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Health and Safety at Work: Managing mental health in challenging times
From COVID to floods, managing the mental health of frontline workers during crises means going the extra mile, says FIRST Security’s Senior Rehabilitation and Return to Work Adviser Laura Turner.
As FIRST Security’s Senior Rehabilitation and Return to Work Adviser, Laura Turner has a varied and busy role at the best of times, from supporting injured workers navigate the ACC process and back to work, to looking into fitness for duty matters and managing cases relating to the welfare of staff.
Her role becomes busier when crises – long and short – hit.
Since she started at FIRST Security in November 2021, Laura has noted an increase in referrals relating to mental health. “What the whole world has faced in the past couple of years, and the instability around that, has really taken its toll on people’s mental health,” she says.
In addition to COVID-19, international instabilities, and economic pressures, the recent devastating flooding and cyclone events in the North Island have thrown new and unexpected pressures into the mix.
It’s the little things
“With demand for guarding services actually going up when the floods happened, many of our people took on additional shifts and, in many cases, travelled longer to get to where they were needed,” says Laura.
“We had members of the management team from all over the country travelling to where the cyclone most impacted, and we even had workers who were literally up to their waists in water but still coming into work.” As staff grappled with disruption, destruction, and a great deal of uncertainty, Laura’s expertise and experience was put into play.
“It was a case of being present with them, seeing them at work, calling them, but also making myself available so if they did need a one-on-one, I could refer them to the right person or be there myself. My phone was never turned off.
It was pretty full on with all hands on deck, compiling lists of all potentially affected people, reaching out to them, asking what we can do, managers keeping a close eye on their people and referring to me those that may need support, thinking outside the box in terms of what we could do for them, and doing what we needed to do to make things happen for them.
For those of our people needing to focus on their homes, it was about removing the stress around things like leave. The message from the top was ‘do what you need to do. If people need things just do it’.
For one staff member who lost his house, the FIRST team rallied to assist with grocery shopping, assistance with transport, and other support. “His colleagues were a huge support for him,” says Laura. “As a team everybody really chipped in.”
“And it’s not necessarily about the big things,” she says. “It’s about the little things that you don’t ordinarily think about, but when you’re in a crisis and someone offers to do it for you it really helps. It’s the little things that matter, and making sure that our people are kept safe.”
“Personally, during the floods I saw people stepping up and moving heaven and earth to make sure people were all right and supporting others with offers of food, clothes, and housing. When people are in need it humbles me when you see people going above and beyond.”
Keeping on top of mental health
According to Laura, security guards are often playing a key role on the front line of keeping communities safe, complementing the work of the police in preventing and disrupting crime, and this means keeping on top of their mental health is of paramount importance.
“With the recent ram raiding and people pushing the boundaries of theft and violence, there are occupational violence risks that security guards face. Back in the day a security guard’s job might simply entail standing outside a shop and being a presence whereas now their responsibilities have grown.”
“As a society we do talk about mental health a lot more, but there are still so many people for whom it’s not something they talk about. So, one of my key roles is to help people to open up and find avenues to talk about it.”
“It’s a huge step for someone just to ask for help, so it’s important that we don’t complicate it for them,” she says. “It’s about being able to tailor to what they need. It’s not one size fits all.”
So, what does Laura do to keep on top of her own mental health?
“Meditation and manifestation are techniques that keep me really balanced, and although I don’t technically cut off at the end of the day at five o’clock, I do mentally – until I get a phone call! It’s about maintaining a good balance.”
