First Aid brings to mind physical injuries, but how can workplaces act to help health issues when they’re not so visibly clear? The month of November sees a lot of mental health focus in the UK, encouraging businesses to look deeper into wellbeing and understand factors like stress, bullying and discrimination in the workplace.

National Stress Awareness Day

national stress awareness day

This week saw the annual appearance of National Stress Awareness Day, which occurs on the first Wednesday of November and aims to help those under the pressure of stress from day-to-day life.

Everyone gets stressed out now and again, but sometimes stress levels can become overwhelming and lead to long-term problems. Having a stress awareness day gives individuals and businesses the opportunity to find advice or support on managing stress in any environment.

Looking after our wellbeing is particularly important in the workplace. Working relationships and workload can often cause stress for employees – in fact, HSE statistics claim that 602,000 workers suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or longstanding) in 2018/19.

National statistics also suggest that 12.8 million working days are lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety, accounting for over half of work absences. So it really is in everybody’s best interests to monitor stress at work and reduce stress triggers wherever possible.

Anti-bullying Week

anti bullying week

The UK is also due for Anti-bullying Week, which starts on November 11th and has the theme “Change Starts with Us”, promoting how small changes can make a big difference.

Bullying is often associated with school and perceived as a problem for children or teenagers. However, bullying exists way into adult life and can occur in the workplace in various ways.

Social, verbal, physical and online bullying are all things that can make the working environment an unsustainable place. Anti-bullying Week supports breaking this cycle and creating a safe environment for everyone. That means fairness to every employee at any level in any industry; no one should be exempt from ethical treatment.

LGBT Roundtable

lgbt roundtable

What’s more, on November 19th will see the Government Equalities Office host an LGBT Roundtable to better understand LGBT workplace challenges, and what the Government can do to promote inclusion.

The Roundtable will discuss the 2017 National LGBT Survey results, which show that work to tackle LGBT discrimination in the workplace needs to continue and improve.

This is not just a matter for HR personnel to be concerned with; any managers within a business should be conscious of these issues and encourage everyone in the workplace to practice understanding and acceptance.

mental health first aid

It seems mental wellbeing is taking pride and place this month, with UK bodies focusing on how to create a better quality of life for those struggling with anxiety and adversity.

Workplaces hold a massive responsibility in fostering these ideologies and ensuring staff are in a healthy working environment.

You may be thinking “What can I do to make a difference?”

Well, at Direct365 we aim to support your business in many ways, including training courses to help you promote and improve wellbeing in any working environment.

Our Mental Health Training Course is designed help to raise awareness of adult mental health around the workplace and teach skills to support those affected. The two-day course is led by an accredited instructor and the certification is recognised by MHFA England.

Do your workplace a favour and train a Mental Health First Aider today.

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