One of our promotional graphics for our Working from Home Wellbeing Webinar
Background
COVID-19 hasn’t just been physically harming, it’s also been mentally draining. If your wellbeing has suffered whilst working from home then we’ve got a webinar just for you! Working from home has become a large part of many of our lives as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. As a health and safety company, we believe it’s important to promote good wellbeing during this challenging time.
Hosting the webinar
Megan McGinney, our resident Wellbeing Ambassador and Training Coordinator, has designed a Working from Home Wellbeing Webinar. Megan has experience with face to face learning and an honours degree in applied psychology, making her the perfect host.
What will be covered?
The webinar will cover different topics surrounding wellbeing. There will be focus on:
What mental wellbeing is and why we need to focus on it
The impacts of poor mental wellbeing
How stress, anxiety and depression can present itself.
We will focus on providing ways in which attendees can develop a good work-life balance as well as tips on how to express their needs and mindfulness. We have included a section on how to access resources from work alongside free resources that are available to each attendee should they not want to go through official channels.
Who is it aimed at?
Our target audience is attendees who have been, and are currently, working from home during COVID-19.
Resource Pack
Each webinar attendee will be provided with a free resource pack containing additional information on everything discussed. There will be links and contact details to apps and online resources designed to support wellbeing.
When is our next webinar?
Our next webinar is on the 27th of July at 11:00. Tickets are available through Eventbrite, you can click here to register for free now!
Here are a few links to some of our previous articles about wellbeing:
Working from Home: Physical and Mental Wellbeing – click here.
Taking Care of Employee and Colleague Wellbeing – click here.
If you have any questions about our webinar or would like more information please get in touch through t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or e: info@amalgamate-safety.com
As we continue to move towards a relaxation of the current rules surrounding COVID-19, we start to consider what the ‘new normal’ might look like. We feel that a return to our previous routines may be a long way off, and home working will remain for the foreseeable future.
As an employer, we have the same health and safety responsibilities for home workers as for any other workers. Ensuring that our employees are safe, healthy and productive can feel like a significant challenge for many businesses.
Prior to the current pandemic, our teams have been supporting clients with employees working from home or classed as teleworkers for many years and developed a toolkit to support these needs. During the outbreak we’ve been working in collaboration with our clients to enhance that toolkit, providing ergonomic and wellbeing support.
Our services include:
Self-Assessment – An online risk assessment to be completed and submitted for review;
Triage – Survey results are triaged by our DSE Assessors or Ergonomist to identify employees at risk or requiring further support;
Ergonomist Support – Ergonomists available to support employees. Local Ergo Support teams through Skype, bluejeans or zoom to provide advice and support on workstation set up, ergo risks and healthy work habits;
Online Training – Help your teams with ergo set up knowledge and provide advice and support. Delivered over Skype, bluejeans or zoom; and
Ergo Cafe Drop-in Sessions – Online drop-in cafe sessions once or twice a week for 30-60 mins. Designed for people to call in and ask questions/request advice regarding any issues they are experiencing while working from home. Delivered over Skype, bluejeans or zoom.
MindGenius have also recently published a great article on Homeworking & Homeschooling during Covid-19 which you can click here to read!
As a consultancy, we see working from home playing a significant part in our work life for the foreseeable future. As a result we are investing in new technology to manage those risks and we’re also in the process of developing an integrated risk assessment, support and training App for businesses of all sizes.
For more information on our support packages or our Home Working App, please contact us on t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or email us on info@amagamalgamate-safety.com.
We also have a few articles with some tips for working from home:
At Amalgamate we believe that Health & Safety is an integrated part of every business – and people make businesses. That is why we’re focused on the individuals and them being effective at work.
Worksmart’s Managing Director, Steve Neilson, approached Amalgamate asking for support in implementing procedures to help dyslexic workers within their company.
Worksmart Contracts are a leading solutions based Interior Fit-Out & Refurbishment Contractor. They deliver Projects on Time with Value for Money, Quality with Communication and Determination throughout Scotland and the UK.
This infographic from Dyslexic Advantage illustrates common strengths and challenges that are often involved with dyslexia and how you can provide a Dyslexia-Friendly Workplace.
Managing Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling. It is estimated that between 5-10% of the worldwide population is seriously affected by this.
Dyslexics are present in every industry, including high risk ones such as construction. Realising that risk, Worksmart requested guidance for managing dyslexic workers in order to maximise their potential at work and ensure that safety critical information was communicated effectively.
