
Initiate Toolbox Talks
For small groups like a repair and maintenance team, it is recommended to conduct toolbox talks. Toolbox talks are short meetings, usually in an informal setting, that is used to remind the team about safety protocols. Since these meetings are usually a time where everyone talks, this can be used to identify mental health risks and then discuss some possible solutions.
Create Focus Groups
For large companies, it is recommended by the HSE mental health risk assessment checklist to create focus groups to discuss work-related stress. A focus group is a group discussion composed of only a few members (around 6 to 10 members) with the goal to discuss topics. So it is a good way to talk about mental health risks in a more personal and in-depth manner.
Step 2: Evaluate the Mental Health Risks
After the data gathering, the next step recommended by the HSE workplace mental health risk assessment template is to evaluate the initial data and confirm if the findings are true. This step is important because the initial data gathered might not paint the whole picture and could even be the opposite of what’s really happening.
One of the methods to confirm the data is to directly consult employees through focus groups or team meetings. During these discussions, new issues might pop up that are not initially apparent during the first step.
When planning consultation sessions with employees, it is beneficial to gather them according to their common interests, for example, those who work in the same departments or have the same work processes. This will give management new perspectives about prevalent mental health risks.
During these discussions, it is highly recommended to also talk about possible solutions to the mental health risks. And the main reason is that they are the ones most exposed to these issues and can give inputs on what controls methods will work. Some employees might even have some effective methods that they’re using.
Step 3: Develop and Implement Action Plans
After evaluation, the next step is to develop and implement action plans to control the mental health risks. Developing an action plan before implementation is an essential step because it keeps the focus on the risk assessment.
When developing action plans, the HSE mental health risk assessment checklist recommends not rushing. Using sufficient time will ensure that the solutions have already mitigated the major problems and will only need minor revisions later on.
Also, when creating solutions, it is recommended to be thorough which means that the action plans need to be very specific in all aspects and as much as possible address the root cause of the problem. And to do so, asking important questions is a must. For example:
- How did this mental health risk become a problem?
- Was it always an issue?
- Who are the most affected?
- What are the specific procedures of the action plan?
- How did you come up with the plan?
- Who will lead the procedures in each action plan?
- What are the target dates for each milestone?
Once these key questions are answered, the next process is to communicate the action plan to all the affected parties such as senior management, employees, and other representatives. There might be revisions needed but once the action plan is approved, you can then immediately implement it.
Benefits of Using Digital Mental Health Risk Assessments Checklists
Mental health is just one of those things that almost everyone has to deal with at some point in their lives. Maybe it’s the loss of a loved one that’s triggered a long depression intermittent with bouts of debilitating grief. Or perhaps an employee is going through a hard break-up at the moment. Even still, it could be a life-threatening addiction they need to seek in-patient treatment for. Whatever the reason, your employees deserve to have their mental health needs met.
With Lumiform, you can create a work-life balance for your employees with the help of a digital checklist. You might even see an increase in productivity and revenue as a result. After all, happiness is contagious, and positive work culture will prevent high turnover rates.
But the Lumiform benefits don’t end there. Here are just a few of the many advantages of digitizing important documents:
- Improves Communication — the super intuitive mobile app allows you to instantly send and receive updates on who is undergoing their mental health evaluations and who still needs to.
- Digitize Checklists — use Lumiform’s app and software to convert paper documents into digital checklists in minutes with our flexible form builder kit.
- Increase Efficiency — because you’re using the power of technology, you can complete mental health evaluations up to 30%-40% faster than before.
