Prioritizing mental health

EMCOR UK is the first organization globally to achieve certification against BSI’s psychological health and safety at work scheme.

With over 4,000 employees, the company provides high-performance, sustainable, integrated facilities and workplace management. It delivers services in some of the most complex and regulated workplaces in the UK, in industry sectors including government, defence, nuclear, life sciences, and hi-tech manufacturing.

Jonathan Gawthrop, Executive Director, Wellbeing Sustainability & Assurance, EMCOR UK, says the company takes a robust approach to governance and risk, which includes maintaining rigorous occupational health and safety protocols. As he explains, “Our purpose is to create a better world at work and, as employers, we see a key element of this being a responsibility to protect and promote the well-being of our people.”

Gawthrop says that, in the past, the company focused largely on physical health and safety, but increasingly psychosocial issues affecting individuals’ mental well-being have come to the fore. “Since well before the pandemic, the board had embarked on a long-term well-being strategy that took a proactive and sustainable approach to employee health. In particular, we wanted to give equal weight to both physical and mental well-being,” he says.

BSI’s psychological health and safety scheme, based on ISO 45003, offered the ideal way forward. Published in June 2021, ISO 45003 gives guidance for managing psychosocial risks and provides recommendations to organizations on how to prevent work-related psychological ill-health. “We recognized that BSI certification against the scheme would show that we have a robust structure in place to identify and manage mental health risks,” says Gawthrop.

BSI certification demonstrates the company’s determination to foster a safe and positive working environment. “We’re proud that our long-term well-being strategy has been rigorously tested by BSI against this global standard,” he says. “It shows we’re compliant with our own ‘People Who Care’ value, that our commitment to physical and mental health is not merely a ‘tick-box’ exercise, and that we strive for continuous improvement.”  

ATN-Axicom, formerly Axicom Pty Ltd until its recent acquisition by Australia Tower Network (ATN), is Australia’s leading independent owner and operator of shared wireless infrastructure. It employs around 250 people at sites throughout the country, including all major cities.
Victoria Cook, Executive Director, People & Culture, explains that, historically, the company has been very proactive in managing mental health and ensuring that its people are really well supported in their well-being. “Now, we have a new board and CEO, but our commitment to health and safety is the same, if not greater. It’s an absolute priority for the business,” she says.

Cook continues, “Post COVID-19, we knew it could be stressful for our people as they emerged from the fog of the pandemic to a new hybrid working model. They had to cope with layers and layers of change, so we knew they needed good support – and our default as a business was to give them that. Then we became aware of ISO 45003 and potential certification to the BSI scheme. It was a ‘lightbulb moment’ – we reflected that we had done some great work in this space, so we should formalize this and get recognition for it.”

Certification gives ATN-Axicom multiple benefits. One concerns compliance. “It means we’re genuinely preventing workplace-related injury and illness for our employees and others who we interact with,” says Cook. “It shows we’re compliant with the code of practice here in Australia and meeting our legal obligations, which is a key business risk. The ISO beautifully wraps it all up in a bow!”

Equally important, however, is the evidence it provides of the company’s commitment to achieving strong psychosocial outcomes that it can share with its people and customers. “It has become a platform for us to really promote a positive workplace culture, where our people are supported across mental health, well-being and resilience – with no stigma attached.”

ATN-Axicom has used various mechanisms – including a ‘Resilience at Work’ Scorecard with Melbourne University, and its own ‘culture and engagement’ survey – to test how embedded its psychosocial practices have become. “We came back with really solid scores, particularly around engagement,” says Cook. “That was connected to our focus on being people and safety-centric from a well-being and mental health perspective, so that’s a key benefit for us.”

Certification shows that these two very different companies, operating on opposite sides of the world, have successfully implemented the approach and systems necessary to eliminate or mitigate psychosocial risks. To achieve it, both organizations underwent a rigorous independent assessment by BSI. They were audited on all aspects of ISO 45003 to ensure they operate a scheme-conformant framework. The audits showed effective and systematic approaches in place to manage psychosocial risk, with feedback from staff highlighting a supportive, inclusive environment, where they can grow and develop, and also feel safe in discussing personal and professional issues.

Both organizations see the value in BSI’s psychological health and safety at work scheme, and in ISO 45003, that stretches further than certification alone. The benefits lie in understanding where the need is in your business, what you are best able to support, and then building mental well-being programmes that are really meaningful for your people.

As ATN Axicom’s Cook puts it, independent audit and certification by BSI, “takes us a step beyond just ticking the box and meeting our obligations. We're absolutely confident that, as an employer, we’re doing the best we can for our people. It also pushes us to keep looking at continual improvement, and that's so important.”

She continues, “BSI are real business enablers and facilitators from our perspective. They come in and ask the right questions and provide a framework of review to really understand how you actually meet the requirements of this new standard. That independent audit function is such a helpful tool for cutting through.”

EMCOR UK’s Gawthrop is equally positive. “Certification by BSI has real meaning, both internally and externally,” he says. “BSI’s experts have broad expertise, they’re committed, supportive, they really care – and believe me they’re thorough!”

By focusing on psychological health and safety, these two forward-thinking organizations stand to achieve myriad benefits, enhancing employee engagement, performance, and productivity, and improving organizational resilience.

Could now be the perfect time for your business do the same?