Mental Health First Aid training a priority for HOS

Sunderland based fluid power experts, Hydraulic & Offshore Supplies (HOS) are taking the topic of mental health seriously as they organise accredited training for their staff.

The company, who are part of the R&G Fluid Power Group, have been based next to Sunderland’s riverside for over 35 years and have diversified and grown during recent years.  Supplying sectors including engineering, offshore, renewables, shiprepair, automotive and oil & gas, they are passionate about providing the very best training, support and encouraging personal development to their staff.

Hose technican Laura Fenwick was keen to learn more about how to support mental health in the workplace so was eager to take part in the Mental Health First Aid at Work training.

The course, which is accredited by Mental Health First Aid England, covered how to recognise warning signs of mental ill health, develop the skills and confidence to approach and support someone while also keeping yourself safe.  With mental health in the workplace such an important subject, HOS were keen to ensure they had a trained first aider within the business, gaining an understanding of how to support positive wellbeing and tackle the stigma which can sometimes be associated with mental health.

On successfully completing the two day course, Laura commented, ‘When I had the opportunity to take part in the training, I was really keen to learn more so I jumped at the chance to attend.

The course covered such a variety of subjects and I know will be useful for not only within the workplace but also within day to day life too.  Mental health is such an important subject and it’s great that we can talk about it openly without feeling judged, many people don’t like to discuss these issues openly so it was great for me to learn how to spot signs that somebody may be struggling and how to deal with this.’