Supporting mental wellbeing at BAS

6 September, 2024

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is committed to a supportive culture where mental wellbeing is as important as physical safety. In this blog Health and Wellbeing Manager, Gemma Douglas, explains more about this commitment and her own role in helping to drive this important work forward.

My job title at BAS is Health and Wellbeing Manager – I am their first full-time employee in this role – and no two days are the same in this job.

There are so many different aspects to my role. I provide one-to-one confidential support for individuals, whether they are based at our main offices here in Cambridge, at our five research stations in Antarctica or on our research ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough. Then there’s the more strategic element of my work, where we are looking to make organisational changes and embed a wellbeing culture.

In my role, I address the two ways in which we target staff wellbeing – through individual interventions and through the organisational process, such as meeting the ISO 45003 standard where we look at psychological risk in different work environments. It is collaborative work with multiple stakeholders that we undertake in Cambridge and on the stations to make sure the environments where people are working are as safe as possible, not just physically, but from a social wellbeing and mental health point of view as well.

My door is always open to individuals who are experiencing any kind of issue – it could be a working relationship issue, they might be feeling stressed or overwhelmed – it doesn’t matter if the issue is inside or outside of work. People do pop in quite regularly to have a chat and I can talk with them about what they’re experiencing and what options they have.

Choice is so important for anyone who needs mental health support. I am very much led by what the person wants, whether they need information, whether we need to escalate things within the organisation, whether they need to be signposted to a mental health provider through our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or whether there is an issue that needs to be managed quickly and sensitively. And then I’m there to support their wellbeing across the whole journey.

One of the projects I am currently working on is updating our intranet pages with information about internal sources of support, but I am keen to promote external sources of support too, so everyone has choice and agency.

Last year, we launched our Safety Together campaign, which promotes a joined-up approach to physical safety, mental health and social wellbeing in the workplace. As part of the mental health branch of the campaign, we have been training mental health first-aiders. We now have a team of mental health first aiders at the Cambridge office, as well as all five research stations. They are all part of a network of mental health first aiders who receive peer support and supervision to ensure they are supported in delivering confidential mental health first aid to staff, wherever they are based in the world.

The training is pretty intense and runs over two days. They’re trained in what mental health is and the role it plays in our lives inside and outside of work, and they’re given the tools, resources and confidence to manage those situations. Mental health first-aiders are not counsellors, but they are there to provide that immediate support and then help someone get further help, such as seeing a counsellor or therapist, for example.

It’s important to have diversity among the first-aiders, so there are people from different levels and departments in the organisation. That way, people can speak to whoever they’re most comfortable talking to – they might not want to share with a senior manager or someone in their own department, so this is another way to give everyone choice.

Mental health first-aiders are champions of mental health for BAS, setting a good example of the behaviours we expect from individuals, promoting our mental health initiatives within their teams, being able to encourage good practices, such as the correct language to use, removing any stigma that still might be felt in the workplace.

Along with counselling, the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) helps people with issues at home, support with emergency childcare or eldercare, legal assistance, gambling addiction, alcohol and drug issues, financial wellbeing, and stress and anxiety. The EAP’s newly launched Wisdom Portal has information on health checks, how to stay healthy, dietary advice and physical exercise tips. It is great that the EAP provides such a broad range of support that staff and their immediate family can access.

For our employees who are working remotely in Antarctica, we prepare them before they go down south. They are trained in mental health awareness for themselves and their colleagues, with a strong focus on resilience.  We’ve improved communications, so people can have video calls with family and friends, rather than queuing to make phone calls via a connection that didn’t always work.

People tend to look after each other at the research stations, but they can still access the EAP and we have doctors in Antarctica. Our teams down south have incredible shared experiences, especially with being able to see the incredible wildlife and with the scientific research. I’ve just returned from a trip to the island research stations and I kept sending people back home pictures of penguins and seals! It was a great opportunity to learn about the different natural and environmental research projects BAS supports – the scientists will often give a talk on their research or, if you catch them in the mess, happily tell you about their latest findings!

There is a really strong community feel at BAS. People are incredibly supportive of one another. It is such a special place to work, and whether you are doing the science or supporting the science, the opportunities that come with working here are amazing.

BAS is a Disability Confident employer and are committed to making our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We believe that everyone should have access to the wide range of careers and opportunities we offer and we will discuss any adjustment that candidates may need to ensure potential barriers are removed. This could mean providing questions in advance allowing additional time in interviews, making changes to interview location or timing, or other adjustments.