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How do we get the health back into Health & Safety?

RAW Resilience and Wellbeing Network

When the focus is on physical safety, we can lose sight of what we need to do to protect people’s mental health.

Much of what we know about psychological wellbeing at work is intuitive and common sense. Proactively creating a safer environment for ourselves and others is possible, and better than waiting for someone to develop a serious condition before reacting.

At the first seminar of the Resilience and Wellbeing Network members unpicked their knowledge and expertise to share it with others.

The network formed in January with members from a variety of sectors including financial, childcare, health and safety, organisational development and one-to-one practitioners.

Feedback from members of the network was excellent. They valued the time to explore the topic, took away a lot of ideas to implement in their own workplaces and food for thought for their wellbeing strategies.

About facilitator Dr Jacqui Wilmshurst

The seminar was facilitated by Dr Jacqui Wilmshurst, a Member of the RAW Advisory Group, Resilience Specialist and Chartered Research Psychologist, who was previously a consultant to the BBC.

Jacqui’s early career was as an officer in the British Army, running training and development centres and serving operationally in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. After leaving the Army Jacqui retrained as a research psychologist, exploring psychological factors in risk management for natural hazards across cultures. Her career in disaster risk reduction took her to the US, Central and South America. She now works as a freelance consultant specialising in the psychology of risk and resilience.

Using stories from her time in the Army, working in communities affected by natural disasters and working for organisations including the BBC, Jacqui led the group through a framework to understand the risks in our own contexts.

She is exploring the question of how the experiences of those in conflict or disaster areas can be translated into everyday working environments.

Participants looked at the range of potential hazards, beginning the process of working out how to help people in their own workplaces build resilience and manage stress.

To find out more about psychological safety in your organisation, or to discuss joining the Resilience and Wellbeing Network, contact Lise Ribeiro by email or on 01937 541700.