A safe and healthy workplace is one that also preserves the mental and emotional well-being of employees. This was a major discussion point at the Singapore Workplace Safety and Health Conference, running from November 17-18.

"Looking after a workers' health not only includes their physical health but also their mental health and their overall well-being," noted John Ng, the chairman of the Workplace Safety and Health Council, one of the conference's organizers. "Industries and companies must be intrinsically motivated to prevent accidents and keep their workforce healthy."

A bigger problem than people realize

The link between mental well-being and workplace safety is clear, if indirect: many of the factors that affect employees' mental and emotional well-being also affect their ability to recognize and avoid risks, to follow safety procedures, or even to remain alert in an unsafe environment. Workplace stress, for instance, has been shown to make workers more likely to lose focus and less likely to demonstrate safety-oriented behavior—a serious problem for high-risk industries such as transport and construction.

However, this also suggests a significant problem in Singapore's context. In global or regional rankings of workplace happiness, Singapore has repeatedly fallen far behind other countries—while scoring high on other rankings such as workplace bullying. And at the same time, domestic research seems to indicate that workplaces in Singapore are not supportive of mental well-being.

For example, research by the Institute of Mental Health suggests that 70 percent of employees have either observed their colleagues holding negative attitudes towards mental health conditions, or believe that their colleagues hold such attitudes.

One 2017 survey by the National Council of Social Services found that 4 in 10 employees have "gross misconceptions and prejudices against mental health", and that almost half of the population is apparently unwilling to work alongside colleagues who face mental health issues.

"How is anyone going to get help like that?" complained Professor Chua Hong Choon, CEO of the Institute of Mental Health. Speaking at the Workplace Safety and Health Conference, during a series of sessions focusing specifically on mental well-being, he said: "We need to do more together to improve our understanding of mental health problems and to help people to get help."

So what can employers and HR do?

For a start, they can refer to a new advisory on mental well-being, which was jointly developed by the Ministry of Manpower, the National Trades Union Congress, and the Singapore National Employers Federation, and launched during the conference. The advisory includes recommendations for supporting individuals, improving team situations, and adjusting organizational practices.

Going deeper, however, psychology experts speaking at the conference said that there needs to be a general change in workplace culture. Professor Chua highlighted the need to reduce stigma and increase literacy around mental health, by speaking more openly and frankly about it and especially by being willing to listen without judgement.

"We must be aware that we live in stressful times," he advised. "We need to understand that mental health can be a problem and promote the concept of wellness. Then, we must provide support to people who need help. Last of all, we can boost each other's efforts and encourage each other as we go along."

Professor David Chan, Director of the Behavioural Sciences Institute at the Singapore Management University, raised a number of suggestions that employers—and especially HR—can take to improve workplace understanding and handling of mental well-being.

"The first suggestion is to bear in mind that although we are in a crisis situation, it is all the more important to remember why we work," he said. "People work for money, obviously, but they don't just work for money. People work, and stay on in a job, and look for a job, where they can find meaning and growth."

In other words, he elaborated, employers need to pay attention to how they can adjust job characteristics and job scope to make people more satisfied with the work.

His second suggestion was to give employees the opportunity to use their full range of skills. This, he said, is especially important during the pandemic downturn because at this point in time, a significant proportion of the workforce are in jobs that they would not normally want to do, having taken a pay cut, sometimes with a greater workload, and only able to exercise a very small part of their skill set.

"It makes a difference to the person's enjoyment of their work and the productivity of the workplace and the organization, when they are making full use of their talents," he noted.

Finally, he suggested, it is very important that employers help their workers understand how their tasks contribute to the overall organizational mission, so that they can have a sense of significance. "When I perform a task, am I able to see how my task relates to the product or service as a whole?" he asked.

These concepts of helping employees to find meaning and growth in their work are frequently classified as employee engagement. But, it turns out, they have a real and large impact on the mental and emotional well-being of the workforce. And at a time when the pandemic and the economic downturn make it very difficult to address many other dissatisfaction factors—such as pay, workload, or working environment—catering to these needs could make a great difference in how safe, healthy, and happy today's workplaces are.