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Call to put Mental Health Injuries on a par with Physical Injuries in the workplace

A leading corporate psychologist is spearheading a campaign calling for mental health injuries caused by work-related incidents to be treated with the same import as physical ones.

Tina Catling, a Principal Practitioner for the Association for Business Psychology, is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Society of Arts.

She is lobbying for mental health injuries to fall under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).

Tina Catling said:

This would put mental health injuries on par with physical injuries, which would create more psychological safety in the workplace. It would not only save companies thousands in absences and productivity; it would save lives.

As founder and director of the Leeds-based communications, culture and innovation consultancy ThinkOTB, Tina coaches global leaders on building psychologically safe teams to unlock innovation and creativity, and has co-written two best-selling books.

Tina Catling

A recent study by AXA* UK shows that poor mind health in the workplace cost the UK economy £102billion in 2023. Workplace bullying, stress and harassment is commonplace in the UK, which can create low staff engagement, which in turn can create physical injuries.

Employee engagement is proven to raise performance and productivity. Reports by Engage for Success** state staff who are not engaged at work are 62% more likely to have a physical injury at work.

Tina said: “This cause is very close to my heart. I work to create healthy, positive cultures in my own business and in those we advise and work with. I coach many senior people who are struggling.”

She added: “We need to ask ourselves a fundamental question – why do we separate mental health from physical health? Our heads are connected to our bodies. Yet, if someone sustains a mental health injury due to work, there is no legal obligation for employers to investigate and report it.

Recognising and recording mental health injuries would lead to better protection for employees and encourage employers to take proactive measures, such as implementing psychological safety risk assessments and addressing workplace factors contributing to stress-related harm.”

Tina said: “If we required RIDDOR reporting for mental health injuries, we’d see an immediate shift. Employers would look closer at issues such as microaggressions, unconscious bias, bullying and the general psychological safety of their employees. There is an ISO for Psychological health and safety at work it is ISO45003 from 2021, but companies are not incentivised to apply for it.

“Creating the correct organisational protocols for psychological injury is a crucial step in creating inclusive, psychologically safe cultures that value both mental and physical well-being equally. A first step that every organisation can take is to ensure that individuals can report mental health injuries in the accident book.”

Tina added: “As a practicing corporate psychologist, I know that psychiatric injuries are happening at work and they are going unreported. They are not investigated and dealt with in the same ways as physical injuries and that is wrong.”

The campaign for psychological safety at work is part of a growing call for workplace change: United Minds (from Unite the Union) is campaigning on the same issue.

About the Campaign:

Tina is leading a psychological safety at work campaign to bring attention to the need for mental health injuries in the workplace to be treated with the same seriousness as physical injuries by requiring them to be reported under RIDDOR. By doing so, the campaign aims to drive cultural change within industries, promoting a more holistic approach to employee well-being and safety.

psychological safety at work logo

Campaign for ‘Psychological Safety’ to be treated on a par with ‘Physical Safety’ in the workplace.

Mental Health Injuries must be recognised, reported in the accident book, investigated, and lessons learned shared just as you would with a physical health injury.

HSE we want these listed as reportable injuries for a RIDDOR.

About Tina Catling

Tina is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as Principal Practitioner Association for British Psychology (PPABP). She is Innovation Director at ThinkOTB.

A successful entrepreneur with 30 years’ experience working globally delivering solutions in marketing, communications, and strategic innovation management for companies such as ARUP, Boots, NDA, Sellafield, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Thomson Reuters, Save the Children and Google. Tina is passionate about understanding creative thinking and unlocking that potential in individuals to think in new and better ways. As part of this work, she gained a Masters with Honors in Corporate Psychology and has co-written two best-selling business books published by Wiley. Tina has been a performer in a touring musical show, is a mum of four adult children, an accomplished sailor and Tina even spent a year as a stand-up comic in London.

If you want to support this campaign or to find out more

Or email us: tina.catling@otbagency.co.uk or even give us a call: 07711 780578