According to Paul Finnie, director of global HSE for Diamond Offshore, mental wellness is more than just the opposite of mental illness.
Speaking as a panelist at the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) HSE and Training Conference in Houston, Finnie further pointed out the distinctions.
"They’re two very different things that people get confused quite often," Finnie said. "It’s important that employers and employees understand the difference because they need to be treated differently."
Co-panelist Marelize Sirgel, corporate medical director with Seadrill said she agreed.
"We must have commitment to our employees," Sirgel said. "Our employees must feel empowered, healthy and safe to be the best version of themselves."
In 2019, Seadrill formed its BeWell Committee to address the wellbeing of its employees which honed in on four pillars of wellness. The physical pillar addresses "health, fitness, diet, sleep and energy levels to maintain a healthy quality of life," she explained.
Addressing employees’ mental wellness is incumbent upon leaders
Pictured from left are Marelize Sirgel with Seadrill and Paul Finnie with Diamond Offshore.
The emotional pillar encourages employees "to feel positive and confidently face the challenges life throws at us."
The program’s social pillar helps employees develop a sense of belonging and inclusion. The financial pillar helps employees experience a sense of security and maintain control over their finances.
"The beauty of the BeWell committee is that it represents different regions where we operate," Sirgel said. "We have HSE, operational and actual representatives of the different regions."
Sirgel explained that diverse representation within the committee is important "because these are the guys on the ground.
"These are the guys that recognize in one culture we might need something different than in another region," she continued. "They are your eyes and ears on the ground. These are the guys who are going to talk to your offshore workers and ask, ‘What is it that you need?’"
In the months following the initial COVID-19 crisis, leaders at Seadrill noticed an upsurge in medical conferences or webinars addressing mental health concerns within the industry, Sirgel said.
In response, Seadrill then began looking into small, manageable interventions that allow tangible benefits without the organization being overwhelmed.
"Mental health is such a huge thing," Sirgel said. "Our leaders looked at what we can use to actually make a meaningful change for our workers. We believe cultural changes within the organization would be a byproduct of the small incremental changes that we implement.
"But there is no magic solution to ensuring mental health, but at least, now recognizing the need to promote mental health is a good start," Sirgel admitted, adding that wellness-focused tools "are out there."
"Keep it simple," she said. "Speak to your employees to see what their specific needs are, and then meet those needs."
Just as employees believe the company should display due diligence in promoting wellness, the company also expects employees to assume responsibility for due diligence in their contributions to the company. This means "reporting if they have a bad day, reporting if they think that could impact the site at work and reporting if they need some time off," Sirgel said.
Recovery from low mental health is deeply personal and different for everyone, Finnie said.
"That’s one of the key takeaways: Everyone has mental health, and it goes up and down with time," Finnie said.
Another key, Finnie said, is recognizing when one’s mental health is "going down" and what caused it to tumble.
"But more important is knowing what to do to get it back up," he said. "For me, that’s taking my dog for a walk or going for a cycle.
"Again, that’s different for everyone," Finnie concluded.
