All in it together: the role of employers in suicide prevention

Many organisations have mental health and wellbeing strategies in place, often led by occupational health. Yet preventing suicide can still often be a bit of a gap. A new charter is aiming to help organisations ensure suicide awareness, support and prevention is embedded in workplaces, as Mike McCarthy explains.

Friends, family, loved ones, employers, board members, managers, colleagues… when it comes to suicide prevention, we’re all in this together.

This is because suicide takes 17 lives in the UK every day. Which amounts to over 6,000 people each year, a staggering statistic when you consider that each and every one of those is potentially preventable.

Moreover, suicide is the biggest killer of men and women aged under 35 in the UK: more than cancer, more than heart disease, more than traffic collisions.

As Dean Russell, MP for Watford and a prominent mental health campaigner, has said: “If suicide were a virus, we’d be on the hunt for a vaccine.” But it remains the invisible killer.

Unfortunately, my beloved son Ross was one of those 6,000 in 2021, after struggling with depression for more than a decade.

He left behind a fiancée, a young son and a heartfelt parting wish that more be done to campaign for better mental health support. It has subsequently become my mission for him to not be merely a statistic. You might say I’ve ‘taken up the baton’.

Aiming for a zero-suicide society

The Baton of Hope is the organisation I co-founded in 2022 and we were awarded full charity status in May 2023. But it’s more than a charity; it’s a community, united in the belief that we can one day be a zero-suicide society. Because, as I say, we’re all in this together.

And I am immensely proud of the progress we have made towards that vision in just a year since our inception.

Our incredible core team of volunteers, all of whom have lived experience of dealing with mental ill health and suicide, have got us major sponsorship deals from the likes of Alstom, NatWest, Savills, Starbucks, Transport for London and Westfield Health, and garnered support from over 120 MPs.

Among those MPs is Russell, whose message of H.O.P.E. – ‘Help one person everyday’ – was a key component of his election manifesto.

At a recent event, held on a sunny day on the Terrace Pavilion at the House of Commons, he commented: “The workplace plays a crucial part in our mental health and there is a clear need for guidance on how organisations can better support their greatest asset, their people, with cultures that promote openness and a sense of safety to talk about mental health and suicide.”

Workplace charter

That event, on the banks of the River Thames, marked the launch of one of our key initiatives that will help make our vision a reality: our Baton of Hope UK Workplace Charter.

Occupational health refers to keeping people well at work – physically and mentally. But, of the investment made in this area, the lion’s share still goes to physical safety. This makes zero sense when you consider that poor mental health constitutes more than half of all work-related illnesses (51%) and costs UK employers as much as £45bn per year.

We spend around a third of our lives at work, so it’s no wonder that organisations do their utmost to ensure workplaces are safe environments. But, when you look at the figures, more needs to be done to provide employees with support.

Studies have shown a clear correlation between a happy workforce and a productive workforce – but staying happy depends on knowing that you have the right support.

Many organisations have mental health and wellbeing strategies in place, but a culture of wellbeing can only thrive if company leaders create the right environment.

Our workplace charter is going to help all businesses – global, national, regional, large or small – achieve that with resources in one place to look after their people.

Gap in wellbeing strategies

Specific mention of suicide is often a gap in wellbeing strategies, so the charter will provide organisations with all they need to understand and do to ensure that suicide awareness, support and prevention is embedded across the workplace.

It will also include guidance on how to manage a death from suicide in the workplace and support those who are bereaved by suicide.

But I’m not an expert, so the charter has been compiled by a team that consists of corporate, public and voluntary sector representatives, and has been signed off by leading clinicians in the field of suicide prevention.

One of our principal endorsers is Professor Rory O’Connor, professor of health psychology at the University of Glasgow and, as president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, a world leader on suicide research and prevention.

Professor O’Connor says: “Employers have a crucial role to play in suicide prevention. I commend this charter encouraging employers to approach this crisis with all the attention it deserves.”

Six workplace principles

Among the guidance will be our six principles for suicide support and prevention in the workplace. These include using clear and consistent messaging, embracing those with lived experience, and promoting crisis services and other resources.

Another prominent supporter of ours is Dr Alex George, the former Love Island star who was appointed UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador in February 2021.

Having lost his brother, Llyr, to suicide in 2021, Dr George has also agreed to be an ambassador for Baton of Hope, saying: “I am delighted to support this fantastic initiative that will bring support to the millions of people who are suffering in silence. Whether it’s carrying the physical baton or spreading the message of hope to our colleagues, friends and loved ones, we are all in this together.”

The ‘physical baton’ that he refers to is the charity’s iconic device that serves as a unifying symbol for our campaign.

Made by Thomas Lyte, goldsmiths and silversmiths to the late Queen Elizabeth II, and makers of the Emirates FA Cup and Rugby World Cup’s Webb Ellis Trophy, the baton will embark on a nationwide tour in late June.

It will be bringing the message of hope to 12 towns and cities across the UK, before culminating in a trip to Downing Street on Thursday 6 July.

Ultimately, by uniting people up and down the country on our crusade to improve suicide awareness, support and prevention, we can save lives. Did I – and Dr George – mention that we’re all in this together?

Organisations can register their interest in signing the UK Workplace Charter here and will be invited formally to sign-up in the autumn.