AUTHOR=Chen Yanbing , Ingram Carolyn , Downey Vicky , Roe Mark , Drummond Anne , Sripaiboonkij Penpatra , Buckley Claire , Alvarez Elizabeth , Perrotta Carla , Buggy Conor 

TITLE=Employee Mental Health During COVID-19 Adaptation: Observations of Occupational Safety and Health/Human Resource Professionals in Ireland

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 67 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604720

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2022.1604720

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Objectives:  This study aims to understand mental health issues among Irish employees arising from COVID-19 adaptation from the perspective of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and/or Human Resource (HR) professionals.
Methods: Fifteen focus groups including 60 OSH HR professionals from various sectors were conducted covering four predetermined themes. The data were transcribed verbatim, with transcripts entered into Nvivo for thematic analysis incorporating intercoder reliability testing.
Results: The mental health impacts among employees are identified from three stages: pre-adaptation, during adaptation, and post-adaptation. Most issues were reported during the second stage when working conditions dramatically changed to follow emerging COVID-19 policies. The identified mental health support from participating organizations included providing timely and reliable information, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), informal communication channels, hybrid work schedules and reinforcement of control measures.
Conclusions: This study explores the challenges facing employees during the different stages of COVID-19 adaptation and the associated mental health impacts. The experiences shared by OSH professionals in this study illustrate their agility and ability to apply their risk management and control skills to any unanticipated public/occupational health crisis that arises.