The Importance of Self Care for the HSEQ Manager ♥

Health and safety is your life. Not only are you responsible for the development and assessment of comprehensive health and safety management plans, you are also ready at a moment’s notice to react to any situation or emergency. You are constantly on the go: planning, preparing or managing situations.

However, the irony is, you are far more likely to neglect your own needs, in order to achieve your professional goals and targets. Therefore, looking after yourself is paramount to ensuring you continue to meet the demands of such a rigorous role. The importance of self care for the HSEQ manager should never be taken for granted.

I have been where you are and have felt the effects of taking my work home with me, not listening to my body or putting the demands of my work first. While sometimes it cannot be avoided, because emergencies do arise, practising regular self care routines can better prepare you for the stressful situations you will encounter and keep you grounded.  So what can you do to look after mental and physical health both in and out of the work environment?

Reconnect with nature

Nature can heal, soothe and restore our physical and mental wellbeing. Exposure to the outdoors has a powerful effect on the way we function as human beings and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Being in nature or simply viewing nature, can ease stress, reduce anxiety, heighten positive emotions as well as helping us think more clearly. 

• Go for lunchtime walks or runs
• Have a bird feeder outside your window to encourage nature to come to you
• Have plants in your office
• Take business calls outside where possible
• Eat lunch outside

Don’t be a slave to your phone

In an age when we can see our work emails on our phones, ask yourself if you ever truly switch off from work? Are you always available? Do people call you after hours when you should be spending time with your family? If the answer is yes, it’s likely to be because you’ve responded to emails at that time before. If people know you are going to reply, they are going to email you at all hours.

Being able to switch off from work doesn’t mean you can’t think about it though; it simply means you create a safe space where work won’t interrupt you unnecessarily. It means you can devote more time to yourself, what you enjoy and those you love.

• Set up the ‘do not disturb’ function on your phone
• Only allow your phone to receive calls from emergency numbers after certain times
• Don’t respond to emails after a certain time; this will lead to a reduction in the amount of emails you actually receive after work hours

Stay hydrated

Drinking plenty of water has both a mental and physical benefit which in turn, can boost our performance at work and our quality of life. 

Drinking enough water will:

• Prevent fatigue and confusion
• Rid your body of toxins
• Decrease your susceptibility to depression
• Improve the look and feel of your skin and joints
• Boost your mood
• Improve memory
• Help reduce sugar cravings
• Increase blood flow around the body

Adopt a good morning and night-time routine to aid sleep

Setting yourself up for a good night’s sleep can actually start the moment you wake up. Feeling like you’re off to a good start for the day can make us more efficient at work, which leads to positive feelings of productivity and in turn, produce those all important ‘feel good’ chemicals in our brains. 

A morning routine can involve anything such as getting up and preparing the kids for school, going for a dog walk, doing a pilates session or simply answering the emails you ignored the night before. 

Then when you get home from work, you might read a book, cook, exercise or help the children with their homework. Whatever you do, adopting a regular pre and post work schedule will help your mind and body relax and in turn, help you sleep more soundly. 

As a certified energy leadership life and executive business coach, I offer personal one-to-one coaching to share the power of energetic connection. I help people thrive by finding a deeper connection to the natural environment which in turn helps them deliver more and stress less.

For more about my professional and personal coaching packages, get in touch today and book your no obligation, 20-minute discovery session: hello@youtree.uk

This article was written by: YouTree