See Me joins HSE’s Working Minds campaign

Posted by See Me, 6 April 2023

To mark Stress Awareness Month this April, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve signed up to back the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Working Minds campaign.

Working Minds aims to prevent work-related stress and promote good mental health in the workplace.

The campaign is reminding businesses the law requires all employers to assess the risk of work-related stress, and to assist employers to prevent or tackle any work-related stress to support good mental health in their workers.

Working Minds now has 22 partners across the UK, with See Me and our managing partners at SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) joining this month.

Important partnership

Our director Wendy Halliday said: “HSE’s Working Minds campaign is an important partnership for us at See Me.

“The last few years have been tough for workers across the country, and we know that more needs to be done to enable people to feel comfortable speaking about their mental health.

“Mental health stigma continues to be a major barrier for people in the workplace, with nearly 40 per cent of Scottish workers telling us that they think colleagues are unlikely to speak about a mental health problem at work for fear of losing their job. This means that people aren’t asking for help when they need it, which can lead to bigger issues for employers.

“By encouraging staff to speak more openly about mental health, and providing employers with the tools and resources they require to support their employees, we can create more mentally healthy workplaces, free from stigma and discrimination.”

Making real change

The HSE partnership is the latest in a series of moves from See Me to tackle the issue of mental health stigma in workplaces at Scotland. Last summer, we launched our See Me in Work digital portal, a free resource that takes employers through a continuous improvement process to make real change for workers across their business.

Liz Goodwill, Head of the Work-Related Stress and Mental Health Policy Team at HSE, said: “Stress Awareness Month is an opportunity for employers to check in and support their staff’s mental health. Working Minds helps employers to follow five simple steps based on risk assessment. They are to Reach out and have conversations, Recognise the signs and causes of stress, Respond to any risks you’ve identified, Reflect on actions you’ve agreed and taken, and make it Routine. It needs to become the norm to talk about stress and how people are feeling and coping at work.

“There are six main areas that can lead to work-related stress if they are not managed properly. These are: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. Factors like skills and experience, age, or disability may all affect someone’s ability to cope.”