Mental health first-aid - landmark agreement with Royal Mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.cwu.org/news/mental-health- ... oyal-mail/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All Royal Mail first-aiders are to be offered mental health training in an initiative aimed at ensuring that staff in every workplace have access to this support, advice and assistance.

As part of a five-year strategy developed jointly between the CWU and the company, some 5,000 workplace first-aiders will be invited to take the accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course, as will the union’s 150 area health and safety reps.

CWU national health, safety and environment officer Dave Joyce, who negotiated the agreement with Royal Mail Group, said: “We’re pleased at this significant step forward in recognising the importance of mental health wellbeing of our members in the workplace.”

“The CWU has been highlighting this issue for several years and the subject has featured in annual conference motions and resolutions from our branches, most recently in April this year in General Conference Motion 69 (Composite) from South East No5 Branch and the Eastern Regional Committee,” he continued.

The training will be provided by in-house, accredited and licensed MHFA instructors and the courses are scheduled to be launched later this year.

Andy Hickerman, area safety rep for North Staffordshire Branch, says that “very often, the first aiders and safety reps are the first point of call because usually they are ordinary members on the shop floor, your mate on the next fitting etc.

“And it’s so important to have people within the workplace trained to help signpost people in the right direction when they need it.”

And his counterpart, Greater Mersey Amal Branch ASR Jamie McGovern, adds that “preventative action and early intervention are the most effective ways to support people with mental health problems.

“Many people remain in work whilst dealing with mental health issues, so the appropriate level of awareness and support for those suffering is both crucial and vital.

“We must be able to provide a level of reactive support to assist both those employees remaining in work and also those returning to work following a mental health absence,” he says, adding: “This will undoubtedly enable many more struggling with their mental health to take that first step to seek support and speak to someone, whether by phone or face-to-face.

“Talking to someone does make it better.”

ASR for Leeds No1 Amal Branch Paul Arandall describes the agreement as “significant,” adding that members with mental health issues have often had to “literally suffer in silence.”

This training will, he predicts: “greatly improve the possibility of our members remaining in work and recovering from mental ill health in time with full support from trained CWU reps and first aiders in their workplaces.”

Hazel Darlington, CWU member and chair of the National Postal First Aid Association (PoFAS) said: “I very much welcome this agreement. We medical/physical first-aiders are on the front line and we see stress, depression and anxiety amongst postal workers first hand.

“First-aiders across the country will welcome the opportunity to expand their range of skills to help fellow workers in distress in whichever way they can, whether it’s dealing with a physical injury needing attention or a helping a colleague with mental health problems, needing that initial conversation, offering support and guidance.”

“A mental health first aider,” Dave Joyce explained, “is a volunteer person in the workplace or organisation who has been trained to identify, understand and help someone who may in distress and be experiencing a mental health issue. They are not a counselor, therapist, psychiatrist or clinician, she/he is someone who is able to listen non-judgmentally, converse, reassure and respond, even in a crisis – and even potentially stop a crisis from happening, using the basic skills they will learn on these courses to support someone and then signpost them to professional help and support.”

Full details of how first aiders and CWU health and safety reps can register and attend the courses will be made available within the coming weeks.

[noggin1969]

We have no first aiders e

[greengiant]

Call me cynical, but I came clean about mental health issues in a previous employment.
All that did was encourage management to "manage" me out the door...

Would Royal Mail be any different?

[Sir Henry]

We have several folk that we know of with MH problems atm, some on sick leave some still working. Thank f**k the management haven't had ANY training as to how to help or deal with peeps suffering from mental ill health and they're pretty much left to get better in their own time.

[DB1100]

Talking to someone at work is only going to make things worse,you would be the subject of alsorts of gossip when the word got out,it needs to be done confidentially and to someone who's knows what they are doing not someone who just happens to be able to stick a plaster on

[yellowbelly]

What First Aiders?........

[fishtank]

Mental health "issues" covers a multitude of different conditions, causes, triggers and symptoms. I'm sure a couple of days training will turn posties into therapists. Why would I want to talk about personal issues with a work colleague? What could possibly go wrong?

Aren't there confidentiality and data protection issues involved here?, could the union be sued if some numpty decides to share your thoughts with someone else? What if one of these amateur Freuds pushes someone over the edge?

[hothothot]

All the mental health problems are caused by bullying RM Managers.

