The Mental Health Coordinator for the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate, Pious Tay, says poor workplace environment could impact the mental health of employees and affect productivity.

Poor workplace environment include all the elements that interact with employees such as beauty, poor design, poor ventilation, poor lightening, and temperature of the rooms, among others.

Mr Tay said this could have a positive or negative impact on the performance of the worker.

Mr. Tay was speaking at the weekly "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! A Ghana News Agency  initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy.

Mental Health Day is observed globally on October 10 on the theme: "Mental Health is a Universal Right," in order to raise public awareness of mental health, inform them of the risk factors for mental health problems, and provide them with some preventive strategies.

Mr Tay noted that an organization's work environment was very essential, stressing that majority of health issues that employees confront were related to their working environment.

“Employee’s mental and emotional health can be significantly impacted by a supportive, good work environment. On the other hand, a toxic workplace environment marked by dilapidated building, harassment, bullying, or discrimination can result in tension, worry, and exhaustion,” the Tema Metro Mental Health Coordinator noted.

He noted that a World Health Organization (WHO) report affirmed that negative and stressful work environments were associated with anxiety, depression, and substance misuse, stressing that workplace stress could also lead to burnout, difficulty sleeping, and concentration issues.

Mr Tay also noted that the American Psychological Association (APA) emphasised that while some work environments were unjustly negative, the nature of some occupations can be more stressful than others.

 “APA 2022 study identified that jobs with high physical and psychological demands pose the biggest risk to the worker and impact negatively on the mental health of the employee,” he said.

The Tema Metro Mental Health Coordinator urged corporate entities, business owners and managers to build a healthy workplace environment right from the entrance of the gate.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Tema Regional Manager for Ghana News Agency, noted that the media should be utilised as a potent weapon to educate people, establish a safe environment for everyone to discuss mental health, change the stigma associated with mental illness, and reduce it. Mr. Ameyibor encouraged the media to refrain from stigmatising and discriminating against those who have mental illnesses.