{"id":229789,"date":"2026-10-01T11:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthywork.org\/?p=229789"},"modified":"2026-10-01T15:10:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T22:10:01","slug":"mental-health-is-worker-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthywork.org\/pt\/mental-health-is-worker-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health is Worker Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Devan Hawkins<\/a>, Paul Landsbergis<\/a>, Sep 29, 2026, Common Dreams<\/a><\/p>\n

It is clear from occupational health research that work does impact mental health, and this impact should compel politicians to explicitly legislate and develop regulations to protect workers\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/opinion\/mental-health-is-worker-health<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the summer, the Fifth Circuit Court, in a case brought by ExxonMobil<\/a>, ruled that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, had \u201cexceeded its statutory authority\u201d by citing Exxon for failing to record a work-related mental illness.<\/p>\n

This case followed an incident in Baytown, Texas<\/a> where an explosion and fire occurred during repairs on a hydro-desulfurization unit, injuring multiple workers<\/a>. After the explosion, a technician volunteered to lead firefighters to several valves that needed to be shut off to prevent the fire from continuing. While receiving treatment after his first excursion to assist the firefighters, he courageously agreed to lead the first responders to another valve.<\/p>\n

Following this incident, the technician experienced anxiety and was later diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by two professionals. Despite these diagnoses, Exxon did not accept the determination that his PTSD was work-related and requested that the technician see another provider, which the technician refused. The union that represented workers at the Baytown location reported the incident to OSHA, which then issued a penalty against Exxon for failing to record the technician\u2019s PTSD as work related.<\/p>\n

It is also important to acknowledge that there is not a clear distinction between physical injury or illness and mental illness.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

After Exxon challenged the penalty, the Fifth Circuit Court canceled the penalty based on a narrow reading of OSHA\u2019s authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970<\/a> to \u201cprescribe regulations requiring employers to maintain accurate records of, and to make periodic reports on, work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses,\u201d concluding that the \u201cillnesses\u201d referred to in the act do not include mental illnesses.<\/p>\n

While others have questioned the soundness of the legal reasoning in the decision<\/a>, it is clear from occupational health research that work does impact mental health, and that this impact on mental health has consequences for the life, well-being, and indeed physical health of workers. This impact should compel politicians to explicitly legislate and develop regulations to protect workers\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n

Recognizing the impact of work on mental health is nothing new. In an 1844 issue of the Lowell Offering\u2014the publication created by Lowell Mill Girls in the early days of the industrial revolution in the United States\u2014Harriet Farley speculated on how the nature of the toil in work at the Lowell Mills could have contributed to the recent suicides of two of her comrades<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In factory labor it is sometimes an advantage, but also sometimes the contrary, that the mind is thrown back upon itself\u2014it is forced to depend upon its own resources, for a large proportion of the time of the operative. Excepting by sight, the females hold but little companionship with each other.<\/p>\n

Specific work-related factors associated with adverse health consequences include long work hours, shift work, bullying, harassment, workplace violence, traumatic events, low control over work, and job insecurity. These factors stem from the work environment and are not just a concern because of their impact on workers\u2019 mental health, although this connection is clear<\/a>. These sources of stress in the work environment can also increase the risk of physical health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease<\/a>, hypertension, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders (such as carpal tunnel syndrome and low back pain), and acute traumatic injuries. The burden of exposure to these workplace factors is not borne equally by all workers. Due to occupational segregation, exposure to these workplace stressors is often higher among Black and Hispanic workers<\/a>, thereby contributing to health disparities.<\/p>\n

A large proportion of workplace fatalities are also tied to mental health. In 2024<\/a>, in the US, there were reported 410 workplace drug overdoses and 263 workplace suicides. The role of the workplace in these causes of death, both of which are among the leading<\/a> causes<\/a> of death in the United States<\/a>, even when they occur outside of the workplace, has become clear. One recent study<\/a> estimated that work-related factors, including chemical exposures, lack of social support, and long work hours, contribute to 10-13% of suicides. Similarly, research has revealed that the mental health impacts of factors like workplace stress and job insecurity contribute to the risk of drug overdoses<\/a>. The role of the workplace in this risk for drug overdoses is seen in the fact that the loss of manufacturing jobs at the county level is associated with increases in drug overdose mortality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is also important to acknowledge that there is not a clear distinction between physical injury or illness and mental illness, as the Fifth Circuit Court Ruling suggests. Indeed, the very event that prompted the ruling was both a physical hazard, as shown by the resulting injuries, and a mental health hazard, as shown by the technician\u2019s PTSD. Injuries at work have negative consequences for mental health<\/a>. Research suggests that both physical and psychosocial hazards<\/a> at work affect the risk of musculoskeletal disorders.<\/p>\n

A variety of methods exist to protect workers\u2019 mental health. In Australia, workplaces are required to minimize<\/a> psychological hazards \u201cso far as is reasonably practicable.\u201d Reducing occupational psychosocial risks is an imperative under the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Denmark<\/a> requires<\/a> that \u201c[a]t all stages, the work must be planned, organised and carried out in a responsible way to ensure that its impact on the psychosocial working environment is safe and healthy, individually and collectively, in both short and long term.\u201d In the US, some states have addressed parts of the problem by including work-related PTSD in workers\u2019 compensation laws; workplace violence regulations; laws that require minimum nurse staffing levels or ban mandatory overtime for nurses; and paid sick leave, paid family leave, or coverage of domestic workers under labor laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Workplaces can also implement policies and programs to protect workers\u2019 mental health. MATES in Construction<\/a> is an Australian program that has since been adopted elsewhere and seeks to prevent suicide in the construction industry\u2014an industry with the highest suicide risk in the United States<\/a>\u2014by increasing awareness of mental health challenges, reducing stigma, and connecting workers to support resources. In a similar way, Recovery Friendly Workplaces seek to create work environments that support people with substance use challenges in receiving the support and treatment they need.<\/p>\n

While the prospect of similar regulations being applied nationally in the United States may seem bleak in the current political environment, especially following the recent Fifth Circuit Court ruling, the need to address the impact of work on mental health remains.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n

Paul Landsbergis<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Paul Landsbergis is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at SUNY Downstate.<\/p>\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n

Devan Hawkins<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Devan Hawkins is a Boston-based freelance writer who has had writing published in the the London School of Economics Review of Books, Islamic Monthly, Antipode and Radical Philosophy.<\/p>\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Devan Hawkins, Paul Landsbergis, Sep 29, 2026, Common Dreams It is clear from occupational health research that work does impact mental health, and this impact should compel politicians to explicitly legislate and develop regulations to protect workers\u2019 mental health. https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/opinion\/mental-health-is-worker-health Over the summer, the Fifth Circuit Court, in a case brought by ExxonMobil, ruled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":229790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[142,28,1,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-safety","category-psychological-health-outcomes","category-uncategorized","category-causes-workplace-stressors"],"yoast_head":"\nMental Health is Worker Health - 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