Wellbeing is everyone’s business
Anyone who’s worked in rail knows the job can be physically demanding, or demand long periods of strenuous concentration. Shift work is hard on both minds and bodies. And rail workers are unusually likely to witness accidents or even deaths, which increases the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mental and physical health is key
Every year, rail loses around 1.3 million days to sickness – costing approximately £889 million each year. And mental ill-health costs transport companies more than £1,600 per employee, per year.
More than a third of respondents to RSSB’s Rail Mental Health Survey met the criteria for a clinical mental health condition. And one in 10 reported symptoms of clinical PTSD.
So a spotlight on health and wellbeing isn’t surprising – even without the extra benefits it can bring.
Why you should get on top of wellbeing
Protecting everyone’s wellbeing can improve safety and reduce absenteeism, as well as making your business a more attractive place to work. Ignoring the health of your people can bring problems – impaired memory and concentration can lead to poor decision making, create workplace conflict and bring more incidents and accidents.
And attractive workplaces aren’t just good for your people – they’re good for your business. More than one study has calculated that the cost of replacing an employee can be more than their annual salary.
Don’t forget the passengers
It doesn’t end with rail workers. Protecting the health of passengers, for example by preparing for future pandemics, makes rail more attractive to them too. Getting more people on trains can reduce congestion and pollution, and lead to better population health. In a world still dealing with the effects of Covid-19, this could be extremely valuable to the whole country.
We’re leading the charge on health and wellbeing
RSSB is leading efforts to raise the profile of health and wellbeing in rail. We’re collaborating with people across the industry to make sure we all reap the benefits.
We have tools, industry data and expertise that can help you improve the physical and mental wellbeing of your workers. Like mental health resources, and training programmes for line managers. These ensure managers can effectively support staff health and wellbeing. RSSB developed these programmes specifically for the rail industry, based on bespoke studies created with Mind and the Institute for Employment Studies. They’re produced by chartered psychologists with expertise in rail workforce mental health.
It’s all down to data
Without data we can’t begin to understand the problems we face, let alone try to solve them. We work with the DfT, ORR and rail organisations to create a foundation of data to help the industry monitor and manage workforce health and wellbeing.
From our experience in rail safety data, we’ve learned that standardising cross-industry data collection eliminates duplication of effort and ensures shared good practice and data that works for the whole industry.
Looking forward
The challenge for the future is to make this an integral part of running an efficient and attractive rail network. It’s a big subject – we’ll continue improving over the coming years, even decades. Just as we’ve done with safety.
But you could reap the benefits right now. A good place to start is our Railway Mental Health Charter (RMHC), which provides targeted actions and resources for improving mental health within your company.
