UNOX SUPPORTS MENTAL HEALTH

The Burnt Chef Project has been a driving force in eradicating the stigma around mental health in the hospitality industry since launching in 2019. Now, Unox has placed its support behind the cause by becoming the charity's first equipment supply partner.

The company will provide help via commercial fundraising, driving awareness and hosting events. This will include the provision of dedicated event space, complete with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology that can be used for virtual training sessions.

Scott Duncan, managing director of Unox UK, said: “We are immensely proud to become the first equipment supply partner of The Burnt Chef Project and we are looking forward to working with the team, both here in the UK and through our global Unox team around the world. Supporting the partnership, we are delighted that our Unox head office team in Italy has agreed to match our UK fundraising total in the next year.”

In 2020/21 stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 50% of all work-related ill health cases, the main work factors cited by respondents as causing work-related stress, depression or anxiety were workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility with lack of managerial support.

Work-related stress is an acute and/or ongoing state of exhaustion that leads to physical, mental or emotional exhaustion and prevents people from functioning safely and within normal boundaries. Work-related stress affects a person’s health, increases the chance of workplace injuries occurring, and reduces performance and productivity within the workplace.

Kris Hall, CEO of The Burnt Chef Project said "Our industry is facing more pressures than ever before, yet we’re not always equipped to deal with the issues this may bring to individuals within our team. We’ve developed this publication to assist employers and persons with duties under Occupational Health and Safety laws to comply with those laws in relation to work-related stress in the workplace. With work-related stress affecting such a high proportion of our team's wellbeing, it’s time to put the resources in place to support our team's wellbeing and arm our managers with the tools they need to help their staff thrive, not just survive. Our free guide has been compiled with information, knowledge and expertise within the field of hospitality workplace wellbeing and is designed to help employers start implementing procedures to tackle work-related stress and its impact on both wellbeing and performance”.