Dear member,
Tools for Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 With Mental Health Awareness Week around the corner (13-18 May) you may be wondering what you can do to demonstrate your commitment to mental well-being in your workplace. Remember last year? May 2018 represented a time of major industry disruption associated with the timetable changes. The rail industry experiences a lot of change, from project changes to Route and franchise changes. Acknowledging the impact change can have on mental well-being is important. The industry Mental Wellbeing Subgroup is a specialist, cross-industry subgroup which promotes collaboration on mental well-being issues aligned to the railway Health and Wellbeing Roadmap.
The Mental Wellbeing Subgroup has worked together to design a flyer for Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 on Managing Change at Difficult Times. This identifies some common responses to change and reminding staff where they can get support if needed. You can share and download this flyer use it on your intranet or hang in the mess room.
Mental Safety Opsweb is an online resource centre, designed as a secure environment for the rail industry to access and share information and resources on operational safety. RSSB produces the RED film series which is available on Opsweb. RED videos share important safety messages about the operational railway, emphasising the key learning points with a dramatisation. Mental health is the focus of RED 52 with important messages about recognising when someone might need help and points of intervention. Why not use RED 52 as the basis for your next safety briefing or team meeting? Members can access all RED videos online.
Be part of something bigger Scientific research shows that doing good makes us feel good. During CP6, the rail industry is coming together to volunteer one million hours to help Samaritans be there for even more people who are struggling to cope. The Million Hour Challenge will promote the many different ways to support Samaritans and find out more about their work. By doing Samaritans ‘Wellbeing Toolkit’ and ‘Active Listening’ e-learning, people will have taken a step on the journey. Information on the Million Hour Challenge and how you can get involved can be found on their website.
Developing our listening skills in the rail industry Samaritans has developed two e-learning courses which bring their listening and wellbeing expertise into the workplace. It teaches employees the skills to look after their emotional health and look out for others, before they reach crisis point. With bitesize modules, it’s a great way to demystify skills for managing mental wellbeing. The time spent on the e-learning also contributes to the Million Hour Challenge. Watch Samaritans’ video to find out more about the learning tool.
This is Me, This is Rail Since last year, the Green Ribbon has been gaining momentum in the rail industry as a way of showing raising awareness of mental health during Mental Health Awareness Week and showing employees they are committed to supporting mental health in their workplace. We have already ordered our green ribbons for this year and are proud to share that for World Mental Health Day 2018, RSSB created and published its own This is Me video internally. We hope that you will join us on this journey. You can find out more about the This is Me Campaign on the Lord Mayor’s Appeal website. There is also a pack for Mental Health Awareness Week produced by the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, which is bursting with ideas and resources. Check out the website for more information on the health and well-being programme.
