HRIA announces support for Beyond Blue’s workplace Heads-Up initiative
Alongside National Safe Work Month, October see’s campaigns for National Mental Health Awareness Month across Australia, which encourages everyone to think about mental health and wellbeing, regardless of whether they have a personal experiences of mental illness or not. The HRIA recognises the issues of mental health in the rental and associated sectors and today is delighted to announce it’s commitment as a proud campaign supporter of Heads Up – and initiative of Beyond Blue.
Heads up calls on business leaders to make a commitment and start taking action in their workplaces. It encourages everyone in the workplace to play their part in creating a mentally healthy working environment, take care of their own mental health, and look out for their colleagues.
The Heads Up website provides a wide range of resources, information and advice for individuals and organisations – all of which are designed to offer simple, practical and, importantly, achievable guidance.
3 million Australians are living with anxiety or depression
According to Beyond Blue, over 3 million Australian’s are living with anxiety or depression. Those within the hire and rental industry are not immune. In fact, considering the number of small and medium sized businesses, as well as the industry being a male dominated one, this is one of the largest social issues facing those working within our industry.
The HRIA Board met recently and agreed that the issue of mental health and wellbeing is one they are committed to proactively raising awareness of, as well as supporting HRIA members by providing them with a link to resources and tools.
Tools to assist with mental health issues
As a campaign supporter of Beyond Blue, the HRIA is pleased to share with all HRIA members the Supporting Small Business Page on Beyond Blue’s Heads Up website
Beyond Blue have recently launched a guide to assist and support small business owners. This guide outlines actions anyone can take to support a client, customer, supplier, family member or friend.
“Almost one third of small business owners report having high levels of psychological distress, mainly due to long working hours, social isolation, customer demands, cash flow issues and conflicting demands between home and work,” said Georgie Harman – Beyond Blue CEO.
“These factors can sometimes increase the risk of developing mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression. Small business owners have told Beyond Blue they want mental health resources to be available through their business networks so they can access the information through established and trusted contacts.” Ms Harman said
As a trusted advisor to the hire industry, the HRIA has supported mental health and wellbeing of members at meetings across the country over the past 12 months with keynote speakers presenting on the topic. With October being both National Safe Work Month as well as Mental Health month, the HRIA is pleased to inform members that we are a supporter of the Heads Up’s Small Business Campaign, and share some of the resources available. We also encourage members to join Heads Up to stay up to date with newly launched resources and receive tips and updates.
James Oxenham the CEO of the HRIA said “The HRIA is committed to encouraging best practice and safety in the hire industry. With mental health and wellbeing being identified as an issue for our industry the HRIA is proud to be a Beyond Blue campaign supporter.”
Having a mentally healthy workforce is vital to the success of any organisation and not addressing mental health issues can have a negative financial impact. By creating a mentally healthy workplace, you can increase the engagement and productivity of staff, and reduce absenteeism and the number of any stress claims.
HRIA President and Director of Barossa Valley Hire Mark Burton said “With our industry being fast-paced and 24/7, we all need to be mindful and not frightened to discuss issues around mental health openly with our colleagues, family and friends. We all need to bring the discussion of mental health into the mainstream, to remove the stigma and to spread the word it is always a good idea to check in with your co-workers and ask: How is everything going? Are you OK?”
“The HRIA Board are very keen to support and spread the message to as many of our members as possible.” Mark said
The HRIA is committed to supporting and developing the hire industry through the support of Beyond Blue and sharing their tools and mental health messages to our members.
Mental Health professionals are available at the Beyond Blue Support Service via phone 24/7 on 1300 224 636 or via www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support for online chat (3pm – 12am AEST or email responses within 24 hours).
