Many companies claim to be Sustainable or have an Environmental policy, but sustainability in business often falls short of the things that make less headlines and fall closer to home. Our sustainability ethos includes care for our employees too.
The common themes for being sustainable involve reduction in single use plastics, using sustainable materials and by the more forward looking companies, by achieving circular product design.
However, the Cradle to Cradle certification as an example, has one important factor that business must take note of in their products (FSC certification also includes a similar clause). The fifth category in the C2C certification is Social Fairness – defined as
The aim of this category is to design business operations that honor all people and natural systems affected by the manufacture of a product.
“All People” includes our own team. At Global Upholstery Solutions, not only does this mean we have CSR and Modern Slavery policies, but we take the Mental Health of our employees very seriously.
Four of our Leadership Team this week joined the others in our business who had completed the MHFA England one day course to become MHFA Champions which gives them an understanding of common mental health issues and the skills to signpost people to support.
Of our overall team of 70 staff, we now have the following Mental Health First Aid Champions:
Lia Branco – Head of Design
Martin Brown – Upholstery Development
Richard Holt – Manufacturing Group Leader
Paul Holloway – Despatch Team Leader
Lee Ness – General Manager
Andy Vale – Manufacturing Manager
Lindsay Watson-Jones – Materials Manager
Phil Wheeler – Operations Manager
Andrea Westley – Manufacturing Group Leader
We have others scheduled to complete the course and feedback from all has been excellent. All feel they now understand mental health issues better, can recognise potential mental health issues earlier and have the tools they need to help and support our team members that might have mental health issues. Our next step is for a proportion of the team that has completed the Champion course to now complete the full First Aid course.
At Global Upholstery Solutions, Sustainability in Business means that the health, physical and mental, of our team is just as important to us as our social responsibility to the rest of the planet. We would recommend the MHFA training to all businesses.
You can arrange Mental Health First Aid for your representatives at Mental Health First Aid England here.
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