Following the release of the HSE’s annual figures for Great Britain, Mates in Mind urges employers to ensure that they are investing in their people rather than paying lip service to address mental health in the workplace
This comes as the HSE reports the number of cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2018/19 has remained at 600,000 cases – the same as reported for 2017/18.
The HSE has stated that in 2018/19 stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 44% of all work-related ill health cases and 54% of all working days lost due to ill health.
The report highlights that the total number of working days lost due to poor mental health in the workplace in 2018/19 was 12.8 million days, equating to an average of 21.2 days lost per case.
James Rudoni, managing director of Mates in Mind said: “This latest report by the HSE further reinforces the importance of our charity’s aims to drive change across UK workplaces and immediately support employers to improve the mental health of their workforces.
“It is evident, acknowledging the rates of lost working days, that the sustainability and productivity of our businesses are being impacted by mental ill-health.
“The numbers being presented in HSE’s report are not simply cases, but people, therefore we urge employers to invest in the health of their organisations, by prioritising the mental health of their most vulnerable and most valuable asset – their people.”
With International Stress Awareness Week and the release of these new findings falling within days of each other, the need for employers to improve mental health in the workplace has become ever clearer.
Rudoni added: “Mates in Mind understand that if organisations are to make meaningful changes and do more than pay lip service to the topic of mental health, they must address the harmful reaction people have to undue pressure and demands placed on them at work, and the impacts this has on their mental health.
Within the HSE report, respondents cited workload pressures, including tight deadlines and a lack of managerial support as the main factors causing work-related stress, depression or anxiety. Other factors included: organisational changes at work, violence and job uncertainty.
