Specialist information provider, Barbour EHS, and The Healthy Work Company, which provides the health and safety profession with mental health, leadership and influencing training, are partnering to produce a knowledge bank on well-being to complement Barbour’s existing resource libraries on health, safety, environment, food safety, and offshore. The new module is topically set to launch at a half-day conference during Mental Health Awareness Week on 17 May 2018. It will call extensively on existing well-being initiatives within companies and provide access to authoritative resources from government and research bodies.
Teresa Higgins, Director of Barbour EHS, explained, ‘It is vital that companies recognise – and implement strategies to support – well-being as a fundamental facet of traditional health and safety procedures. Today, despite a growing understanding of the importance of mental health to productivity in the workplace, companies lack the knowledge, time and practical skills to get started.
She continued, ‘For those eager to remain compliant and cultivate an optimal working environment, Barbour’s new resource library will provide unparalleled access to high quality resources and practical examples from other businesses – small, medium and large. As specialist trainers in mental health The Healthy Work Company is well placed to curate this information for our customers.’
According to the ONS, 15.8 million days were lost in 2016 alone due to mental health issues, including stress, depression, anxiety and other serious conditions. This equated to 11.8% of all sickness absences in the labour market, highlighting the critical importance of well-being initiatives in the workplace. Other research estimates that between one third and one half of all sickness and disability caseloads are associated to mental health issues.
Time-poor companies may feel lost amid endless, poor-quality resources – many of which do not showcase the latest strategies. With the launch of this new module, Barbour members will have access to a centralised yet holistic service that saves time and provides the bespoke tools necessary in today’s well-being in the workplace incentives.
The new well-being resource module will supplement Barbour’s existing Environment Health and Safety service and will be available for a small extra cost to subscribers. It will feature:
- Relevant legislation from health and safety and HR
- Guidance, including the Management Standards from HSE
- Relevant research from charities and research bodies including statistics
- Case studies and posters from small, medium, and large organisations
Heather Beach, Director at The Healthy Work Company said, ‘After witnessing a really positive shift towards health within the H&S profession, we are really excited to be working with Barbour-EHS as they launch their new well-being information service. The service pairs extremely well with the mental health and leadership training The Healthy Work Company offers to health and safety professionals, and adds a legislative and policy base to the practical and communication skills we aim to instil’.
The module will be launched on 17 May at a half-day conference at UBM’s offices on the 19th floor of 240 Blackfriars Road. Learn more and register your interest through this link.
