Are mental health issues a workplace injury? Yes, according to a recent study. In fact, these are the most common workplace accidents.
The report from Atticus, a workers’ compensation and disability company headquartered in Los Angeles, found that mental health issues account for 52 percent of all workplace injury cases, more than any other type.
“It makes people look at mental health differently, that you might look at a mental health issue, maybe an injury,” said Dan Schawbel, a workplace expert who is not connected to the study. “And maybe we should consider or think about the importance of disability insurance and what it covers.”
The study used nonfatal injury data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fatal and catastrophic injury data from OSHA, and work-related injury data from Google Trends. It ranked U.S. states based on workplace safety and also relied on an Atticus survey of 1,000 workers.
The study found that one in ten workers suffer from work-related mental health problems and that these problems are more common than other types of workplace injuries. For example: mental health problems are 10 times more common than chemical exposure and almost nine times more common than head injuries.
Dr. Emily Anhalt, a clinical psychologist and co-founder of Coa, which helps clients strengthen their mental health programs, said this was no surprise given that employees increasingly rely on their cognitive abilities rather than physical to do their job. “Then add to that,” she said, “we just went through this crazy pandemic where everyone is in survival mode, and we’re kind of just getting some fresh air and processing all this that we have experienced.”
Anhalt added that it is in a company’s best interest to prioritize psychological well-being. She pointed out that insurance companies, which once placed low priority on preventive care, now realize that “it costs more to fix a problem than to prevent it.”
“I think what’s happening is we’re reaching this inflection point with mental health,” she added, “where businesses, individuals, corporations, insurance companies, everyone is beginning to understand that it costs our culture and our society more to remedy the situation. mental health problems than preventing them and proactively helping people to have better mental health.
Workplace researcher Dan Schawbel recommends that companies create a culture in which employees feel comfortable talking about their mental health issues.
“So culturally, it has to be acceptable to be honest with your manager about what you’re dealing with from a mental health perspective,” he said. He added that companies should include more mental health benefits. For example, he said, in recent years many companies have started offering free therapy sessions.
Merritt Ryan of Atticus said it’s important for workers’ compensation insurance to cover mental health. He pointed out that it is currently almost impossible to make a mental health claim. In comparison, physical injuries receive medical treatment and wage replacement benefits from workers’ compensation insurers.
Still, Victoria Muñoz Torres, the attorney who heads the workers’ compensation function at Atticus, says workers should always consult attorneys to learn about the benefits available to them. For example, if a worker is physically injured – and it leads to mental health issues – a workers’ compensation attorney can attach a secondary claim to the original physical injury claim. Additionally, Torres added, if the mental health issue can be traced to a specific incident in the workplace, a person could also qualify for benefits.
“Even if you’re not sure whether your mental health condition qualifies you for benefits, you should talk to an expert,” she said. “You should talk to a lawyer about this, because they are going to be in the best position to inform you of your rights. And you shouldn’t necessarily, you know, take at face value what your employer tells you or doesn’t tell you what you’re entitled to. “
Dylan Croll is a Yahoo Finance reporter.
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