The following description was taken from Drivermetrics – Improving Driver Well-being: A Guide for Managers
During the pandemic, companies have faced new challenges as their employees’ well-being and mental health has suffered. Worries about friends and family, feelings of stress, sadness, confusion and negativity have affected job performance (ICF, 2020a). Research to investigate changes in adult mental health in the UK population before and during the lockdown found that by late April, 2020, mental health in the UK had deteriorated compared with pre-COVID-19 trends (Pierce et al, 2020). Studies carried out early in the pandemic have reported elevated levels of anxiety and depression compared to previous rates (e.g. Pieh et al., 2020; Shevlin et al, 2020). Social isolation is necessary to control the spread of the virus but the degree to which individuals are interconnected and embedded across various communities including the workplace, has a powerful impact on their health and well-being. Drastic changes in daily life mean that many people have been working from home and this has led to increased social isolation and a reduction in the social support networks available in the workplace.
This white paper is designed to help managers understand the effect that poor mental health can have on driver behaviour and provides practical advice on how to improve well-being when driving for work. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased the number of people working remotely. Being isolated from the everyday social life of the workplace means that remote workers are less likely to benefit from the team interactions and conversing with colleagues that site based workers enjoy.
From a Human Resource perspective, there are concerns that remote working can lead to a loss of community spirit and engagement with the shared values of the workplace and drivers may have problems with well-being without managers being aware of any issues. From a fleet safety perspective, there are concerns that some mental health conditions can impair driving ability and increase the risk of crash involvement.
The white paper aims to:
- Understand key concepts around mental health and its impact in the workplace.
- Discover the latest research into the impact of poor mental health on driver behaviour.
- Learn practical methods to improve mental health at work and improve driver safety.