Toolbox talk · Environment and welfare · about 5 minutes
Mental health and wellbeing
Download the PDF with attendance sheet
Why it matters
Mental health matters as much as physical safety. Pressure, long hours and time away from home can affect anyone. Talking helps.
The hazards
- Stress and long hours
- Money, relationship or family worries
- Isolation and working away
- Drink or drugs used to cope
Stay safe
- Look out for changes in a colleague: quieter, withdrawn, irritable or not themselves
- Ask how they are, then ask again
- Listen without judging
- Point them to support: your manager, a mental health first aider or their GP
- Samaritans are free and available 24 hours a day on 116 123
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 999
Ask the team
- Who are the mental health first aiders here?
- What signs might show a mate is struggling?
- How would you start that conversation?
The law and guidance
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
General guidance to help you give a toolbox talk. It doesn't replace your site's risk assessments, method statements, permits or training. Check it against your own site rules before you give it.