By Jack Fox (Office & Facilities Manager)
At Harmless, we spend our days talking about safety, but usually it’s in the context of our life-saving interventions for those at risk of self harm or suicide. But ahead of World Health & Safety at Work Day next week, we are turning the lens inward.
In the UK, the working landscape is shifting. For a small non-profit organisation like ours, health and safety isn’t just about ensuring we avoid tripping over cables. It’s about protecting the hearts and minds of the people who do the heavy lifting of social care. We believe that health and safety must start with employee welfare.
Investing in Our Workforce
The cost of caring is a real psychosocial hazard. To combat burnout and vicarious trauma, Harmless has spent the last few years moving beyond policy and into practice. We’ve implemented a range of measures designed to ensure our team isn’t just surviving, but thriving:
- The Four-Day Working Week
We recognise that rest isn’t a luxury – it’s a biological necessity, especially for high-impact mental health work. By moving to a four-day working week, we’ve given our team the time to decompress and reduce chronic fatigue, which in turn improves focus during working hours. - Staff Therapy
We don’t just provide therapy for clients; we provide it for our providers too. Access to external, confidential therapy ensures our staff have a safe space to process the emotional weight of their roles. - True Flexible Working
Whether it’s adjusting hours for school runs or balancing caring responsibilities, we offer flexibility built on trust and compassion. - Dedicated Wellbeing Spaces
These are quiet, tech-free spaces where staff can take five minutes to ground themselves after a difficult call or decompress and return to their work with greater clarity and resilience. - Sick Pay
Financial anxiety should never be a barrier to physical or mental recovery. Our sick pay policy ensures that if a team member is unwell, their only job is to get better.
These measures are just some of the many we have implemented over the past few years to support our workforce. We will continue to work with our team to ensure their wellbeing is put first.
Prioritising the Mental Health of Our Workforce
In 2026, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines emphasise that employers must treat mental health with the same importance as physical safety. For us, we are not just following the rules, but helping to set the standard. As the centre of excellence for self harm and suicide prevention, we must be leaders in our field when it comes to workforce welfare. We cannot pour from an empty cup. If we don’t protect the wellbeing of our staff, we cannot effectively protect the safety of our service users