Support
Our Consultant Roza Ketner provided Steve and his team with comprehensive guidance on managing dyslexia in construction. She has also adapted existing safety documents being used on Worksmart sites into a dyslexia friendly format.
Our ‘Managing Dyslexia’ guidance provides information about dyslexia, its challenges and practical advice on how to support dyslexic employees in the workplace. It has been written and formatted in a dyslexia friendly format. This works well for everyone in the workforce – not just the ones with additional needs.
In addition, we have also reformatted Worksmart’s site induction presentation to support dyslexic users. The presentation is now being used across the company ensuring that all safety critical arrangements are fully understood by everyone.
To Conclude
We will continue to support Worksmart by developing all of their safety toolkits into a dyslexia friendly format including method statements and risk assessments.
We believe that it is worth going the extra mile in order to ensure that everyone at work is safe and thriving – because a business can’t thrive without its employees.
For further information on supporting dyslexic employees in the workplace, click here.
We have also been helping to provide support for Polish employees, to read more about this click here.
If you require support with managing dyslexia on site or have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call us on t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or email: info@amalgamate-safety.com
We’ve put together some useful tips and tricks on creating an ergonomic workspace to alleviate pain and discomfort whilst maintaining work productivity.
Upper limb disorder/discomfort
Upper limb disorders (ULDs) include aches and pains in the shoulders, arms, wrists, hands and fingers, as well as in the neck. These may be caused or made worse by using a computer.
ULDs are more common in work that involves:
Prolonged, repetitive work particularly using the same hand or arm action.
Uncomfortable or awkward working positions.
Sustained or excessive force.
Carrying out a task for a long time without suitable breaks.
Working with hand-held power tools for long periods of time.
Other influences may be:
A poor working environment.
Poor work organisation.
Individual differences and vulnerability.
Workers may have symptoms in their upper limbs such as:
Aches and pains, tenderness, weakness, tingling, numbness, cramp, burning, redness and swelling.
Stiffness, pain or reduced movement in their joints.
Alleviating discomfort
Creating an ergonomic workspace is highly effective at alleviating discomfort. Below is a variety of quick stretches you can perform to prevent discomfort at your desk:
Neck glides – sit or stand up straight, glide head back as far as it will go, keeping head and ears level, then glide head forward. Repeat 3 times.
Shoulder shrugs – sit or stand up straight, circle shoulders backwards 3 times with arms relaxed by your side.
Upper Back Stretches – cross arms and raise hands to rest on the front of the shoulders, using your arms push shoulders back and keep elbows down. Hold for 15 seconds, repeat 3 times.
Forearm Stretches – sit or stand up straight, extend one arm in front, elbow straight and hand flexed. Stretch forearm muscles by placing the palm of the other hand across the front of the first hand and push towards the body.
Forward presses – gently interlock your fingers, press your palms away from your body, gently stretching the forearm muscles, fingers and the muscles between your shoulder blades. Hold for five seconds.
Posture
Poor posture can result in chronic pain, musculoskeletal disorders, and injuries all of which impact long-term health and productivity. To reduce those risks and enhance wellbeing, it’s important to implement healthy habits that will improve your posture.
Tips for improving posture:
Practice neutral posture
This is the spine’s natural alignment position. This can be achieved by keeping your computer monitor at eye level, keep your back flat against your chair, rest feet flat on the ground or even use a lumbar support tool.
Regular breaks
Regular movement every 20-25 minutes increases blood and nutrient flow and also loosens up your body so prevents stiffness. A brisk walk around the room can help boost circulation and energy.
Ergonomic aids
There are excellent supports available on the market to encourage neutral posture and promote better ergonomic habits. A good office chair can be one of the best ergonomic aids to relieve discomfort and prevent injury. Other aids include sit-stand desks, office footrests, monitor arms, and keyboard trays.
This infographic from Yorback details how to achieve the correct sitting posture, click here for their full article containing this image.
Seating
Seating is highly important in creating an ergonomic workspace. If you don’t have space for an ergonomic chair, you could make some comfortable adjustments to your current chair. For example sitting wedges to angle your pelvis forward slightly for a better posture, or better yet, a back-friend to make it a little bit more supportive. If you are able purchase a new chair, there are thousands of Ergonomic or task chairs on the market to choose from in a range of prices.
Chairs should be adjustable, comfortable, sturdy, sourced from a reputable supplier, and come with at least a 5 year guarantee. If your chair can be adjusted, make sure you take time to adjust the chair appropriately. The chair arms should be adjusted or removed if they’re preventing the user from getting into the ideal seating position.
