Professor Mark Watson-Gandy (pictured), barrister and chair of Mental Health First Aid England, explains why his organisation is campaigning to change the law to include mental health in first-aid regulations through the Where's Your Head At? campaign.

In any workplace, employees rightly expect support should they become unwell or have an accident.

If someone cuts themselves or has a fall, it's likely there will be a physical first aider on hand to offer them basic support until professional help arrives. But if someone has a panic attack or is experiencing suicidal thoughts, would the same support be there?

Employers have a duty of care to protect the health of their employees and that includes their mental health. But, as it stands, the Health and Safety At Work Act makes no provision for mental health under first-aid regulations.

According to the World Health Organisation, one in four people will be affected by a mental health condition in their lifetime, and then there are many more who will experience some form of mental distress or health issue. Each year, mental ill health costs the UK economy almost £35bn through reduced productivity, sickness absence and staff turnover.

Surely, it is now time to update the Health and Safety At Work Act to reflect how we have moved on as a society in regards to mental health in the workplace.

Like many industries, the legal sector is facing its own challenges regarding employee mental health. Many employees are beginning to speak out about mental health issues exacerbated by long hours working in high-pressure cultures. The charity LawCare, set up to promote mental wellbeing in the legal community, has seen a surge of callers to its helpline in the past two years.

Some firms – and employers from other industries – have been at the forefront of change, training their line managers in mental health first aid. But we cannot afford to leave anyone behind. To ensure that every employee has the support they need to stay well at work – in the legal sector and beyond – the law needs to be updated to include mental health in the first-aid regulations.

Equipping people with the skills to talk about mental health with knowledge, confidence and without judgement will make a huge difference in tackling the stigma surrounding mental health. And in turn, this will help reduce the impact that mental ill health has on economic productivity. It will better equip employers with the tools to better support their employees at times of crisis.

The journey so far

I became chair of Mental Health First Aid England in 2014 because I am passionate about tackling the stigma around mental health in society. And in the four years since I took on the role, we have made good progress to bring parity around mental and physical health, particularly in the workplace.

The campaign to bring parity to mental and physical health in the workplace began in 2016, when Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England worked with Norman Lamb MP and organisations including Mind and Unilever to table an Early Day Motion to change the law, on World Mental Health Day. The government then made an applaudable commitment to changing the law and amending the regulations around first-aid provision so that mental health is included.

This change in the law is still to come into effect. Ensuring that it is successfully implemented will require close collaboration between charities in the mental health sector, government, health and safety experts and employers of all sizes and sectors. We will need to hear from the organisations already making great strides to include mental health first aid into their workplaces, including firms such as Freshfields, Hogan Lovells, Farrer & Co, Slaughter and May, EY, Unilever, Deloitte and big employers such as Royal Mail, NHS England and the Civil Service.

To ensure that employers are prepared and able to meet the new regulations, an expert reference group will be set up, representing a range of sectors and interested bodies, which will examine what would go into a mental health first aid box.

For instance, smaller employers are not necessarily required to have physical first aiders on site, but they are required to make some provision around physical first aid – the same is likely to be the case if we apply similar assessment criteria for mental health. It will be a question of what provision looks like for different types and sizes of employer, and this needs to be discussed in some detail. As with physical first aid, there won't be a one-size-fits-all approach.

We must also ensure basic awareness around the mental health risks in the workplace. This will be vital to the success of the regulation change and in promoting meaningful, cultural change.

Rallying support

Having the government's commitment to change the law is an important milestone. Now, we must rally public and employer support around the concept of mental health first aid in the workplace, to ensure that the law is effective once it is put in place.

A new campaign is currently underway to raise awareness about mental health first aid and ensure that this much-needed change in the law is not ignored. The campaign – 'Where's Your Head At?' – is led by mental health campaigner Natasha Devon MBE, Bauer Media and MHFA England. An online petition has attracted more than 65,000 signatures so far, with employer supporters including Ford, WH Smith, Bupa, Mace and Hogan Lovells and backed by charities, including the Samaritans.

To truly tackle the stigma surrounding mental health, specifically in the workplace, health and safety regulations around first aid need to include mental health alongside physical health. Now is a vital moment for shifting the discourse around mental health from awareness into action – I urge you to back the campaign.