How to build a mentally resilient fire industry

24 February 2026 by Guest Blogger,

A blog by Mates in Mind

Following on from the launch of the FIA and Mates in Mind partnership, and the recent training session for FIA Directors, this article provides further insights into the importance of building a mentally resilient workforce and sector, and how Mates in Mind can help you achieve that.

But before we do that, it is important to understand what ‘mental health’ is and why we should build positive mental health in and through work.

What is mental health?

This may seem a strange place to start given the coverage of mental health has increased in recent times. However, it is important to understand the different terminology:

Mental health: everyone has mental health; it can vary from good to poor and be anywhere in-between. It can fluctuate over an hour, day, week, year. It can be impacted by our work, our personal lives and sometimes a crossover between the two. It is also almost impossible to compartmentalise our lives, because in today’s working environment the distinctions between the ‘health’ we bring to work and the ‘health’ we have because of work are becoming increasingly hard to distinguish.

Mental ill-health: is a broad term encompassing a range of experiences that would not meet the criteria of an illness, e.g. stress, low mood, feeling overwhelmed etc. These tend to be temporary but can be difficult to go through.

Mental illness: is a diagnosed condition with specific criteria, it can significantly affect a person’s thinking, feeling and behaviour, it requires professional diagnosis and treatment, e.g. depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder etc.

In this article, where appropriate, we will use the term ‘mental health condition’ to encompass both mental ill-health and mental illness.

Why is it important?

The cost of sickness, presenteeism, reduced productivity, staff turnover etc. is estimated to cost UK businesses £56 billion a year.¹
Stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 46% of work-related ill health and 55% of all working days lost due to ill health in 2023/24.²
A survey found that, ‘47% of employers said they offer regular workload reviews to their employees, but just 14% of employees said they receive this’.³
‘Nearly two-thirds of businesses (64%) say they have seen a rise in absenteeism because of employee mental ill health’ and yet ‘less than half (44%) collected data on employee mental health conditions, whether anxiety or depression’. ‘Although slightly more (46%) did collect data on stress-related disorders'.⁴

Part of the issue is that people do not know how to spot the signs of mental health conditions in themselves, or their colleagues, nor do they know how to start a conversation about it, largely due to the stigma that persistently surrounds the topic (you can read the Mates in Mind blog on stigma: https://www.matesinmind.org/news/blog-how-to-support-the-mental-wellbeing-of-your-team-through-addressing-the-stigma).

In addition, whilst many organisations offer some mental health provision, too often employees do not know what is in place or how to access it, or the provision focuses on the point of need, rather than prevention.

But more worryingly, managers often don’t know that ‘Employers have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it. This is the same duty you have to protect people from other health and safety risks.’ (Health and Safety Executive).

A study⁵ found that, ‘Interviewees referred to a lack of understanding about their roles and responsibilities as an employer or manager related to mental health at work: "there might be a government policy in place, I genuinely don’t know’’.

In addition, a Mates in Mind survey found that:

Fewer than 10% of respondents said that their “line managers know how to undertake stress risk assessments and understand when they may be necessary” (almost 70% said they would not).
Less than 20% have mental health policies in place (over 46% do not).
Less than 13% said they have provided all employees with general mental health awareness training in the last two years (61% have not).
However, almost 78% do record the reason for absence being related to stress or common mental health conditions.

This is a really important point, because in 2024, “The HSE confirmed active investigations concerning suspected organisational failures in managing mental health risks. Considering the substantial number of workdays lost each year to poor employee mental health and several recent high-profile suicide cases tied to job-related stress, businesses should anticipate more investigations in the upcoming months and years."⁶

And this is where Mates in Mind can help you.

Where do you start?

At Mates in Mind, we believe there are a number of elements that are needed to build a culture of prevention:

Management buy-in and leading by example.
Assessment of where you are now.
Targets to define where you want to be.
Education to ensure everyone has the skills, knowledge, tools and confidence to build a safer workplace.
Support in terms of provision e.g. Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs), Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) etc.
Communications which provide relevant, timely, and accessible materials.
Assessing progress to ensure you are on target to achieve your mental health goals.
Mentoring to create peer support networks across the organisation, supply chain, contractors etc.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to build an inclusive culture.
Policies that ensure you are legally and morally compliant.

