*WARNING this blog mentions suicide

Today is World Mental Health Day, a day of awareness about mental health

Respect at Work training sessions start with a fairly frank recollection of the number of people that, over the years, have told me they would rather have a car accident than go to work; the number of people that have told me they intend to suicide, and of the people I know of that have suicided as a result (directly or indirectly) of the behaviours they were exposed to within their workplaces.  It's a sobering moment in training sessions that are simply about 'how to be respectful and fair'.  

I struggle to understand how little regard some workers have for others — compassion really shouldn't be difficult. 

Awareness of workplace safety in Australia is pretty good but unfortunately not everyone is aware that safety includes psychological safety. 

Our duty of care to each other includes a duty of care to each other's mental health. 

We need workplace environments that are safe for people to be open and vulnerable (as, when and if they need to), where it is safe for mental health to be discussed and where it's safe to have open and respectful conversations.

I've just made a mental health promise as part of World Mental Health Day here https://1010.org.au/mhp/promise-21226/. Make your own promise here https://1010.org.au/make-a-promise/ and be part of a world-wide movement to improve mental wellbeing in our community. #MentalHealthPromise

Everyone deserves a mentally healthy workplace, Respect at Work training can help, contact us for a chat.