Once the chair height is set to the optimum position, check to see if a footrest is needed. Once set, the chair and the height of the backrest should not be adjusted as these are based on the person’s height, which won’t alter.
Hydration, diet, and breaks
Our diets can drive anxiety and worsen mood which is what makes our food choices so important. Planning meals and being mindful of the types of food we buy can hep to reduce anxiety. When focusing on numerous different tasks, staying hydrated can be easily forgotten. Dehydration can cause headaches and decreased memory, and therefore decreased work productivity. Proper hydration boosts metabolism and reduces daytime fatigue, so its important to make sure that you’re increasing your water intake.
Working Environment
It’s important to have a working environment that will prevent distractions and discomfort. Finding a suitable and quiet area or separate room to set up your workspace will help to reduce distracting noises. Natural light is preferred to artificial light and can help to reduce dry or strained eyes. Temperature can also have an effect on work so make sure you are comfortable. If it’s too cold wear a jumper or put the heating on and if it’s too warm open a window or use a fan where possible.
To Conclude
It’s clear just how important creating an ergonomic workspace is in maintaining your physical wellbeing whilst you are working. You can also click here to read our article on working from home during COVID-19 for more tips on creating an efficient workspace.
If you require any further information or support, please don’t hesitate to contact us on either t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or e: info@amalgamate-safety.com
At Amalgamate we believe in supporting all employees and that’s why we’re providing extra help for supporting Polish employees.
Our client, Steve Neilson of Worksmart Contracts Limited, approached Amalgamate asking for support for Polish workers. Worksmart employs a number of polish operatives and regularly engages with polish sub-contractors and therefore asked if we could translate their safety procedures into Polish.
Polish Workforce
Since 2004 nearly a million Polish citizens have migrated and found a new home for themselves in the UK, assimilating very well to their new lives.
Polish employees are present in every industry, and usually their English is good enough to freely communicate around the workplace. However, some industries, especially high risk ones like construction, may request additional support for their Polish employees. This is to ensure that safety critical arrangements are effectively communicated, understood and implemented correctly.
At Amalgamate we have always been welcoming towards newcomers in both our own and our client’s businesses. We are dedicated to supporting our clients and their employees.
Toolkit Development
Our Consultant Roza Ketner (also a Polish national) translated Worksmart’s safety management toolkit into Polish on their behalf. This included the company’s H&S Policy, site inductions, risk assessment, method statements and toolbox talks. These are now used across all Worksmart sites, ensuring that safety critical arrangements are fully understood by all of their workforce.
We will continue to support Worksmart with all aspects of Health and Safety. This initiative enhances their ability to manage their construction sites safely and communicate effectively with all of their workforce.
Literacy, Knowledge, and Understanding
It’s important to emphasise that levels of English literacy must be assessed for foreign candidates before employment. This is to ensure the safety of both this individual and all other people in and around the workplace.
Both Amalgamate and Worksmart are determined to continue to build a strong and safe future for ourselves, our workforce and our clients.
We’ve also been helping to provide support for dyslexic employees in the workplace, to read more click here.
If you would like to discuss how our consultants can support you and Polish employees please contact us on t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or e: info@amalgamate-safety
The Institute of Employment (IES) recently carried out a survey to evaluate the physical and mental wellbeing of employees working from home during the COVID-19 crisis. Thousands of employees have been forced to work from home raising concerns around the possible impacts this might have. Employers will have to attempt to manage these impacts including deterioration in mental and physical wellbeing, work morale and motivation.
Their survey considers the following:
Whether employees feel trust with their employers
Whether they are worried about job security
Have employees lost sleep worrying about finance, family, health, work-life balance, etc, and is this affecting their work morale?
Launched in March 2020, the survey was designed for homeworkers to measure their wellbeing whilst working from home during COVID-19.
This infographic from WeAreTheCity illustrates and explains 7 ways to get a better work-life balance, aiding in well-being.
Physical Wellbeing
The survey asked homeworkers, ‘how often have you had this condition in the last 2 weeks compared to normal?’ More than half of respondents suffered from aches/pains in neck, shoulder and back, eye strain, headaches or migraines and loss of sleep from worry resulting in fatigue. Less than half experienced aches/pains in knees, hips, wrist/hand and elbow, heartburn or indigestion, leg cramps and chest pain.
