Supporting good mental health

Creating a plan for employee mental health is good for business.

The Health and Wellbeing of employees and those we work with is an important consideration for organisations.

Supporting good mental health is a key component of a healthy workforce, which in turn makes your organisation a more enjoyable and productive place to work.

A healthy workforce is better for your employees and better for your business

Introduction

Providing a safe and healthy work environment isn't a "nice to have" - it is a legal requirement. However too often we just go through motions and do the bare minimum hoping that everything will be ok. This is fine until something goes wrong and you realise that the bare minimum wasn't enough

Managing the mental health of your workforce is just as important as physical health. Health and Safety legislation doesn't distinguish between the two.

What are employers' obligations for mental health and wellbeing?

Employers have a "duty of care" towards the the health and wellbeing of their employees. This is enshrined in several pieces of workplace legislation.

The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) requires that employers ensure the health, safety and welfare of everyone at work - including mental health.

The Management of Health and Safety at work Regulations (1999) creates the requirement of employers to protect employees from stress at work through risk assessments.

You also need to be aware that mental health conditions are class as disabilities under the Equality Act (2010) and therefore receive various protections against discrimination. Legal cases for discrimination are an expensive business so are best avoided!

What can I do about it?

On first glance supporting good mental health looks quite a challenge; there are lots of scary sounding conditions that are probably best left to the experts. However, there are many simple steps you can take to make a massive difference to the health of your employees.

Raise awareness of mental health issues and encourage open communications
Providing training on managing mental health and maintaining healthy habits for both body and mind
Review workplace practices and the environment. Is it overly stressful, tiring, noisy, etc.?
Train some staff to be mental health first aiders, in the same way you have physical first aiders

These steps are quite simple but very effective tackling many of the causes of mental ill health at work; stress being the number 1 culprit.

You can use lots of online resources to help you execute these steps. We have included links to third parties and a selection of training courses. This page also has a sample mental health policy (see below).

Raising awareness of Mental Health through online learning

Online training provides a very time effective and cost effective way to raise awareness of Mental Health and provide some help and support. By deploying web resources such as presentations, FAQs and e-learning video, you can quickly reach employees no matter where and when they work.

Our sample policy frequently refers to effective communication and training to promote a positive healthy workplace. You mind find that a blended approach of face-to-face seminars, periodic emails and online training resources is exactly what you need to implement it.

The Digital College provides an online course that handles the training and awareness called Awareness of Mental Heath in the Workplace

Policy implementation checklist (see policy below)

Appoint a senior leader as the owner of your Mental Health Policy.
Consider whether you need local "champions" to actively support the policy with branches or divisions.
Download our sample policy below. There other resources on the internet as well.
Involve a broad selection of your workforce in reviewing the policy.
Ensure that management are trained and aware of their obligations to support the policy.
Identify and train appropriate staff where more specialist support is required (such as Mental Health First Aid).
Put in place a robust procedure to ensure that existing and a future staff are aware of, and understand the policy.
Have a communication plan that re-inforces the aims of the policy, recognising supportive activities and positive outcomes such as lower sickdays.
Schedule the first review of the policy in six to twelve months.

Download your sample Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy
Click here to view our sample policy.

The benefits of online learning

Online learning is proven to be a very effective method to communicate a core set of messages and teaching to a widespread and diverse audience. In the case of Mental Health Awareness, it also offers a degree of anonymity; colleagues will not see an employee open certain links or websites in they have immediate concerns.

Learning can take place anytime and anywhere - the learner just needs to have an appropriate device and access to the internet.
Deliver learning in classes of one. No need to wait for a classroom to fill up.
The same high quality delivery of training and assessment every time.
Reduce overhead in managing training and assessment.
Automatically record staff training records.

The Digital College has several courses that will support any organisation and their initiatives to promote a healthy workplace.

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We will call you back quickly to discuss how we can help with your employee training.

Online training to support employee Mental Health

Our online courses provide learning on the topic of mental health and also provide targeted awareness on two of the factors that can cause issues.