Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of new findings from the National Safety Council’s Workforce Trends Indicator Survey that found feelings of depression and anxiety were strongly correlated with how safe a respondent felt at work.
The NSC noted that respondents who felt unsafe at work were nearly 3x more likely to report also experiencing depressive symptoms within the past two weeks compared to those who felt safe at work. Respondents who felt unsafe at work were also more than twice as likely to also report feeling symptoms of anxiety compared to those who felt safe at work. Workers with the highest level of concern for their safety at work were the most likely to report feeling depressed or anxious frequently enough to meet one of the criteria for clinical diagnosis of mental illness. NSC found 40% of people who reported feeling “very” unsafe at work reported having symptoms of depression all or most days, while only 1% of people who felt very safe at work reported the same.