Up in Flames - Workplace Solutions
Up in Flames - Workplace Solutions
Trauma in the Workplace - Fill Out The Damn Form
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Hello there, and thanks for taking time out of your busy day to listen to Up in Flames. I'm your host, but more importantly, your advocate Abby Bolt. It's really hard for me to say this out loud, really hard. But I'm trying to share my vulnerabilities in case there's anyone else out there who may be dealing with the same thing and might feel alone in it all. Then there's the possibility that someone with a kind heart might hear my experience and have a friend or a peer dealing with something similar. They might hear this and decide to be a good bystander and lead them through a difficult time. You see, the last day that I worked in my federal building, I found myself in a dark office. Not mine, but a vacant one where I felt safe. I pulled the door closed behind me and I was sitting under a desk shaking. My head is spinning, my heart, pounding my chest aching. An employee had just come in and dumped another insurmountable amount of evidence onto me regarding a hostile work environment. I've been dealing with it for quite some time. It felt like it was never going to stop. No matter what I did, how hard I tried to fight for the right. The quicksand pulled me under more and more every day. In this episode we're gonna talk about why it's important to document workplace mental and emotional trauma and to not simply let it slip by. The need for such a process is deeper than the obvious circumstances such as dealing with a fatality. It applies to seemingly minor things that are actually quite serious and I created Up in Flames as an effort to stoke a few fires and ignite moral courage in the workplace and beyond. The majority of my experience is as a firefighter for a federal agency. So while that's my base, the mission will go far beyond the federal workforce. We'll discuss challenges and solutions that apply not only in our professional cultures, but throughout our society as a whole. The Up in Flames' mission is no ordinary challenge. It's a culture shifting project powered by you. To keep Up in Flames going strong hit the link at the top of Abbybolt.com and become a patron. Up in Flames' patrons get special access to behind the scenes info, back stories, content no one else knows about. Not to mention early access to many episodes. To those of you who have been so kind as to leave a review or even send me an email sharing your experience, you've proven to me that this is all worth it. I invite anyone who would like to reach out to me, email me anytime at abbyandupinflames.org and with that, enjoy the episode. Organizations can prepare leaders and employees to not only respond physically, but also administratively to traumatic incidents in a way that will help reduce potential negative effects on their mentality. This includes the daunting task of exposure forms aka I hate to say it, paperwork. That can ensure an employee is cared for long after the event. Employers cannot guarantee that employees will never be exposed to trauma in the workplace. However, they can take action to help prevent and or treat the most debilitating effects of exposure to trauma by adequately preparing their employees. Preparation includes both the ability to respond in the moment and access to the necessary coping strategies and social support after the incident. An event is more likely to be experienced as trauma when a person perceives the incident to be unexpected, something they were unprepared for. Unpreventable, uncontrollable, the result of intentional cruelty related to a childhood event. Potential trauma in the workplace could include exposure to stressful events like death, grief, suicide, accident or injury. Organizational stressors like bullying, threats, harassment, betrayal, maliciousness, extreme isolation, chronic pressure, unresolved conflict, toxic work environment, uncertainty, fear for the future, downsizing or fear of unemployment. Physical stressors can be noise, chaotic environment, sense of no control of her space. Fear for physical safety, harsh or flashing lights, extreme of heat or cold working in mid-construction other adverse physical conditions. External threats can be evacuation, lock down, fire or robbery or imagine a local mass shooting. The strategies that you can apply to address workplace trauma can also be helpful for trauma that occurs outside the workplace, including a serious accident, a natural disaster, witnessing violence or war, difficult childbirth, history of physical, sexual, emotional or domestic abuse. Now in this episode I'm focusing on an essential reminder of daunting paperwork. It's hard enough to get employees to fill out paperwork when they've been visibly injured and then there are times when you need to think about filling out medical paperwork for exposure to traumatic events or ongoing stressful behaviors in the office that can create an entirely different culture challenge. Find out what forms are necessary for your profession. Not just because you might need them, but also because you may have a peer whom you recognize is in need and you might be the best person to coach them. In the federal agency I worked for, they'd be called C2's and sometimes even C1's if the scenario deem it necessary. For feds a C2 would be like an exposure form as if you'd been exposed to something that caused or could cause harm in the future. For instance, you may have been exposed to