These results illustrate that working at home as a result of COVID-19 is having an affect on many components of employee physical health. It also illustrates that a good ergonomic set up plays a significant part in employee’s physical wellbeing at work.
Emotional Wellbeing
It’s clear that the current situation is also having a detrimental influence on the emotional wellbeing of homeworkers. A significant amount of employees stated that they don’t feel rested, calm or relaxed. In addition feeling inactive and having no interest in their day, was noted. Some respondents also felt anxious about the health of family members and friends.
It was recorded that respondents were also worried about family finance and job security. Loneliness and isolation featured heavily in responses with many suggesting they don’t feel cheerful or in good spirits.
Mental Wellbeing
The survey used the WHO-5 well-being index to determine the mental health of employees working from home. This suggested that those who are suffering most are:
looking after elderly relatives;
living with parents or renting;
new to home renting;
working more than 10 hours longer than contracted per week; and
in less frequent contact with their boss and younger workers.
These categories cover the vast majority of employees working at home. It’s clear this situation is having an impact on thousands of people’s mental wellbeing across the country.
Other health concerns
It was noted that over almost half of respondents worried that they were exercising less, they did not have enough time to get their work done and were working long and irregular hours.
A significant percentage of home-workers admitted they were under too much work pressure, their alcohol consumption had increased, they were eating less healthily and had continued working despite illness.
Action for employers
The overall findings from the survey suggest that there has been a significant decline in both the physical and mental wellbeing of employees working from home. Results show that musculoskeletal health, diet and exercise has declined in the majority of homeworkers.
However, the effects aren’t just physical, increased emotional concerns over finance, isolation, energy, work-life balance and family health were also recorded from the respondents.
It’s clear that many employees working from home are facing a challenging time and support from fellow employees and most importantly employers is crucial during this crisis to maintain wellbeing, work morale and motivation.
There are a number of simple steps that employers should consider taking, as well as the normal compliance requirements around ergonomic set up (Display Screen Equipment). We recommend supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of employees with regular check ups – informal messaging groups or virtual coffee mornings are a good place to start. Regular contact with bosses and colleagues, particularly those at ‘high risk’ is essential. In addition, access to an Employee Assistance Programme would be valuable.
We would also recommend that performance targets and monitoring may need to be adjusted accordingly, this may involve the reallocation of tasks and priorities.
If you would like support developing strategies for managing the physical and mental wellbeing of your employees who are working from home please do not hesitate to contact us on t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or e: info@amalgamate-safety.com
Working during lockdown can be challenging for everyone – that’s why we need to be taking care of employee and colleague wellbeing, as well as our own. We’re being made more aware of the impact that quarantine and isolation can have on mental wellbeing. We need to look after ourselves, our friends, family, colleagues, employees, etc.
However, isolation doesn’t mean zero contact with the outside world. We are lucky enough to live in a time where we can talk to people from across the world within the safety of our own homes. There are so many different platforms designed for virtual contact; Skype, iMessage, Email, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom, the list goes on.
Here’s a few things we’ve put together which you can do to help your colleagues, and yourself, stay on top of your social interaction and wellbeing.
Connect
Working from home means we don’t have the same opportunity to bump into each other in the office and have a quick, casual chat. It might be that conversations with your team feels scripted because your only form of contact is centred around work. Set aside some time to have genuine conversations with the people you work with and ask them how they’re doing. Do little things together that will improve your team’s mood, this could be making a playlist for work, collective coffee breaks or lunch group calls. Include people that may have been furloughed as a way to keep them involved in the team dynamic.
Be Compassionate
It’s important to understand that people who are normally very self-sufficient and focused may be struggling without the office structure. People might have young children that don’t understand the situation. This can increase stress and anxiety levels, resulting in a decrease of work quantity and quality. Lend a hand to someone who might be feeling overwhelmed by their workload and if possible, encourage flexible working hours. Emphasise that once their working day is done, work equipment should be put away. A healthy balance between ‘work’ and ‘life’ needs to be established to maintain mental wellbeing.
Listen
A team needs to know they can talk to each other and ask for help when they need it. Everyone is busy and trying their best to continue their usual workflow which can lead to people feeling that they’re causing a disturbance or inconvenience when asking for help. Take some time to let people know that even though you’re busy, you’re not too busy to help. Let each other talk and vent without being judgmental. Keep in mind that everyone has different tolerance levels and things that one person may not find a big deal, could be keeping someone else up at night. If you think someone may be struggling in a way that you don’t know how to help, ask them if they want to speak to someone qualified and direct them to help through ‘higher-ups’, HR or Occupational Health.
