Mental Health Awareness Week: Looking Out For Your Mates

All employers have a duty of care, under Health and Safety legislation, to take care of their employees, and Hughes and Salvidge are no different.

We put measures in place to ensure our employees don't get injured or physically ill at work through policies and procedures, and this duty of care also extends to an employee's mental health and well-being.

Mental health issues, however, are not always as apparent as a cut or sneeze, and problems such as depression and anxiety can be difficult to talk about. It is important to be familiar with the subtle signs so that you can look out for your colleagues and mates.

Hughes and Salvidge run regular training sessions for our teams, highlighting the ways that our employees can protect themselves, protect each other and signposting them on where to go to receive help.

Time to Change, a charity working to end discrimination and the stigma around mental health issues, provides the following advice from their 'Be In Your Mate's Corner' campaign:

• Text, call or reach out
• Ask how they are, listen without judging
• Be yourself, do everyday things

Talking about mental health can be a challenge. Having someone else take the first step can encourage people to open up and talk about how they are feeling. Ensuring your friends or colleagues keep up a regular routine of hobbies, exercise or socialising can also support them on the road to recovery and managing their mental health.

More information about Time to Change's Be In Your Mate's Corner campaign cane be found here: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/personal-stories/5-ways-to-ask-twice-when-your-mate-says-im-fine