Mental health check for HGV drivers
Mental health check for HGV drivers! Mental health is a subject that’s been in the news a many recently. But why! Because this is becoming more common for people to suffer from mental illnesses and mental health problems, and we need to made a change. According to analysis done this HSE, half a million people suffer from job-related stress, depression / anxiety, and over 30% of self-reported job-related illnesses within the transport and logistics industry is down to mental health. Our UK economy is resting on the shoulders of the man and ladies behind the wheel of HGV’s, and we feel it’s our duty to security them. So today, we like to talk about driver mental health.
How can mental health situation affect you?
As a HGV driver, your work involves a lot of strenuous hours of driving and potentially spending a lot of time away from your family, these can both be big causes of mental health problems. The nature of HGV driving can quit workers feeling extremely isolated, combined with a death of sleep extremely stressed.
Perhaps the scariest part of someone dealing with mental health is that this is not visible, it can creep up on anyone and affects 1000 of people. Dealing with stress and anxiety could potentially have an effect with your driving performance and as a HGV drivers, you are part of 1 of the biggest industries in the world, then without you, a lot of businesses would come on a halt.
What can you do?
1 of the most important things you can do is talk. Talking to others whether this is be a colleague, family member / a helpline is the first step to helping yourself. The reason it is important to talk about your mental health issues is because it allows you to speak your mind and vent about what you are dealing with. This is extremely common to feel alone, especially when driving a HGV so, by talking to someone this shows there are people who care about what you have to say.
2nd, ensuring you maintain a better diet and exercise as much as you can will help you become more positive. This can be hard with the lifestyle and working hours of a logistics driver to eat healthy and exercise but, this is vital you try you’re best to be active and healthy.
What is look out for in others?
If you are worried / concerned about someone and think they may be dealing with mental health issues, there are some sings you can look at for:
Change in behave.
lack on energy.
Lack on self-confidence.
Distancing own selves.
These are only a few ways in which you can potentially tell if someone is dealing with mental health problem.
This could potentially be affecting a person you work with every day. It’s problem can take a long time to deal with but, the faster you speak out, the quicker this can be resolved. We need to stick together and most importantly do not be afraid to talk. Any company who do not let DVLA know about the mental health condition of the drivers can be fines £1000.