Give Direction
There hasn’t been a scenario quite like this one in recent history. Finding a good balance between giving direction to your team and smothering them can be a challenge. Decide who within your team needs more attention to keep on track and who is managing well on their own. Encourage group interactions such as, “I’m finished this task but can’t get started on the next until xxx has finished their part. Is there anything I can do to help anyone else?” Each person should have a clear objective and know how to work towards it.
Have Fun
Whilst getting work done is everyone’s main objective, having fun should also be a high priority. Find things that your team can do outside of working hours as a group activity. Things like online yoga classes, quiz nights, cooking competitions, starting a TV show together etc. can be great. Activities like this can really help to bring a group together and improve morale. Even though you can’t be together physically you can still have fun and interact virtually to prevent feeling alone/isolated.
RewardGateway have created this infographic showing 16 ways to Connect, Support and Recognise Teams in Times of Uncertainty, click here for their full article.
To Conlcude
Taking care of employee and colleague wellbeing is important, but so is looking after your own. Click here to read our article on maintaining wellbeing whilst working from home during COVID-19. You can also click here to read the NHS’s Every Mind Matters article on mental wellbeing while staying at home.
If you have any further questions or require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us by t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or email: info@amalgamate-safety.com
Before COVID-19, there was a crisis in mental health in the workplace, costing the UK economy almost £35 billion. COVID-19 has highlighted these problems, with mental health collectively suffering and deteriorating across the UK. Here is what we think workplaces should be encouraging to help support their employees and colleagues.
How can you make wellbeing a priority?
Doing 2 of these 5 things each week is said to make a huge difference to mental wellbeing.
Connect
Be active
Take notice
Learn
Give
Developing a routine that works for you:
Plan how you will spend each day including when you will take breaks and finish working.
Try to get as much sunlight as possible, work with the window open, and spend some time each day outside if it’s safe to do so.
Keep active, build physical activity time into your routine.
Eat well and stay hydrated.
Keep taking any medication you’re on.
Don’t overload yourself with information, take breaks from the news and try to stick with reputable sources.
Understanding your mental wellbeing
What keeps you well? – Think what helps you to balance your day and lift your mood. Is there a particular way of working that makes things easier for you?
What are some triggers and early warning signs? – What things create a negative environment and how can you work around this? If you can think of things that trigger your mental health then you can begin to eliminate these from your day or work on how to manage these triggers better.
Impacts of mental wellbeing on performance – How is your mental health affecting your work life and personal life and are you able to separate these two?
Negative coping strategies – Are you using healthy coping strategies and if not, how can you change these strategies for the better?
It’s important that you’re asking yourself these questions but also relating this to the people you work with and discussing it. This way, you can better understand yourself and others, therefore helping to promote mental health wellbeing in the workplace.
Resources
Here you can find more information on how to work well from home during lockdown. This can be used to develop your wellness strategy or as an individuals guide.
Here is a great source of information that gives advice for staying at home, looking after mental wellbeing, support for work and checklists for staying at home.
Do you and your employees/colleagues know what mindfulness is and how to use it to your collective advantage? Find out more about what mindfulness is here.
You can also read our other article on taking care of employee and colleague wellbeing here.
If you have any further questions or require any further support, please do not hesitate to contact us by t: +44 (0)141 244 0181 or email: info@amalgamate-safety.com
As the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to change daily. We would like to give you an operational update. As a business we doing everything we can to ensure we keep our team safe while continuing to deliver the quality of services expected by our clients.
Following the latest advice from the UK Government we have put in place measures to ensure that our business can continue to operate efficiently.
We continue to communicate with and support both our team and clients through the current situation and are constantly assessing both UK and Scottish Government updates.
Our IT systems are specifically designed to allow our core team to homework and we will be encouraging them to do so from next week. As a business, we are geared up for online video conferencing and cloud based telephone calls.
However, with immediate effect and to protect the health, safety and well-being of our team, all face-to-face / non-critical meetings will be postponed. Our training provision will be restricted to essential training only i.e. First Aid at Work. Safety critical site operations will continue but any non-essential travel will be postponed.
Click here for further information on the steps being taken to protect our First Aid training candidates.
Amalgamate would like to re-assure our clients that we are still operational. Our team will continue to suppor you through these difficult times. If you need any assistance, please contact us through our normal channels.
We value your business and thank you for the continued support.