[wf]

I thought all managers and Dom’s were already mental health experts
Do not and I repeat ,do not mention mental health in work
You will be assumed to be a lying ,no good ,work shy waste of space ,and yes they will try and manage you out the door .sad but true
Cwu should of been onto this years ago and maybe try including people who have managed or are managing actual mental conditions ,and give them the training

[Sir Henry]

I thought all managers and Dom’s were already mental health experts
Do not and I repeat ,do not mention mental health in work
You will be assumed to be a lying ,no good ,work shy waste of space ,and yes they will try and manage you out the door .sad but true
Cwu should of been onto this years ago and maybe try including people who have managed or are managing actual mental conditions ,and give them the training

Not in my experience, in all the years I've worked for RM I've never seen our lot manage anyone out of the door on MH grounds. The effects of the ill informed opinions and prejudices of colleagues however is something that I have seen discourage someone getting help but serves as a good pointer as to who the c***s are.

Depression is not a f***ing choice
Anxiety is no small thing especially if it's constant
Poor mental health is not a lifestyle

[Navalron]

I suffered from a bout of servere depression during my time at RM and I must admit that they were excellent. I got enough time off and a staged return to work, like2 days a week for 3 seems then 3 days for 3 seems and so on. Also other colleagues I know who had mental health problems had a good response from RM. I hope things are still like this and the original poster feels he can go to management. After all who gives a toss who knows. This is the problem because you wouldn't talk behind someones back who had a bad knee for example. Some people need to grow up when talking about mental health after all the majority of us will suffer from it at some point in our lives.

[wf]

I thought all managers and Dom’s were already mental health experts
Do not and I repeat ,do not mention mental health in work
You will be assumed to be a lying ,no good ,work shy waste of space ,and yes they will try and manage you out the door .sad but true
Cwu should of been onto this years ago and maybe try including people who have managed or are managing actual mental conditions ,and give them the training

Not in my experience, in all the years I've worked for RM I've never seen our lot manage anyone out of the door on MH grounds. The effects of the ill informed opinions and prejudices of colleagues however is something that I have seen discourage someone getting help but serves as a good pointer as to who the c***s are.

Depression is not a f***ing choice
Anxiety is no small thing especially if it's constant
Poor mental health is not a lifestyle

It sounds like a good office to me
Have people had reasonable adjustments for their depression and anxiety in this office
That would be the deciding factor as to if they have been helped out the door or not

It’s got absolutely nothing to do with colleagues ,the management have the final say and it shouldn’t be discussed on the shop floor !
And I agree ,no one chooses to have depression or anxiety ,not all disabilities are visible

[Sir Henry]

There have been some successes at our d.o. in regard to MH. and some failures. Access to the quiet room as and when needed, choice of shoulder to cry on etc, even some changes to duty. Amongst the failures is the constant griping about preferential treatment, refusal to accept people's illnesses are real, their sick leave is excessive, that they need to man up, etc. It is disheartening. Management also need to know the most intimate details of someone's illness before they will change anything, sometimes details that people haven't discussed with ANYONE, not even therapists or counsellors. In the meantime people with poor MH are having to concoct reasons for absences which are all missed opportunities to admit they need help and start receiving it.

[hothothot]

When I worked for RM I had mental health problems which were made a lot worse by a bullying Dom and one of his line managers constantly harassing me. I kept this secret from all my colleagues and especially management who caused most of it. I think if you had someone to talk to at work this would help alot. , but I don't think management to be frank would give a s**t about your well being. I've retired now and being away from RM and the arseholes who call themselves managers , I feel a hell of a lot better , no stress , no arguments with management any more. Taking IHR was the best thing that ever happened to me. I think only people with mental health problems can really understand what it's like.

[wf]

When I worked for RM I had mental health problems which were made a lot worse by a bullying Dom and one of his line managers constantly harassing me. I kept this secret from all my colleagues and especially management who caused most of it. I think if you had someone to talk to at work this would help alot. , but I don't think management to be frank would give a s**t about your well being. I've retired now and being away from RM and the arseholes who call themselves managers , I feel a hell of a lot better , no stress , no arguments with management any more. Taking IHR was the best thing that ever happened to me. I think only people with mental health problems can really understand what it's like.

Sorry to hear of that ,I would say you are one out of many that has had this treatment,and basically pushed out the door all because of bully’s and a serious lack of understanding of even basic mental health
Glad to hear your feeling better getting away from it all ,but it’s still not acceptable the way you were treated
Shame on them for behaving in that way ,this in my opinion is indemnic across this business and someone needs to be accountable