Within the framework of World Mental Health Day, to be celebrated on October 10th of each year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), through the Occupational Health Council (CSO), joins the national campaign to raise public awareness on this issue in Costa Rica.
This year the 2022 Awareness and Reflection Day will be held: Building emotional well-being at work, which seeks to highlight the importance of occupation for the person, both for the satisfaction of basic needs and for health, individual well-being and that of the whole society.
On this day, the activities will take place from October 10th to 20th, these include workshops, talks and awareness spaces, both in person and virtually (through the Facebook and Zoom platforms).
Important topics
Some of the topics that will be addressed will be: Masculinities and psychosocial factors at work; Work centers, safe place to prevent suicidal behavior; Age management in workplaces, among others.
CSO statistics show a considerable increase in mental and behavioral disorders as a result of work (anxiety, reaction to work stress, depression, among others). For the year 2020, 23 cases are reported, while for the year 2021 this figure rose to 167 people affected in their mental health as a result of work. Of those 167 people, those affected were 117 women and 50 men.
High incidence of reports
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security, through the Labor Inspection, reports that, during the year 2021, the largest number of queries related to some type of violence at work have to do with discrimination based on gender, related to with the illegal dismissal and the restriction of rights of the pregnant worker. In total there were 449 queries.
In second place, there are 137 consultations for workplace harassment or harassment, followed by sexual harassment or harassment with 23 and discrimination due to disability, VIH, or others with 10 consultations, as determined by the MTSS 2021 Statistical Yearbook.
Promoting healthy lifestyles
“The employer, and the workers can be agents of change in the workplace, combating the stigma of mental health impairment, by identifying and controlling occupational risk factors of a psychosocial nature and by developing programs to promote of healthy lifestyles and control of health in general”, according to the Deputy Minister of Labor for the Social Area, Walter Villalobos Fernández.
To know the schedule of activities visit the Facebook of the Occupational Health Council.
