ISG speaks frankly about mental health in Malaysia

In the fast-paced world of construction, it is not unusual for employees to be managing tight timelines and multiple stakeholders – all while ensuring that the project is delivered to the customer’s expectations. As a result, most would feel an immense pressure which could potentially lead to mental health issues.

To increase awareness surrounding mental health at the workplace, Darren Pavitt, ISG's managing director for Malaysia, held a sharing session at the ExxonMobil headquarters within Menara ExxonMobil in Kuala Lumpur.

As part of the session, Darren explained to attendees about what mental health is about, along with statistics where the workplace is a contributing factor to mental health issues.

Beyond that, Darren also shared trigger factors that lead to mental ill health, and the signs to spot in someone who is facing a mental health issue.

These signs may be physical, such as difficulty in sleeping and drastic changes to appearance, or behavioural, such as constant mood changes, loss of humour or increased difficulty in concentration.

During his speech, Darren mentioned, “It is important to recognise these signs, as it is the first step in providing a person the support they need to recover.”

“Having regular conversations about mental health will also help to diminish the stigma surrounding it, and hopefully, it will help people feel safe reaching out to ask for assistance whenever they are going through a mentally challenging phase in their life.”

Darren also shared some of the initiatives that the Malaysia business have undertaken along with upcoming plans, in making ISG a better place to work.

These include encouraging more team-building events to increase interaction among employees, training managers on being more compassionate, improving staff rotation at sites, as well as providing the opportunity to work from home in order to better cope with family commitments.

At ISG, we strive to mitigate the risks of mental health issues surfacing due to workload, and encourage conversations surrounding mental health to create a safe space for employees to reach out, should anyone need help.