Wellness & Well-being Highlights August 19

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of August 19, 2024

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at how the FDA recently approved a new device/method to stop serious bleeding from gun shot wounds, etc.—to how a brain surgeon prepares for and performs his work (this may connect with many of our constructions workers’ rituals)—to how Ketamine (the drug that killed Matthew Perry) is now being sold online…in its injectable form! This week I would like to take this opportunity to take a closer look at 2 new online courses now being offered by the US-DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship (OA) via their Registered Apprenticeship Academy (RAA). I was contacted by the OA and the RAA’s course designers last fall and asked to consult on the design of 2 new units on Mental Health for apprentices and their sponsors (i.e., contractors, unions, JATCs, etc.). Knowing that the current standards of apprenticeship (29CFR29) did not have any requirements for covering MH and/or materials in their catalog, I jumped at the chance. These 2 units are purposely designed to meet the demands of today’s learners: short (~15 minutes), to the point (providing an array of various additional resources), interactive, and provide a certificate upon successful completion. One unit is for apprentices and their well-being (focusing on the individual) and the other unit is for sponsors and the need for wellness (focusing on the organization).

This process did not happen overnight. There were many meetings and emails to discuss content, wording, etc. Once our team was in agreement, these products had to be reviewed by other related agencies under US-DOL’s umbrella for approval. The feedback from these agencies was taken into consideration and tweaks were made in a manner so as not to compromise the intended messages.

One might say what can possibly be learned in a 15-minute lesson on Mental Health? My response is that a journey consists of many steps…this is just another FIRST in a long journey. It was nearly 12 years ago I had an opportunity to integrate MH into the STL construction industry by bringing an international speaker to town to lead a roundtable discussion on MH. I recall, my friend, Tom Finan writing a story about the event soon afterwards. His insightful quote remains with me: “What do you call a meeting where an entire industry is asked to participate and only 12 people show up? A start!”

Sources: US-DOL OA’s Pre-Apprentices & Apprentices

Prioritizing Your Mental Health and Well-being

US-DOL OA’s Sponsors (Contractors, Unions, JATCs, etc.)

Promoting Worker Mental Health and Wellness

Mpox spreading in Africa

Slapped Cheek Disease

On moral decline

Are employers overlooking serious MH issues?

Traumagel & Gun Shot Wounds

In-home Ketamine injections via mail?

On performing brain surgery