Picture this, it's Tuesday, the 11th of November. Hazel, our very serious well-being officer, is wearing a felt moustache and refusing to take it off. On my screen, rotors, three Justabug texts, and a manager message that says, he's fine, just quiet. Here's the real question. What if men's health isn't fine? And we only notice when it's a crisis. Kettle on. Cake at the ready. Let's talk about men's health at work in plain English. Welcome. Hello, I'm Kate and this is Buzzing About HR. Today, Men's Health at Work What if we ignore it until it breaks? It's November, there are moustaches everywhere, and it's the perfect moment to do a bit more than posters. Why this matters right now. Most small teams run on a few key people. If one of them goes off sick for weeks, everything wobbles. Shifts, customers, cash. Many men put things off. I'll book next week. It's nothing, I'm fine. Then suddenly it isn't fine. Your job isn't to play doctor. Your job is to make looking after yourself normal. Time for appointments, no grief for saying I'm not okay. And managers who know how to have that first chat without making it awkward. State of play. What's really going on? Here's what I see. People avoid checks because shifts are tight and they don't want to let the team down. Stress gets hidden as banter over time or I'll grab another shift. We only spot something's wrong when work slips or tempers flare, and by then it's bigger and more expensive. No lectures. Just practical moves that help people and keep the business steady. Spot the signs in your own business. Let me paint a few quick scenes. If any of these feel familiar, you've got early warning lights. Trade slash field cruise. The reliable installer starts missing small safety steps and lingers in the van. He shrugs off questions with all good. Hospitality. Your never sick chef suddenly swaps shifts a lot, lives on energy drinks, and snaps over tiny mistakes. Logistics. The chatty driver goes quiet on the radio and takes odd routes to avoid depot chatter. Office slash agency. The ideas guy now has camera issues, scrapes deadlines, stays late, but outputs flat. Retail, stomach bug, keeps popping up on Mondays. Polite but distant. Avoids the noisy break room. Construction louder banter, then isolation, a run of overtime, then a crash. On their own, none of these prove anything. Together they say something's up. What this looks like in real life. Three snapshots. One, the appointment that never happens. Your engineer needs a GP check. He cancels twice because cover is tight and the manager sighs. Six months later it's urgent. You lose him for a fortnight, and you're paying agency rates. One simple line, everywhere staff actually look. Health appointments are okay. Tell us early, we'll cover you. Then actually plan cover. 2. The anger silent swing. A calm supervisor starts snapping, then staying late to sort it. He isn't a villain, he's overloaded. Fix. Teach managers to say drop X, focus on Y. I'll move Z to next week and book a quick private check-in. 3. The hero shift habit. Your best fan driver says yes to every extra run. Looks brilliant until it doesn't. 6. Cap hero hours, rotate the ugly jobs, and praise switching off. If you only celebrate over work, that's what you'll get, right up to burnout. The grey areas, honest answers. Isn't health private? Yes. But rotors, workload, and how we respond are not. You don't need medical details to be decent and organized. What if I say the wrong thing? You don't need perfect words. Try. You don't seem yourself. I'm not here to fix you. I just want to help with work stuff and time for whatever you need. What would help this week? Will people take advantage? Most won't. Set guardrails. Request time in advance where possible. Use it for the appointment. Keep us posted. Fair and firm. Do we need private health care? Number. Big wins are free, protected appointment time, better rotors, and managers who can hold a kind, tidy conversation. Five minute tests. Do these today. Calendar test. Could someone go to a routine appointment this week without chaos? If not, add a simple cover plan or swap rule. Rotor test. Do shifts change under 24 hours a lot? That's how you teach people to hide problems. Set a minimum notice rule. Break test. Is there a clean phone-free spot to sit for 10 minutes? If not, you've told people recovery isn't valued. Manager script test. Can each manager open a chat without making it weird? If not, give them one sentence. I'll share it in a moment. Confidentiality test. If someone tells you something private, do they know who will be told and why? If not, write that down. One clear line in your policy and training. What to do this week? Practical, not painful. Start small, keep it steady. Publish a health timeline. One sentence everyone can repeat. If you need a health appointment, tell us as early as you can. We'll plan cover. No grief. Give managers a ten minute huddle. Three parts. Opener. You seem different lately. What's one thing making work harder this week? Adjuster. Drop X, focus on Y. I'll move Z to next week. Close. I'll keep this between us and payroll slash HR if needed. Let's review Friday. Offer simple support. Set a protected hour midweek for GP slash dentist bookings and keep a few vouchers handy for flu jabs or eye tests full or part funded, your call. Fix one obvious friction. Noisy break room. Add a quiet corner. Constant pings. Try a daily deep work hour. Make winds visible. Three of you used Health Time this week. Thank you for planning. Cover works smoothly. How to talk to your team and keep trust. Say it straight. Your health matters more than the rotor. Tell us early and we'll cover you. Make it normal. You won't be mocked for seeing a GP or setting your struggling. Set boundaries. We'll ask for proof when needed. Keep it private and check in, not check up. Quick Q and A without the jargon. What can we offer without big budgets? Protected appointment time, a basic cover plan, a quiet space, fairer rotors, and manager micro training. If you can add eye test or flu jab vouchers, great, but start with time and tone. How do we handle sensitive chats? Private space, short and kind. Agree a one-week plan, write it down, review it. You don't need a diagnosis. You need to know what helps them work safely. What if someone refuses help? Respect it, keep the door open. If you change your mind, tell me. For now, I'll reduce X and we'll regroup Friday. If performance still dips, use your normal process fairly. Can we ask for evidence? For paid time and safety critical roles, yes. Proof of attendance or a fit note where appropriate. Keep the Y clear and the circle small. How do we support mental health without making it awkward? Make it routine. Same weekly questions for everyone. Share trusted UK resources in writing, NHS, local talking therapies, 24-7 helplines. No grand speeches, steady drum beat. The do next list. Pin this. Write one line about health time and post it where people actually look. Rotors, WhatsApp, Notice Board. Run the 10-minute manager drill, open arrow, adjust arrow close. Set a protected appointment window each week and stick to it. Create a simple cover plan so no one feels guilty for using health time. Add a quiet corner. Two chairs and a sign is fine. Tell the team what changed. You ask for easier appointments. Here's the plan. That's it. Small steps done consistently beat big promises that never happen. Back to Hazel, who is still sporting the mustache like Head of November and eyeing my cake. Justice will be swift. Men's health shouldn't rely on heroics. Make time and space for care, teach managers how to talk about it, and you'll catch problems earlier, keep shifts covered, and stop the expensive firefighting. I've put together a men's health toolkit you can use straight away. The one-line health time policy, the 10-minute manager script, a simple cover template, and a handout with trusted UK support routes. Grab the download from the show notes. If you'd like me to sense check your approach and build a mini plan that fits your business, book a discovery call. We'll map one quick win and who's doing what by Friday. Links in the show notes. I'm Kate. This is Buzzing About HR. Kettle on, standards up. Look after your lads, and everyone else will thank you.