Jamie Blower is Govia Thameslink Railway’s dedicated Health and Wellbeing Manager. His job is to promote a healthy culture both in and outside of work, which is no mean feat for a company with more than 7,500 colleagues.
It’s been an incredibly difficult year for many of us and this is no different for the rail industry or its staff. Even at the height of the pandemic, rail workers continued to travel and go to work. In doing so, they have gone above and beyond to ensure that other key workers who were helping to keep the country moving forward, could continue to do safely.
Like many others, some of our teams had to adapt quickly to working from home. The biggest priority for us was making sure all our colleagues had somewhere they knew they could go for support, even when working from home, which is why we set up The Depot. Hosted on our company intranet, we use The Depot to share guidance on looking after mental health, as well as sign posting to relevant virtual events and webinars. It’s also used to share inspirational staff stories so colleagues across the business can stay connected to each other.
Employee wellbeing, health and safety are all things GTR takes very seriously.
We understand that poor mental health can have negative effects at work, which is why we make it apriority. All of our colleagues have access to a wealth of free online resources, including two bespokee-learning modules provided by MIND: Mental Health Awareness and Managing Mental Health at Work. We’re also proud to have more than 100 Wellbeing Champions across the business who support the GTR Health and Wellbeing strategy. They do this by promoting activities in local areas, encouraging colleagues to access relevant health and wellbeing opportunities, and sharing best practices and stories of success. As well as from Wellbeing Champions, colleagues can also seek support from Mental Health First Aiders across the business; they’re not therapists or psychiatrists, but they can provide initial support and signpost to appropriate help if required.
Due to the nature of the railway, it’s likely our people could encounter a traumatic experience whilst doing their job. Our network of trained TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) Practitioners and TRiM Managers provide a trauma-focused peer support system designed specifically to help people who have experienced trauma or potential trauma. We also encourage our people, both front-line and those working-from-home, to complete numerous training courses on suicide prevention, including our own e-learning module as well as a half-day training session on ‘Managing Suicidal Contacts’ run by Samaritans.
Suicide on the railway continues to be a prevalent issue for the industry. Our vision is to achieve ‘Zero Harm’ on the railway, as we know that one life lost is one too many. Our training helps colleagues learn how to approach a vulnerable person and as a result, we’ve doubled the amount of lifesaving interventions that have been made over the past two years. Mental health and physical health go hand-in-hand, which is why we promote a healthy working environment as well as encouraging our people to lead healthy lifestyles outside of work.
It’s been full-on, especially when COVID-19 hit – but it’s proven how resilient rail is and how much support and collaboration there is across the industry.
GTR’s partnership with Slimming World, for example, has helped hundreds of employees in improving their own health and wellbeing through dedicated support sessions. So far, our colleagues have attended 3,000 Slimming World sessions and lost over 200 stone (1270 kg) together, which is incredible. The programme facilitates healthy lifestyles and can bring huge benefits to organisations.
We’re currently in the midst of a jam-packed wellbeing calendar, with ‘Brunch ‘n’ Learn’ sessions open for all. So far, we’ve carried out interactive events on topics like keeping ourselves well, managing mental wellbeing and showcasing the wide range of support networks that are open to colleagues. Although a vast number of our colleagues are still out and about at stations and depots, there’s a bug percentage that have been working-from-home since last March, in addition to those shielding or isolating. We created this series of events to help our colleagues feel more connected to each other and the format of having them over ‘brunch’ means they are less formal, so it doesn’t feel like yet another Teams meeting!
I absolutely love my job. I’ve always been focused on workplace wellbeing and began my career as a health and exercise therapist six years ago. Having worked previously with healthcare charities and pharmaceutical companies, joining the railway was a completely new area for me; I suddenly had to consider the needs of everyone from engineers and train drivers to ticket sales and head office. It’s been full-on, especially when COVID-19 hit – but it’s proven how resilient rail is and how much support and collaboration there is across the industry.
It’s encouraging to see how the conversation around mental health has really opened up over recent years. The more we talk and share our experiences, the more we will understand and learn – and that’s only a good thing. With one in four suffering with a mental health issue, I am proud to be a Health and Wellbeing Manager in the knowledge that I can make a positive impact on people every day.
Read about ITIL Incident Management
