Mental Health at Work – Starting the Conversation
Mental Health at Work accounted for 55% working days lost in 21/22.
As part of Samaritans talk to us month, we have put together our top tips on getting the conversation started in your company.
Mental Health at Work accounted for 55% working days lost in 21/22.
As part of Samaritans talk to us month, we have put together our top tips on getting the conversation started in your company.
First Aid in Secondary Education is often seen as a grey area for many schools & academies. We’re often asked what they need in place in terms of First Aid requirements to ensure they fulfil all the obligations.
Get Your Free First Aid in Secondary Education e-Book to give you clear guidance on your first aid provision for HSE, Ofsted and ISC.
The Forestry Commission recommends those who work in Forestry gain a first aid certificate. Understand the differences between standard and forestry first aid.
What differs, why it differs and whether the course is for you.
As workplaces return it is important you remain compliant with HSE. We have put together a quick guide to performing first aid during the Coronavirus pandemic based on the HSE & Resus Council guidance.
We recommend sharing this guidance with your first aiders to ensure they remain safe as well as maintaining the safety of their casualties.
Welcome to our Coping Calendar daily challenge, designed to improve and encourage our well-being whilst we are all in isolation.
Releasing an action a day to let you know what team Livius are doing to carry on coping. Along with ideas for you, your business & your family life.
The rise in awareness regarding workplace mental health is on the increase and for good reason, businesses can be held accountable and hold a legal duty to ensure that its employees are protected from physical and emotional stresses within the workplace.
A high proportion of employees, 86%, regard work as key to their identities, emphasising the criticality businesses play in ensuring the mental health and wellbeing of its employees. However, statistics indicate that despite this mental health is currently the number one reason for staff absence – 70 million work days are lost collectively within the UK each year due to mental health illnesses; which in turn is combined with a cost of approx. £2.4bn for UK employers.
Therefore, I am sure you can agree that workplace mental health is a priority that is paramount in order to ensure the highest productivity and a healthy working environment for all within a business.
So in what ways can you help to ensure that your business is providing its employees with a happy workplace environment? Invest into some Mental Health First Aid Training accredited by MHFA England.
Mental health first aid training is available for those who are responsible for adults and youths, whilst being recognised and endorsed by the government to be adopted by businesses in order to stop preventable health issues arising. The training is designed to help to build a supportive culture around mental health, whilst equipping those with the tools needed to support themselves and other colleagues in relation to wellbeing.
Here at Livius Training we offer two types of Mental Health First Aid Training:
Let’s work together to be kind to our minds.
The time it takes for an ambulance to reach you can mean life or death.
Based on data from the Ambulance Trusts (Jan–Oct 2018) we have compiled a list of urgent ambulance response times based on the postcode districts of Yorkshire.
How does your postcode measure up to the national average of 7m 41s?
Take a look…
Before we get going, let’s discuss what the data actually means.
Firstly, each response time is measured as the time taken for a trained person to reach a casualty on an urgent callout.
And, secondly, an urgent call out is classified as any of these cases below:
With that out of the way, let’s move on to the all-important data.
Fastest – BD8 – 5m 29s
Slowest – BD24 – 10m 35s
Average – 7m 51s
Fastest – DL3 – 5m 7s
Slowest – DL11 (Low sample numbers) – 22m 41s
Average – 8m 57s
Fastest – DN2 – 5m 30s
Slowest – DN19 – 16m 47s
Average – 10m 0s
Fastest – HU1 – 5m 29s
Slowest – HU19 – 14m 16s
Average – 8m 19s
Fastest – HG2 – 5m 24s
Slowest – HG4 – 11m 58s
Average – 8m 15s
Fastest – HX1 – 5m 52s
Slowest – HX7 – 10m 41s
Average – 7m 55s
Fastest – HD1 – 6m 0s
Slowest – HD8 – 12m 21s
Average – 8m 20s
Fastest – LS2 – 4m 47s
Slowest – LS29 – 11m 42s
Average – 7m 44s
Fastest – S3 – 6m 21s
Slowest – S17 – 11m 23s
Average – 8m 23s
Fastest – WF1 – 5m 34s
Slowest – WF11 – 8m 52s
Average – 8m 7s
Fastest – YO31 – 4m 23s
Slowest – YO61 – 15m 6s
Average – 9m 42s
So, how does Yorkshire compare to the national average?
England’s average ambulance response time was 7m 41s according to the BBC.
Whereas, Yorkshire’s average clocks in at 8m 35s, therefore meaning Yorkshire’s average ambulance response time exceeds the national average.
Within Yorkshire, the DL11 postcode district, which covers rural areas such as Reeth and Muker, experienced the longest average wait of 22m 14s.
However the sample of fewer than 50 callouts can be deemed as too small to draw reliable conclusions.
