Maritime UK, the umbrella body for the £46bn maritime sector, is partnering with Safer Highways to launch its first survey into how employers support good mental health in the maritime sector. The benchmarking survey is an early initiative from the recently-launched Mental Health in Maritime Network, part of the Diversity in Maritime programme. The programme was launched in direct response to the Government’s Maritime 2050 strategy in May.

The network has been established as a safe-space community where individuals from across the maritime sector can come together to discuss barriers to change and where employers can share best practice on how companies promote good mental health and wellbeing.

At its first meeting in June, the network discussed the need to set a benchmark to understand how mental health is managed across the sector, and to identify areas where the programme will need to focus its efforts to engender positive change.

Safer Highways have been running the ‘Thriving at Work’ survey for two years for a range of sectors including roads, rail, water and construction. The survey questions are based on the standards set out by the ‘Thriving at Work’ report, which was an outcome of the Prime Minister’s independent review into mental health within business. Thriving at Work was commissioned by Government and led by Lord Dennis Stevenson CBE and Paul Farmer, Mind CEO. It outlines what employers can do to better support all employees – including those with mental health problems – to remain in and to thrive through work. This year Safer Highways have included a new tool within the survey analysis to make a baseline comparison between companies taking part and other sectors.

Companies are encouraged to complete the survey here by 30 September. A full sector report will be launched in early December.

Stuart Pollard, Chair, Mental Health in Maritime Network, said:

“One of the aims of our Mental Health Network is to provide a collaborative platform to share information among all maritime organisations, in support of aiding others to achieve and develop mental health management practices. By bench-marking the sector against mental health standards, we will be able to meet this aim. I am delighted to launch the first output from the Network, in partnership with Safer Highways, and urge maritime organisations to take this ten-question survey today.”

Debbie Cavaldoro and Sue Terpilowski, Co-Chairs of the Diversity in Maritime Taskforce, said:

“A healthy and happy workforce has synergistic benefits for workplaces, productivity and the economy and a key focus for our Diversity in Maritime programme is to support our sector to thrive at work . We are grateful to Safer Highways for partnering with us to benchmark us against ourselves but also against other sectors including Aviation Rail, Utilities, Construction, Fleet and Logistics.”

Ben Murray, Director, Maritime UK, said:

“We know that Coronavirus has had a huge impact on the economy, and what’s crucial to remember is that individuals have been affected too. As we move through the crisis, we must do all we can to support our people. That’s why its important to understand where we are as a sector on mental health so that we can focus our collective work on the areas that will make most different to all of us. I urge all employers to participate in the survey.”