It’s okay not to be okay: BWI marks World Mental Health Day 2024

Today, we mark World Mental Health Day, a reminder of the importance of mental well-being in all aspects of life, including the workplace. The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) stands with the global trade union movement to highlight that mental health is a critical worker issue. Poor mental health and stress can severely affect workers' job performance, communication with colleagues, and personal relationships. It is essential to acknowledge that it’s okay to not be okay, even at work.

As workers and trade unionists, it’s vital to recognise when we or our colleagues are experiencing emotional and mental stress. Responding appropriately is a shared responsibility that can improve workplace environments. Mental health is closely tied to decent work conditions, fair wages, and gender equality—issues directly affecting workers' well-being. BWI has developed a Mental Health Fact Sheet as a guide to help workers support each other, focusing on emotional, psychological, and social well-being, make sure to distribute them at your workplaces!

On this day, we also want to highlight the victory of getting psychosocial risks acknowledged as key risks in the ILO Code of Practice for OSH in Forestry, adopted this year, and that this recognition is relevant for all sectors. 

The document specifies that psychosocial hazards may cause psychological and physical harm and arise from factors such as; the design or management of work; the work environment; equipment at a workplace; workplace interactions or behaviours;  violence and harassment; and decent work deficits. It specifies that employers have a responsibility to eliminate or minimise these risks and conduct psychosocial risk assessments.

These assessments, should be developed in consultation with workers and their representatives and cover roles and responsibilities of managers, professional staff, contractors and subcontractors. The psychosocial risk assessment should consider decent work deficits, isolated work, high work demands, need for breaks, and work-related stress and fatigue, resulting from features of the work and the workplace.

Bring this to your employers and make sure that psychosocial risks are addressed at every workplace!