Chester Insurance Brokers help to tackle mental health in the Haulage and Logistics industry

The Chester Branch of C&C Insurance Brokers Ltd, Transport Insurance Specialists, have recently embarked on a new partnership with Uplift Mental Health to promote the importance of mental health within the Haulage and Logistics industry.

C&C want to help their clients reduce the number of accidents at work, which in turn reflect on their insurance premiums. Mental health issues among workers are said to cost around £1300 per employee per year, so by investing in a few internal procedures to support employees it can have a positive impact on all aspects of the business.

A study by Mind showed that 30% of self-reported, work-related illness in the transport and logistics industry is due to stress, depression and anxiety. It has also been reported that the industry is also behind others in terms of approaching mental health head on.

Suicide rates among men are tragically high and it remains the single biggest killer of men under 45. This reflects on the fact that 92% of HGV drivers are male, meaning the sector is disproportionately exposed to the impact of mental health issues among UK men.

Paul Trafford, Director of the Chester Branch commented ‘When we work with our clients we want to do all we can to advise them and help make sure they are receiving reasonable insurance premiums.  We know there is a connection between accidents in the workplace and mental health so we wanted to see what we can do to help.

When speaking to my clients within the transport sector it became apparent that not many companies have processes in place to help their employees tackle mental health and the figures show that employees within this sector fall within the high risk category.

A number of our clients in the sector have spoken of their interest in providing mental health support but were unsure of how to do this. Our partnership with Uplift Mental Health means we can now point our clients in the right direction for setting up the processes that will not only help their employees but also reduce the cost involved with employee accidents.’

Uplift Mental Health specialise in providing expert mental health prevention and support strategies that improve mental wellness at work. They will work with employers to understand how to effectively communicate and support employees with these issues and will provide the advice, support and training to set up the appropriate internal processes.