Legal spotlight

The British Standards Institute has published its British Standard 30480: Suicide in the workplace – Intervention, prevention and support for people affected by suicide (BS 30480). The UK’s first workplace standard dedicated to suicide awareness and education, BS 30480 is designed to provide comprehensive guidelines to help organisations plan for, respond to, and support people affected by suicide. It will be an important tool for employers as they get to grips with their responsibilities to safeguard their workers’ mental health and should be considered by them as part of their risk assessment process as both the government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) look to step up efforts to combat the rising mental health crises in the workplace.

The regulator’s most recent statistics show 1.7 million workers in the UK suffered from ill health in the last year, with half of those numbers relating to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. However, these statistics have been criticised as not revealing the whole story. In particular, suicides related to work are not included. 

The HSE has long referenced the difficulties in identifying a “unique link between work activity and suicide as most suicides generally arise out of a very complex and often subjective range of factors”. Whilst the regulator confirmed it doesn’t specifically consider work related suicide, one of its key priorities is work related stress which can be a precursor of suicidal ideation and that in “appropriate cases, the HSE may investigate a suicide”.

The HSE has been working hard to support employers improve the mental health of their workforce, including via its Working Minds campaign and free online tools to help employers get to grips with relevant risk assessments. It is clearly serious about driving improvement in this area, highlighting that around half of its inspections last year targeted health management. It has also confirmed that new research programmes are underway to improve understanding of mental health causes and interventions, in turn guiding future regulatory activity.

The HSE’s current guidance on suicide prevention highlights the psychosocial factors which may cause risk – including bullying, job insecurity, work related stressors and discrimination. It reminds employers of the need to address the risk as part of their duty to safeguard a worker’s mental as well as physical health.

The issues driving suicide are not unique to any particular sector.  The new BS 30840 is designed to apply across all workplaces, large and small, recognising that psychosocial risks exist wherever people work. That brings HR and health and safety professionals together, with the standard offering a common framework for both functions to address the problem in a consistent way.

The BSI’s website sets out the scope of the new standard. They say: ‘This British Standard is of use to managers, human resources teams, health and safety teams, occupational health teams, as well as those in organisational health and well-being, and diversity and inclusion. It is also for those workers who are responsible for managing performance, workload, mental health wellbeing and work environments.’ 

BS 30480 includes policies and practices to identify and manage suicide risk and warning signs along with toolkits for managers and HR teams.  Described as a “game-changer” for employers because it moves beyond policy statements and provides a structured way to build healthier workplaces and make sure that mental health is treated with the same seriousness as physical health and safety, BS 30480 also looks at how organisations should respond after a suicide – what’s called postvention – emphasising the need for compassionate and effective action that supports others, prevents clustering, and demonstrates accountability. 

BS 30480 provides best practice guidance and checklists for responsible employers, acknowledging the role work can play in suicide prevention.  However, its success will depend on employers, and employees, buying in to the guidance, committing to its aims and investing in the steps, and crucially the training, it recommends to ensure the theory is translated into practice. 

Sean Elson is a a regulatory partner at Pinsent Masons with expertise in health and safety. For more information, visit www.pinsentmasons.com