Protecting privacy
[ch 4: pages 24-25]At the Ministry of Defence (MoD), following action by health and safety reps for the PCS civil servants’ union, there is now a culture recognising that mental health-focussed risk assessments should not require an overly explicit, written explanation of exactly what mental health problems someone is suffering from. This is in order to recognise the need to protect privacy and dignity. An MoD PCS rep wrote the Covid-19 specific mental health risk assessments used in the department.
“Reasonable adjustments should be put in place without needing to have to be so carefully proven in a way that risks retraumatising someone with mental ill-health,” said PCS national executive committee member Fiona Brittle during a TUC webinar on Covid and mental health. “Something we can all campaign on, is for recognition that it’s not as easy to say you have depression as it is to say you have a stomach bug or sciatica.”