Occupational hazards - September 23

How are you managing neurodiversity at work? Are you doing all you can to support neurodiverse colleagues? 

These are hugely important questions as it is estimated that as many as one in seven of us are neurodiverse. 

So, if you work in an organisation of, say, 200 people that means around 30 employees could be neurodiverse. For a business of 500 people, that means 70 or so will be. And that number becomes nearly 150 for an organisation of 1,000.

However, it doesn’t matter whether you have one neurodiverse person among your workforce or 100. Without their inclusion, you could be missing significant value to your business in the case of different thinking, for example, and this is something which can bring in fresh ideas which can be hugely beneficial. 

More importantly, people who are neurodiverse – the individual and all they bring in terms of character, knowledge, and skills – may also be lost through unintentional exclusion. We cannot, and should not, allow this to happen.

So, it’s crucial that you can create the conditions which enables and supports them to flourish. This was the theme for the fourth and final webinar in a series on neurodiversity from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). 

The series focused on a number of areas, starting with explaining what neurodiversity is – which is very important given there is a still a widespread lack of understanding. How can you manage it effectively in your organisation if you don’t understand what it is?

Neurodiversity comes in many different forms. Common and well-known conditions include dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, and ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – and affect and impact people in different ways. 

Essentially, it means that their brain functions, learns and processes information different to someone who is ‘neurotypical’. 

But, despite its prevalence and increased recognition in society, neurodiversity can still carry a stigma and can present barriers to individuals. This is really unfortunate and something which will hopefully change in the months and years that lie ahead. Essentially, different means different, not bad.

Such stigmatism is something I have personal experience of, as my daughter is neurodiverse and has faced barriers herself. These included being stereotyped by teachers in her school days. In addition, I have colleagues who are neurodiverse and being able to support them and enable them to succeed at work is very important to me.

This is also why diversity, which neurodiversity is part of, is a theme of my Presidency of IOSH. There is a huge role OSH professionals can play in making workplaces fully inclusive and enabling everyone to thrive at work.

While understanding is growing around neurodiversity, we still have a long way to go, however. As I’ve mentioned, people do still face barriers, something we heard about in another webinar in our series, which focused on the employees themselves and what they can do. 

This was followed by a session where we looked at how these can be removed by businesses and how they can help people to thrive at work. We heard how organisations can recognise individuality and understand people’s needs so they can provide the right amount of support. 

As with any other condition, there is a plethora of information and guidance about how businesses can support people. Our aim in the series was to cut through this and ensure www.iosh.com delegates could get practical tips which can be applied to their own business. 

You can find out more about the webinars by visiting iosh.com/health-and-safety-professionals/improve-your-knowledge/events/webinars/webinar-recordings/ #neurodiversity

Lawrence Webb CFIOSH is president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. For more information, visit www.iosh.com