These elements are all encompassed in our Supporter Programme, please read on to find out how.

How Mates in Mind can support you

The Mates in Mind Supporter Programme is built on a framework of best practice to ensure that you have the tools, skills and confidence to build positive mental health in and through work. The framework is designed to ensure you have effective interventions in place across the following stages:

Primary: This is about organisation-wide prevention, i.e. identifying and mitigating risks within organisational culture, policies and management, as well as addressing gaps in provision.
Secondary: This focuses on prevention at an individual level, e.g. upskilling employees to build knowledge and confidence.
Tertiary: Treatment, i.e. providing support at the point of need, such as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) and helplines.

All three stages are important, necessary and need to be optimised. However, at Mates in Mind we advocate for a focus on prevention i.e. proactive interventions (primary and secondary) in order to provide support before someone reaches the point of crisis.

The programme takes your organisation on a journey to optimise the mental health of your workers, because work can and should be good for workers’ mental health. In essence it includes:

Understanding where you are now: Starting with our Organisational Assessment, it gives you a clear picture of where you stand in terms of your workforce’s mental health.
Creating a tailored action plan: From the assessment, we develop a focused plan of action, tailored to your organisation, which turns insight into impact through effective interventions.
Ongoing personal support: Each Supporter is assigned a dedicated Support Manager, to guide you along your journey.
Building capability and culture: Supporters gain access to training, guidance, mental health campaign packs and a wealth of engagement resources. These include our free 'Start the Conversation' course and our monthly peer support webinars to provide MHFAs, HR and Wellbeing Managers with the skills and confidence to support the mental health of colleagues (in pilot phase).
Becoming self-sustaining: Our aim is to help you build internal capacity to sustain this work long-term.

In addition to the wealth of Supporter exclusive resources, our website also includes:

Resources: Infographics, factsheets and guides, e.g. how to spot the signs of stress, depression and anxiety; how to support someone with anxiety; stress awareness factsheet: https://bit.ly/MinM-Resources
Videos: A series of short Stress Awareness videos which cover spotting the signs, starting a conversation, assessing the risk, making work adjustments and signposting support, plus a mental health quiz: https://bit.ly/MinM-Resources
Blogs: Our ‘How to optimise your mental wellbeing’ series of blogs are for individuals (covering sleep, nutrition, exercise etc.) and for organisations (workplace culture, working in isolation, eradicating the stigma, neurodiversity): https://bit.ly/MinM-blogs

How we know it works

Don’t just take our word for it, here is what some of our Supporters say:

“We began our journey with Mates in Mind over 10 years ago with Start and Manage the Conversation training being rolled out. It is a credit to the workforce that we have so many willing colleagues to step up and undertake training to better support themselves and others. They are so much more empowered and confident to step in when needed, and this is evidenced by the number of anonymous conversations and interventions that are recorded, as well as feedback from those who have sought help.”
“Several members have decided to support Mates in Mind and see them as guiding light in changing the sectors approach to mental health. Their resources and frameworks in shaping conversations around workplace wellbeing inspired us to take bold steps in making mental health education universally accessible. Their support and resources helped us align our content with best practices and ensure it resonates with real workplace challenges.”
“We joined Mates in Mind in 2019 after attending a Working Well Together presentation. We did not have wellbeing provisions at the time and knew that introducing new training was an opportunity to share important messages about managing mental health. We have also completed the Mates in Mind organisational assessment, which has helped to introduce further wellbeing initiatives. We have felt cultural shifts on-site, receiving feedback from participants of the training that it has become a reliable source of information to take into their lives, professionally and personally.”
“Since becoming a Mates in Mind supporter, we have already noticed a positive shift within our workforce. We have noticed open conversations and discussions around the topic of mental health have become more frequent creating an environment where employees feel safe to share their experiences.”

Conclusion

As a reminder, through building positive mental health in and through work, it is possible to:

Meet your legal duty of care to your workers.
Improve your organisation’s financial wellbeing through increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, presenteeism and recruitment costs.
Raise your reputation in terms of being a good and supportive place to work.
Promote your commitment and demonstrate how you are supporting your workers.

Start your mental health journey today: