We were delighted to help when our colleague Tammy asked to include a guest blog on our site. 

Working with Tammy on the Jigsaw project was a pleasure and the wellbeing of the workforce was an issue which came out in our Jigsaw conversations so super we can share these resources. All our health matters

When you think of health and safety do you think of people in suits walking around with clipboards searching for boxes piled too high and looking for potential trip hazards? I did, until recently when I started working for Healthy Working Lives..

I was pleased to learn that in Healthy Working Lives, health & safety is considered in its widest sense.

It encompasses the mental and physical health of employees and the environment that they work in. 

Mental health in the workplace is being talked about more openly these days, yet many people are still not comfortable discussing it and feel out of their depth. Until a few years ago I would probably have been the same and assumed that if I wasn't medically trained then I couldn't support someone with poor mental health. 

I now know that could not be further from the truth.

In 2017 I was seconded to the Jigsaw Project. That was a huge turning point for me and my career. It sparked an interest, it focused on supporting people with mild to moderate mental health issues and was led by COPE Scotland, the local GP Cluster and supported by the Glasgow City HSCP. 

There I learnt the importance of recognising that mild to moderate poor mental health, for example, circumstantial periods of stress, depression and anxiety are different from clinical depression and conditions such as bipolar disorder.

Often in the workplace, someone suffering from mild to moderate poor mental health simply needs to know that they have an approachable line manager who will listen and support them to recover. In my experience, such gestures of support can make a huge difference in reducing the weight of that world that they feel they are carrying on their shoulders.

Since joining Healthy Working Lives my knowledge has increased further. As a new start, I took the opportunity to become familiar with the free training tools that we offer to people and I have to say I was impressed. 

We have a full range of free services available to help people understand how to manage health and safety and we also have training for managers on mental health in the workplace too. Did I say already that this is all free?

Some of the ways we could help you include:

• our website, it has lots of practical advice, guides and templates

• training online and face to face

• tools to train your own staff

• staff well-being survey tools

• specialist telephone advisors

• health & safety site visits

• enrolment to a nationally recognised award programme, which recognises the steps taken in your workplace to improve health, safety and wellbeing at work

Make 2020 the year where you support your staff to become happier, healthier and safer at work. A healthy workforce can help your organisation flourish through:

• ​reduced accidents and ill-health
• better staff morale
• reduced absence and increased employee productivity​
• retention of experienced staff