Businesses urged to consider mental health training

The Red Cross is urging businesses to treat mental health with the same level of seriousness as physical health and safety during Mental Health Awareness Week in October.

Around 45% of Australians aged 16–65 are expected to experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, which also impacts on productivity in the workplace.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers report has found that for every dollar spent by employers on creating a mentally healthy workplace, the organisation gains a $2.30 return on investment.

“With the investment being shown to deliver better productivity and profits, businesses are encouraged to provide early intervention and a supportive workplace culture to help reduce the impact of mental health issues,” said Janie McCullagh, Red Cross mental health trainer.

“Employees with a healthy sense of self-esteem and wellbeing will take less days off work, will work better in teams and are less likely to make mistakes.”

Red Cross runs Mental Health Training courses (Mental Health Matters and Mental Health First Aid) which are delivered as workshops and can be customised to suit the workplace situation.

This training was designed by Red Cross for businesses wanting to create a mentally healthy workplace. Recognising the signs and symptoms of mental health and illness in the workplace, and knowing how to provide support, benefits employees and can lead to a more productive business.

It also runs a two-day mental health first aid course which is designed for adults (18 years and over) who may work or have regular contact with adults who are developing a mental illness or experiencing a mental health crisis.

“Mental health awareness and support for our staff has been top of mind for some time,” said Eliza Flanagan, health safety and wellbeing team leader at PETstock.

“We have implemented a number of initiatives across the organisation and mental health training with Red Cross was a natural progression.

“Our goal is to promote resilience with our PETstock people. We want to avoid a crisis situation by having staff trained so that they can notice the symptoms before they become significant.”

Many businesses find that during a performance review, managers will be faced with a staff member explaining that challenges in their personal life are affecting their work.

“It’s a lot of responsibility — you want to make the right decisions at the right time. We need our managers to be able to handle a situation like that with confidence and sensitively,” said Flanagan.

“It is just as important as having staff trained in first aid.”

Mental health training helps destigmatise the issue of mental health and encourages people to confidently raise any concerns they have. It equips managers to deal with issues in a positive, confident way.

Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 8–14 October.

To book a Red Cross course or get further information, visit redcross.org.au/first-aid.aspx.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/HighwayStarz