2nd November 2023
South Devon College is marking Stress Awareness Day today, by highlighting how stress affects people and what can be done to manage the condition before it becomes a problem.
The Health and Wellbeing Hub within the College is also showcasing support options available for staff members who are concerned about their stress levels and who want to improve their wellbeing.
To ensure that relevant help is available within the workplace, the Health and Wellbeing Hub has a variety of self-help measures, including tips on identifying stress, and resources to help with stress, together with access to Stress Risk Assessments and Wellness Action Plans.
Wellness Action Plans are a personalised, practical tool that can be used by anyone, including those who are not feeling stressed, to help identify signs and symptoms of wellbeing, and give guidance on how to address a mental health problem if necessary.
Stress Risk Assessments are a useful tool to identify the risks of stress, and to decide how to remove or reduce the risks within different aspects of personal life and work environment.
The Health and Wellbeing Hub also offers Wellness Webinars and the Employee Assistant Programme tool from Care First, providing immediate information, answers and advice on a range of workplace and personal issues free of charge. It also gives access to professionally trained, qualified and BACP Accredited Counsellors who are available 24/7 to offer support when required.
Karen Parry, Health and Wellbeing Coordinator at the College, said: “This Hub brings together all the mental health and wellbeing support available to staff, ranging from counselling services to the self-help referral form, as well as signposting staff to external information and resources.”
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), from its latest statistics, there were an estimated 914,000 cases, and an estimated 17 million working days lost, due to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety, in 2021/22. This is over half of all working days lost due to work-related ill health.
In recognition of its work in health and wellbeing, in 2020 South Devon College became the first and only college in the UK, and internationally, to receive platinum reaccreditation from Investors in People. Platinum is the highest level of accreditation possible through the ‘We invest in people’ scheme. The College also received the Investors in People’s Health and Wellbeing Award.
As a further indication of the College’s commitment to the wellbeing of its staff, it has also received the Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce Workplace Wellbeing Award, highlighting the importance the College places on staff welfare.