Midlands businesses invited to join free work-related stress webinar
We’re offering a free webinar providing advice and guidance on tackling work-related stress for small businesses in the Midlands region: Wednesday 9th March, 10-11am.
The ‘Stress and mental health at work – what every small business needs to know’ webinar will be jointly hosted by HSE as part of our Working Minds campaign, and the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot (MHPP), a support programme unique to the Midlands.
The session aims to offer small businesses expertise, advice and insight into preventing and reducing work-related stress to support good mental health.
Speakers will include HSE’s senior psychologist, Peter Kelly, employer engagement manager at MHPP Mark Evans, and guest speaker Jayne Scarman who is head of marketing at Unique IQ, who will give an employer perspective of how the company is prioritising mental health.
Why should you attend?
Last year, the Labour Force Survey showed of the 1.7 million workers suffering from a work-related illness, over 800,000 of these were people experiencing work-related stress, depression or anxiety.
Even before the pandemic took hold, it was estimated that mental health issues cost UK employers up to £45 billion a year.
Employers have a legal duty to assess and respond to the risks of work-related stress, in the same way as they would respond to physical health risks.
Alison Wellens, Interim Head of Health and Work Branch at HSE said: “Preventing and reducing stress at work and promoting good mental health is not only good for your team, but it’s better for business.
“Stress is cumulative and workplace changes, increased workloads or responsibilities or lack of support can add to the pressure workers feel. Giving opportunities to discuss those problems and removing or mitigating those problems can stop workers being overwhelmed or becoming ill.
“We want to encourage businesses to join the webinar to understand their legal duties, learn how to prevent risks developing, promote good mental health by spotting the signs of stress and taking action to protect their workers. It should be part of every team’s routine to check-in with each other, raise concerns and discuss solutions to manage the workload.”
The Midlands Engine region
The Mental Health and Productivity Pilot (MHPP) is a three-year programme funded by Midlands Engine. Led by Coventry University in partnership with University of Warwick, West Midlands Combined Authority, mental health charity Mind, and five other Midlands universities – Birmingham, Derby, Lincoln, Loughborough and Nottingham. Together they are providing an evidence informed, cost effective and sustainable resource that will support good mental health at work, reduce stigma and ultimately increase productivity. https://mhpp.me/about/
The Midlands Engine region includes:
- Black Country
- Coventry and Warwickshire
- Derby and Derbyshire
- Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
- Greater Birmingham and Solihull
- Greater Lincolnshire
- Leicester and Leicestershire
- Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire
- The Marches
- Worcestershire.