Conversely, the YO31 postcode region achieved the shortest response time of just 4m 23s.
Covering York city centre and York hospital provide a clue as to why the response time was so short.
Consider the average response times for your area when deciding on the first aid provisions you require.
The longer the wait, the more beneficial it will be to have greater numbers of first aiders.
Why?
It is said that if CPR is administered immediately after a patient has suffered a cardiac arrest there is a 2/3 chance of survival. On the other hand, every minute that CPR isn’t being administered a casualty’s survival rate diminishes by 6-10%.
For this reason, there is a need for sufficient first aiders in the workplace.
However, activities such as CPR are very intense and hard to sustain for a prolonged period.
And, slower response times mean that CPR will need to be administered for longer.
So, if assistance is available, first aiders can alternate every couple of minutes to ensure CPR is carried out continuously until the emergency services arrive.
We can provide you with HSE and Ofsted compliant first aid training in the following courses:
The data in this article is taken from this BBC article. They have in turn received the data from the Ambulance Trusts.
Workplace mental health is a subject that has never been more important.
Because conditions such as stress, depression, and even those, such as schizophrenia, can result from issues with our work.
Yet, due to the stigma surrounding mental illness, many people feel like they cannot open up to their colleagues or employers.
Which has led to, according to the Go Home Healthy campaign, around 595,000 sufferers of depression, stress, and anxiety in the workplace.
Luckily, employers can play their part in improving this statistic!
But, you may not know what to do or where to start.
Thankfully, there are some great resources out there.
And, in this blog, we will take a look at 5 invaluable resources owners and managers can use to help take action in your workplace.
But, first up, let’s look at why action is necessary…
Hopefully, you can see by these statistics the importance of taking mental health seriously at work.
Launched in 2018 by the Duke of Edinburgh, this site is a collaboration between Mind, Heads Together and The Royal Foundation.
It’s aim? To act as a gateway to information, resources and toolkits all designed to help businesses improve mental health in the workplace.
Boasting over 150 different mental health resources makes it a must when you’re looking for guidance.
Don’t miss the toolkit section where resources are grouped together around a central theme.
These are especially useful when you have identified an area of mental health you’d like to target. This could be promoting a positive safety culture or tackling workplace stress.
Link – https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/
Fancy committing to improve mental health within the workplace?
Take the employer pledge with Time to Change.
Over 900 employers have committed to the pledge already including names such as:
(Click their name to get taken to their pledge)
When you sign up to the pledge, you’ll first submit your action plan for getting employees talking about mental health.
Time to Change can provide support during the creation of this plan to ensure that your plan works for you.
If you are looking for a great place to start your journey, take the pledge.
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/get-your-workplace-involved/employer-pledge
This toolkit was born from a collaboration between Business in the Community and Public Health England.
Both organisations wanted to create something that offers practical guidance based on the research and evidence surrounding mental health.
Jam-packed with useful information, this 68-page toolkit can be used by owners and managers alike.
In addition, several case studies provide a glimpse into the types of actions other companies have taken to tackle mental health issues.
An excellent resource for those who need actionable advice.
https://wellbeing.bitc.org.uk/sites/default/files/mental_health_toolkit_for_employers_-_small.pdf
Starting a conversation about mental health can be tricky. Even more so if you don’t know what to talk about.
Fortunately, the Go Home Healthy campaign has produced their talking toolkit in a bid to reduce workplace stress.
Follow along with the exercises to start talking with employees about the leading causes of workplace stress:
These difficult conversations allow employees the chance to open up about their roles and whether any aspect is causing them unnecessary stress.
Use the answers to spot any regular issues and address the core problem behind them.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/assets/docs/stress-talking-toolkit.pdf
Line managers and supervisors are a key group of your staff that need to champion mental health because they deal with your workforce on a day-to-day basis.
But, if they don’t know how to manage mental health issues, then it can be hard to build a good workplace culture.
In steps this gem of a resource.
Managing Mental Health in the Workplace combines theory with practical exercises to get you thinking about the prevention, protection, and intervention measures your business can put in place.
Adequate training for your managers can pay dividends when trying to improve mental health in the workplace. And, this offers a great first step.
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/managing-mental-health-workplace
And, finally, lets take a look at some of the important dates for 2019 surrounding Mental Health and see how you can get involved.
There is no doubting that the workplace has to part of the responsibility for keeping their staff happy and healthy.
Slowly, but surely, we are realising this.
Employers and employees are waking up to the fact that good mental wellbeing at work is extremely valuable.
Now is your chance to act for the greater benefit of your working environment.
Which resource will you use? Which is your favourite? Is your business taking mental health seriously?
Leave your answers in the comments below.
Got a burning first aid training question that you need answering?
You’re in luck!
Below we have compiled a list of common first aid FAQs to put you in the know!