The World Health Organisation recognises World Mental Health Day on 10 October yearly.
The theme of 2022 World Mental Health Day, set by the World Federation for Mental Health, is 'Make mental health and well-being for all a global priority'.
Prioritising mental health and placing it on par with physical health is one of the key objectives of World Mental Health Day. Mental health problems exist in our lives, families, workplaces and communities, impacting everyone. We need to work together as individuals, employers and society as a whole to prevent mental ill-health as much as possible.
Here at Chemring, we’ve implemented several employee well-being programmes to help our people prioritise their mental health.
Mental health support
The Chemring Employee Assistance Programme, Care First, is a free and confidential service available for all employees. All Care First counsellors are trained to be non-judgmental and to support Chemring people with whatever they want to speak about, as well as directing them to specialist services for further assistance.
Line managers are often the first people in the workplace for colleagues to speak to about their mental health, particularly if they are struggling. As such, as part of line manager development, areas such as maintaining mental health have been addressed as well as helping individuals to develop healthy habits.
We’ve also prioritised mental health as a crucial part of our first aid training programme by incorporating mental health first aid training across all business units. Most recently, we’ve formed a new Healthy Workplace committee to help continue the emphasis on people’s emotional well-being across the organisation.
Building a positive mental health culture
Our Chemring Energetics UK (CEUK) business, based in Scotland, UK, has prioritised mental health by partnering with Headtorch. Headtorch, based in Glasgow, are a team of specialists in learning, development and psychology. They work with organisations both nationally and internationally to build a positive mental health culture and support mental health in the workplace.
CEUK Managing Director, Brian Highet, said, “Our aim is to build a positive mental health culture onsite so that colleagues feel able to speak openly if they have issues. We also want to remove the stigma of talking about mental health."
Early this year, Headtorch delivered a bespoke two-day event with 30 managers covering all site areas to help them feel better equipped to encourage and facilitate mental health conversations with their teams. The CEUK team are also establishing a well-being group onsite supported by a holistic health and well-being consultant.
A healthy environment
Many Chemring sites make the most of their locations and facilities to promote emotional well-being. From walking routes and onsite gyms to opportunities to garden and grow vegetables and take care of animals, there are many ways Chemring colleagues can get involved in activities that are good for their minds and bodies.
Wherever we work, and whatever our role, we can all help to create a more open, supportive workplace.