PPE is not just physical, it's also needs to be protection for the mental health of our workforce too
Protecting your mental health requires more than hope and a hard hat. / Image courtesy: Remy GielingYou would never step onto a site without your proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Mental health. . .
Protecting your mental health requires more than hope and a hard hat. / Image courtesy: Remy GielingYou would never step onto a site without your proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Mental health requires its own PPE loadout. Remember that a hard hat is useless if it is left in the truck. Mental health PPE works the same way. Now let's consider the following PPE items and how they correlate to protecting your own mental health. 5-Gas monitorConsider why we utilize a 5-gas, or multi-gas monitor. In drilling or trenching, we clip a gas monitor to our vest because hazards like hydrogen sulfide (H2S) are invisible. By the time you realize you're breathing it in, it's often too late. Depression and burnout are the H2S of mental health: invisible, odorless hazards that slowly replace your moral oxygen and drain your resilience. For your peers, you are acting as their monitor. Watch for micro-changes: the joker who goes completely quiet, or the reliable hand showing up late. In our industry, the default answer to "How are you doing?" is always "Fine. " Don't stop there. Ask the "second ask. ""You've seemed a little off the last couple of days, man. Seriously, what's going on?"Now you have sounded the alarm that they are morally oxygen-deficient. Hearing protectionWe wear earplugs to reduce job-site noise levels and prevent permanent hearing damage while still hearing rig noises and our co-workers' communications. Mental hearing protection is the ability to set boundaries. It means putting your phone on "Do Not Disturb" to guarantee six hours of uninterrupted sleep. It is actively tuning out the toxic site gossip or the constant doom-scrolling in your hotel room, while staying tuned in to the people who matter most back home. Protection for your mental well-being is equally as important as what you bring to a job site. / Image courtesy: Jimmy NilssonFall protectionYou don't put on a harness and tie off at the top of the derrick; you tie off before you start the climb. Your support network is your fall arrest system. Financial crises, a divorce back home, or the threat of project delays can make the ground give way beneath you. If you are already tied off to an Employee Assistance Program or confidential services designed specifically for financial counseling and mental health support, the drop might shake you up. Still, the harness catches you before you hit the bottom. Become an anchor point for your team and know your own anchor points to tie off when you are close to the edge. "Depression and burnout are the H2S of mental health: invisible, odorless hazards that slowly replace your moral oxygen and drain your resilience. "The Stop Work Authority (SWA)Every worker on a site has the right to stop an unsafe situation before it becomes catastrophic. We use our Stop Work Authority right when we see an immediate danger to life and health, no questions asked. If the pressure becomes overwhelming, the financial stress feels insurmountable, or the isolation turns into thoughts of self-harm, asking for help is pulling your own SWA. You or your coworkers can Dial or text 988. The 988 suicide and crisis prevention hotline is completely free, confidential, and available 24/7. You do not have to be actively suicidal to call; it is your near-miss reporting lifeline for any emotional distress crisis. You will be connected to trained counselors who understand how to de-escalate a crisis. It takes courage to stop the operation, but we do it because pushing through a critical hazard ultimately is what gets people killed. Looking for a reprint of this article?From high-res PDFs to custom plaques,order your copy today!Brock Yordy, Director of Industry Engagement forThe Driller, is a third-generation driller and globally recognized subject matter expert who has written forThe Drillersince 2013. Driven by a passion for industry education and digital media, he anchors The Driller Newscast and hosts weekly podcasts for the trade. His technical authority is backed by decades of extreme fieldwork worldwide for organizations like Halliburton, SUEZ, and the U. S. Government. Dedicated to ensuring clean water for all and advancing equitable geothermal heating and cooling, Brock actively collaborates with states nationwide through The Developed Well Group and theGeothermal Drillers Associationto shape policy, safety, and workforce training. email:brock@thedriller. com|office:(269) 348-5156