Prioritizing Employee Mental Health - National Safety Council

Workplace Mental Health

Mental distress in the workplace has long remained a hidden challenge, but its visibility and urgency have grown significantly in the last few years. While many employers once viewed mental health as a private issue, the cumulative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, global uncertainty and shifting work norms have exposed mental wellbeing as a core business and safety concern.

Left unaddressed, mental distress contributes to absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, rising health care costs and even higher risks of workplace errors or injuries especially in safety-critical sectors like construction, manufacturing and transportation.

Learn Key Terms, Definitions

Current Picture

Nearly 76% of workers
report experiencing at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the past year

84% of employees
say workplace conditions adversely impacted their mental wellbeing

85% of workers
experience exhaustion or burnout symptoms due to work, 47% report needing time off for mental health

Studies show that work-related psychosocial hazards (high stress, long hours, etc.) are increasingly contributing to occupational injuries, illness and disability, including:

Impaired Focus & Decision-Making: Research has found that mental distress can impair memory, slow reaction times, and reduce the ability to focus on tasks

Fatigue & Burnout: Anxiety, depression and insomnia drain energy and disrupt sleep; researchers estimate about 13% of workplace injuries are linked to sleep difficulties

Increased Errors & Incidents: A growing body of evidence directly links mental health conditions to higher incident-rates; one prospective study found workers with depressive symptoms had 3x the risk of workplace injuries compared to their peers

Substance Use: Over one-third of U.S. adults with mental illness also have a substance use disorder; industries like construction report opioid and alcohol use rates 2x the national average

Psychological Safety & Reporting: When workers don’t feel psychologically safe, they are less likely to speak up about hazards or fatigue; NSC SAFER research found workers who feel unsafe speaking up report more injuries (36.5% vs. 20.2%)

Mental Health Challenges in Key Sectors

employers must act

Investing in behavioral health services
yields a ROI of 2.3x, with a $190 reduction in medical claims costs for every $100 invested, according to research across 19 US employers

Every $1 invested in mental health
yields a $4 return in improved health and productivity due to lower absenteeism/presenteeism and increased performance, says a W.H.O./Harvard study

Mental health-related presenteeism
costs employers far more than absenteeism ($5,524 per person a year vs $390) making productivity loss from mental distress over 14x higher

NSC Helps Employers Take Action

Recognizing this critical need, NSC, in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago and funded by Nationwide, developed a Mental Health Cost Calculator for Employers that:

● Provides evidence-based estimates of costs associated with mental distress
● Shows employers may spend over $15,000 a year per worker with ongoing mental health issues
● Helps quantify financial burdens and ROI of investing in well-designed mental health strategies

Use the calculator to help you build buy-in for your mental health program; review the key takeaways.

Visit the NSC Workplace Wellbeing Hub for additional resources, templates and implementation guidance on addressing mental health concerns in the workplace.

Explore More

● Mental Health at Work: Policy Brief – World Health Organization
● Work in America Survey: Workplace Health & Wellbeing – American Psychological Association
● The 2024 NAMI Workplace Mental Health Poll – National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
● Family Safety & Health® digital edition focused on mental health, substance use and recovery

Mental Health: The Hidden Risk in the Workplace