smoke that could cause later health issues or maybe you were exposed to asbestos. That could cause some serious issues later in life. It's like a medical document that you want to have on file to reference later. Taking this proactive approach also shows your employer, your agency, whoever. That there is damage being done or there's a possibility of damage and you want to have it on record. Now what I'm talking about in this particular piece is the psychological and emotional stress and trauma that's caused by toxic work environments. Whether people want to admit it or not, it's happening. What I'm talking about is damaging people's lives to the point of suicide. Yes, it's that serious. I'm not going to beat around the bush about it anymore and you shouldn't either. Do you have any idea how many people around you are dealing with an extreme amount of personal stress to where they're on the edge of tipping over? And then the wholly unnecessary but seemingly mandatory BS at work has them right there, right on the tipping point and then something that may seem minor to those on the outside pushes them over. I'm not kidding about this stuff. It's serious. It's not just, Oh, I had a stressful day at work. Or, Oh, things are so rough in the office. Toxic and hostile work environments are causing PTSD, depression, anxiety, all the things that come along with these stressful situations. And it can be extremely damaging to someone's life. Well, we need to start doing is making sure that people who are genuinely affected by these situations are filling out paperwork to have in their personnel file, even if it's only kept by them. If for nothing else to have supportive documentation should a situation arise where it's needed. The other thing that it does is it forces the employer to see a medical form and understand the seriousness of the situation. When it's filled out by an employee, they cannot just say, you can't turn that in, or I'm not going to accept that. They have to acknowledge that it's there. Even if they don't agree with it, they can't deny it. They must keep it on file once it's been submitted. And they have policies to follow that may require them to take an even more supportive action depending on where you work. They can keep whatever opinionated notes they want to try. And make it look like it's not true. If they don't agree, whatever that might be, but the fact of the matter is now you have it documented. You have it noted somewhere that something is happening. It's affecting you medically and you need to have it written down. Emotional and psychological trauma is real and it's nothing to be ashamed of. It affects our bodies and tangible ways. It can break you down. It doesn't have to be an assault or death or vast physical trauma to affect someone's life. If you're getting picked on at work, if you're getting bullied, mobbed, harass, assaulted, or even falsely accused. If harmful things are happening and you have to deal with them in any way, you should also be filling out medical paperwork to go along with it. Because today might not be the last day you're dealing with it. It could add up and up and up to the point where you cannot take it anymore. What I'm saying here is if these situations that are adding up are truly being caused by your employment, then you need to be holding your employer accountable. And it could also include you looking at a different route of employment. But if there's something they could be doing better to provide you a healthy working environment, then they need to do it. Some people may think this is overkill and only pansies documents such trauma, but guess what? That's how we've always done it and it's not working. Suicide rates are going up, not down. So clearly we need to make some micro adjustments to shift the big picture. Now. Maybe this is the last time you deal with it and you find a way to shut it down. You don't have any more problems. That's awesome and I wish everyone could be so lucky. However, on the flip side, it could go on for years. It can go on to the point where it wrecks your marriage, your parenting, your family life, your social life. It can go on to the point where you're so stressed out and depressed and sad that you don't even realize where it's coming from. When all the while it could be coming from what you're dealing with at work. Find out what your options are for documenting the exposure. Fill out the paperwork, have it on file. Even if you're someone who's being accused of harassing or bullying someone else and it's putting you through a lot of stress. And you don't think that you're being treated fairly, you should also fill it out because it goes both ways. Not all accusations are correct and false accusations can rip someone's life apart just as fast. If we don't do the things outside the box to change the culture, the culture will never change. Documenting trends of emotional trauma caused by hostile work environments and poor management, will provide the masses something to think about when figuring out what needs to change. Not to mention, heaven forbid, you find yourself in a dark place needing help, realizing your mental health issues were caused in the workplace. This way, at least you'll have the documentation to prove your case. Thank you for listening. If you know someone who could benefit from the Up in Flames' mission, please hit the share button so they can find us. Now go forth, lead with fire and never forget to choose the hard right over easy silence.
Speaker 2:[inaudible].