When your body won’t let you carry on working
Most people don’t expect it to happen to them.
You carry on working through the usual aches, tiredness, and the odd injury, because you tell yourself that it’s ‘part of the job’, and sometimes it at least appears to settle down, or you find a way to work around it. You carry on working through the aches, tiredness, and the odd injury, even though many of these issues can be linked to work and shouldn’t be accepted as normal. If a work activity is causing an injury, do not ignore it; make sure that the task is assessed properly and an alternative method is found. Read more from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) about Manual Handling at Work.
Workplace related ill-health is unfortunately not rare, HSE figures show that around 1.9 million workers in Great Britain are currently suffering from work-related ill health, including over 500,000 cases linked to musculoskeletal disorders (Source).
Sometimes it’s a sudden injury, an illness you didn’t see coming, or something that has been building up over time and reaches a point where you can’t carry on. When that happens, it is not just the physical impact you are dealing with, it is everything that comes with it.
The moment things change
The shift from working to not working is rarely gradual.
One day you are on site, managing the job, dealing with the usual pressures, and the next you are trying to work out how long you are going to be off, what that means financially, and how everything else is going to keep moving.
Even short periods away from work can have an impact, but longer-term issues bring a different level of pressure. Income drops or stops, plans change, and uncertainty starts to build around how long recovery will take and whether things will go back to how they were.
Kieran’s Story
A serious health crisis can turn life upside down, not only physically, but financially and emotionally.
After suffering a serious heart attack, Kieran* was forced to take extended time off work. Initially, his employer’s sick pay helped ease the burden, but once that ended, he was left on a reduced Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), making it hard to cover essential costs and expenses. The financial pressure was overwhelming, threatening both his health and his ability to return to work. Through the EIC, Kieran* received emergency financial grants, practical advice, and crucial emotional support. The Welfare team coordinated with healthcare professionals and financial advisors to ensure Kieran’s recovery was supported in every way possible. Kieran received three grant payments totalling £3,000, to help with lost income and urgent expenses. Alongside this, counsellors provided a confidential space for Kieran* to manage stress and anxiety, empowering him to focus on recovery and returning to work with confidence, once he was well enough to do so.
*Name has been changed.
The knock-on effects are wider than expected
When work stops, it doesn’t just impact the individual, it affects the people around you, the household income, the day-to-day routine, and the sense of stability that comes with knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from.
Stress builds quickly in that situation, especially where there is responsibility for others, and the longer things go on, the more that pressure increases.
This is often the point where physical and mental strain start to overlap, and what began as an injury or illness becomes something that affects multiple parts of life at once.
Loss of routine and identity
For many people, work is not just about income, it is structure, routine, and a sense of purpose.
When that is taken away, even temporarily, it can leave a gap that is difficult to adjust to. Days can feel longer, motivation can drop, and it is not always clear how to replace that sense of normality.
That side of things is often underestimated, but it can be just as difficult to deal with as the physical issue itself.
Support is there, but it is not always used
A lot of people try to handle it on their own at first.
That might be because they expect to be back at work quickly, or because asking for help does not feel like something they would normally do. In some cases, people are not aware of what support is available, or assume they will not qualify for it.
The Electrical Industries Charity exists to deal with exactly these situations, whether that is financial help, practical support, or access to services that can help you and your family manage what is happening.
What to do now
This is not about expecting the worst, it is about recognising that things can change quickly and that the impact goes beyond the initial problem.
If your body is forcing you to stop, and you are unable to work, the situation can escalate faster than expected, and dealing with it early, including reaching out for support, can make a significant difference to how manageable it is.
If you are in that position, whether due to injury, illness, or something that has built up over time, you do not have to deal with it on your own. The Electrical Industries Charity is there to support people in the industry when things do not go to plan, and to help you through the practical and personal challenges that come with it.
