Your how-to: Establishing emergency contacts for mental health crises
Establishing emergency contacts for mental health crises refers to the necessity for a structured emergency contact procedure for mental health crises within your workplace. This is not just important, but vital to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of your employees.
Much like having a fire marshal or a trained first-aider, these procedures provide a safety net for crises that can occur within your organisation. A mental health emergency contact refers to a designated person or team in the workplace, trained and equipped to handle mental health-related emergencies. They can be from your human resources department, or an appointed mental health first aider.
In the event of an acute mental health crisis such as a severe panic attack, disassociation, evidence of self-harm or suicidal ideation, these trained individuals can provide immediate responsive action and direct the affected individual to appropriate support services.
In an Australian context, under the Safe Work Australia policy, employers have duty of care that includes providing a psychologically safe workplace. Therefore, the implementation of a mental health emergency procedure forms part of your obligation. It demonstrates constructive adherence to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 stipulating that organisations must provide a safe and healthy work environment for all employees.
Step by step instructions
Understand Legislation Requirements: Ensure you fully understand your obligations under the Australian Work Health and Safety Act 2011. This Act requires employers to provide a safe and healthy work environment, which includes psychological safety. Understanding these requirements will guide your process.
Provide Training: Organise training programs for the selected contacts on how to handle mental health crises, which could include understanding the signs of a mental health crisis, how to approach an individual in distress, and how to respond effectively.
Document Your Procedures: Once you've established your protocols, document them in an easily accessible format. This could be a physical manual, an intranet page, or whatever form best suits your organisation. Ensure the procedures are readily available to all staff members.
Provide Ongoing Support and Regular Check-ins: Ensure your emergency contact or team is supported and check in regularly to review and assess the efficacy of your procedures. It's important not only to establish these protocols but to ensure they are effectively working and providing necessary support to your staff.
Designate a Mental Health Emergency Contact or Team: Select a trusted individual or team who will handle mental health emergencies. This may be a Human Resources member, manager, or someone otherwise trained in mental health first aid. Ensure the designated person or team is equipped to respond to crises.
Establish Clear Protocols: Craft clear procedures for handling a mental health crisis. This includes processes to maintain confidentiality, how to respond immediately, and steps to direct the affected individual to appropriate support services.
Communicate Your Procedures: Inform all employees about the emergency contact or team, the protocols for mental health crises, and where they can find this information. Regularly review these procedures and revise as needed.
Remember to continually have a time in the diary for reviewing this whether it be every 12 months or longer.
Use this template to implement
To ensure you can execute seamlessly, download the implementation template.
Pitfalls to avoid
As you are developing emergency contacts for mental health, remember that breaches of privacy can be damaging and counterproductive. Ensure any communications or processes uphold confidentiality in accordance with relevant UK and Australian privacy laws.
Whilst it's beneficial to have external emergency contacts, relying solely on external resources can result in delays in response. As an organisation, you should aim to have internal resources such as trained staff members who can respond promptly in an emergency.
Once you have a list of emergency contacts, there's a tendency to think the job is done. Though, it's also essential to regularly ensure these contacts are up to date to avoid encountering unreachable contacts in times of need.
One major misstep can be the lack of knowledge and misunderstandings about mental health. Training your management team in recognising and responding to mental health crises is just as critical as having emergency contacts in place.
It's not only important to establish emergency contacts, but also essential to communicate these effectively across your organisation. Employees should know about the existence of these contacts, how to use them and in what circumstances.
Just focusing on the organisational challenges can lead you to ignore the physical environment that can also contribute to mental stress. Factors like extreme noise or poor lighting can exacerbate existing conditions, so it's important that you consider providing a conducive workplace environment.