no company has the ability to be available 24/7 for 100% of staff on any issue, including mental health.
Southeastern offer two services, that I know of, which are 24/7
think it's a positive step it's being addressed, whereas you only seem to see the negatives in it and have decried it as "PR spin".
Because I see the reality of it. Because I see this as another tick box exercise, because I hear too many stories where there is no support, because I see the same attitudes being perpetuated by the people who are supposed to help.
Obviously some employees see more information than others, and its always been harder for drivers / conductors to be up-to-date on everything without reading a noticeboard absolutely crowded with general nonsense and material that is now irrelevant.
How many years has that been the case. What actually gets done to address it ? For Southeastern specifically; how many times has internal communication been one of the worse results on the employee survey ?
Staff being worried to talk to their managers is a separate point
Its linked. Having staff almost live in fear about the punitive elements of Mental Health is a serious issue. It drives people to hide their problems further and perpetuates the existing culture. Companies are very quick to say that X, Y, and Z are not part of it because they do not want to address X, Y and Z.
but unless there's a visible change in someone's character, how is a manager to know there's an issue? They cannot read a crystal ball and many employees are very, very good at hiding problems.
They don't, and we are. So why don't we address that ? For a start, how many PPCs (Planned personal contact) actually take place ?
Part of what I'm saying is that it shouldn't be the sole responsibility of the Managers. Again, it comes down to communicating to staff that there are people available, some of which are your colleagues, some are support schemes, and some are completely external.
Not to mention the time constraints on a manager's day.
Which is an excuse. Again, do something about it and share the responsibility with others and ensure that there is time available.
The aim is to make this more open; by being proactive so a driver opens up before they have their incident. Prevention is better than cure and all that.
How do you make something 'more open' by telling people that only a few people need to know :/
I think we both know that at 0040, and it was serious enough you'd be contacting your on-call DM.
I have no idea who my on-call DM is and to reitterate, people do not tend to call them. Its also a problem with what people consider 'serious' Someone going through a divorce will often see that as something they need to deal with. People like to keep things private. Having the ability to contact someone confidentially can change that. Giving people the knowledge of where they can access support helps empower them to make better decisions.
Again how that DM responds is down to training and their personality but the support is thee yet they won't be trained to deliver everything they a mental health professional can. Nor should we expect them too in my view.
I agree and its also why the constant 'speak to your Manager' approach isn't working.
I'm not naive enough to think this won't require a significant cultural change not just at Southeastern
Neither am I but for there to be a change, something needs to be done rather than treating this as everything else has been for years.
but at all TOCs (and society as a whole tbh) and railway culture hasn't helped but it's moving the right way and any communications that promotes this is good news.
The railway moves at a glacial pace. The proverbial horse has already bolted and is trying to find its way out the stable. We cannot let it out.