Denver — Wellness, well-being, psycho-social risks and mental health were all covered in a case study featuring Vulcan Materials Company in a Tuesday afternoon session at the National Safety Congress.

Vulcan’s approach to the so-called invisible side of safety — feelings, emotional states, moods, anxiety, depression, burnout, fatigue, suicide ideation and more — comes down to a set of values. Here are some mentioned in this case study:

We care about you beyond work.

We need to focus on the stuff that can kill you outside of work – heart attacks, strokes, diseases.

You need to focus on the whole person, not just the person on the line, in the truck, but the human being and their lives 24/7/365.

Lead with courageous engagement – managers are to be visible, helpful and vulnerable, ready to open up, share feelings, have the hard conversations with employees who appear stressed, off, struggling.

Build systems that support – give employees options to support their diet, smoke cessation, staying sober, substance abuse recovery. Don’t isolate individuals and leave them without options, without help and support..

We want you to go home better than when you came in this morning – healthier in body, more skilled, healthier in outlook, etc. To go home the same as when you came is only the minimum.

You need to know something about how employees come to work. They may be dealing with financial issues, relationship issues, lack of sleep, in a mood, in a funk. Many will not be 100% present.

For employees to be 100% present at work, build their resilience by focusing on fitness and movement support (move well, move often, stretch), sleep and fatigue management, and nutrition support (healthy options offered at work).

Meet people where they are in terms of the training, education, conversations, and support services they can be engaged in.

Engage employees from the head down, not the shoulders down. Let employees use their heads. Ask, “You seem a little off. What’s going on?” Recognize the importance of having the right time and place for these conversations. Don’t shy away from asking about stress, the causes of being stressed out. But recognize you can’t ask these questions without trust and knowing when to pull back on the hard questions.

Focus on these engagement areas: 1) SIFs and critical controls validations; 2) incident investigations; 3) safety meetings; 4) pre-work planning (JSAs and JHAs); and 5) survey.

Practice intentional engagement: focus on psycho-social risks; educate; have critical conversations; and be certain to follow up.

Practice mental health by stealth. You don’t have to talk specifically about mental health. Ask “How’s it going?’ “How’s the family?” “How’s it going at home?” Instead of face-to-face talks, have shoulder to shoulder walk and talks or drive and talks; people will open up sometimes when the conversation isn’t in your face.