UK: Workplace Mental Health Still Overlooked

More than half of UK workers do not have access to mental health support at work and are unsure whether their business has policies to support them, according to a new survey.

HSE Network surveyed over 1500 workers from various sectors and job roles across the UK on whether their workplace had policies for helping staff with their mental health.

Only 45 per cent said yes, 21 per cent said no, and 34 per cent said they didn’t know – despite research suggesting that one in six UK workers suffer from a mental health condition.

HSE Network founder Paul Clarke said the problem was a misunderstanding from employers at a fundamental level.

“People who don’t suffer with a mental health problem themselves, don’t always recognise or address it. There is real misunderstanding with mental health. If you have someone with an addiction problem with [alcohol] for example, they can’t just put the drink down. It’s an illness.”

“We don’t have the people in positions of power, from the government level and in certain businesses, who share the right understanding of mental health and mental illness.”

Paul believes that the mental health impacts on employment will rise, and that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there should be an increased urgency from employers to address mental health policies in the workplace.

“Mental health problems are triggered or compounded by remoteness and uncertainty.”

“There is unhappiness, anxiety, uncertainty and we are often driven by the wrong values, obsessed with status. We need a shift in consciousness and a shift in culture to see a real change to reduce fear, anxiety and stress.”

In 2016, a UK survey of over 2,000 workers found that just 10 per cent said that their employer provides line managers with training in mental health.