While it is something that most managers won’t have to deal with in their career, at times situations can arise in the workplace which can be traumatic to employees or have the potential to be traumatic for managers. We call this type of situation a Critical Incident and examples include armed robbery, assault, threats of harm, accidental injury or death. These incidents tend to be rare in most jobs however if they do occur, they can cause psychological distress, or trauma. There are some things you can do as a manager to support staff early after one of these events to reduce the chances of prolonged trauma.

Coping with Disaster and Trauma…..

Being directly or even indirectly involved in a disastrous event can cause immediate and long term disruption to your life. It’s not uncommon to experience a range of intense and sometimes confusing emotions, such as:

Summer holidays allow us to switch off and become refreshed, recuperated and reenergized. The time off can not only give us the opportunity to break any bad habits we have gained during the past year, it also gives us a chance to establish good habits and set new goals for the year ahead.

With the Heads Up campaign in full swing, it’s a good time to remind business owners of the importance of a mentally healthy workplace and their role in creating one. The Heads Up campaign is a joint initiative between beyondblue and the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance and aims to raise awareness of mental health and promote wellbeing in the workplace. Heads Up has released some very interesting stats and figures that highlight the business argument for a mentally healthy workplace.

According to AccessEAP client data, anxiety is the leading mental health issue in Australian workplaces. On average, one in four people will experience an anxiety disorder at some stage in their life. The proportion of Australian adults suffering from anxiety is on the rise and grew by more than 50% in the five years between 2007 and 2012.

This year’s theme for Mental Health Month is ‘be YOUnique’.

Whilst most businesses strive to create teams AccessEAP believes having the ability to recognise each employee’s unique qualities adds value to the team, the individual as well as the company’s bottom line. Smart businesses will encourage employees to accept their own uniqueness and to especially take pride in the qualities that enrich their mental health and wellbeing.