Integrity

INTEGRITY HSE

TAILORED SOLUTIONS FOR A HEALTHIER WORKPLACE

INTEGRITY HSE

I PROFILE

248 Inside sustainability

Darrell Lines, Director of Safety & Risk Management

Shabnum Hanif, Director of Clinical Psychology

Steve Harris, Managing Director

Established to make the working environment a safer place, Integrity HSE is changing the way health is managed in professional spaces.

To find out more, Hannah Barnett spoke to the firm’s three partners: Managing Director Steve Harris, Director of Safety & Risk Management Darrell Lines and Director of Clinical Psychology Shabnum Hanif. tegrity HSE is a consultancy

IN

A founding vision

with a coherent vision and

Integrity HSE has established itself as

a broad scope.

a premier global provider of efficient,

safer, healthier and more sustainable,”

and training solutions within any business

said Steve Harris Managing Director. “To

or industrial setting. The organisation has

do that, we’re going industry agnostic.

an unrivalled global reputation for client

Our foundations are anchored within in

collaboration, thanks to its ability to reveal

the energy industry, but collectively we

hidden potential and unlock marginal gains

have a wide spread of experience, trans-

in HSE and training performance.

“We are seeking to make the workplace

ferrable across sectors. We see a lot of

effective, innovative, and sustainable HSE

The company was founded in March

evidence that construction is feeling pain

2023 by Mr Harris, influenced by his

and maritime is feeling pain, along with

many years in senior positions within

many other industries. We’re here to help

high-hazard industries. He recounted the

everybody. We’ll go cross-border, cross-

frustrations he felt when going to market

industry and cross-culture, to do that.”

to find HSE and training solutions that could

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INTEGRITY HSE

I PROFILE

meet his standards. Subsequently, he

this is clear, as the UK Health and Safety

launched a consultancy dedicated to

Executive revealed that between 2021 and

meeting and exceeding those standards

2022, over half of the 1.8 million reported

whilst making the workplace safer.

cases of ill health at work were linked

“That is our vision and our mission,” said

to stress, depression and anxiety. This

Mr Harris. “Money is important, but it has

resulted in 17 million lost workdays from

nothing to do with our end goal, it simply

the UK economy.

finances our vision.”

“There’s a huge moral, legal and economic

Integrity HSE holds several accolades,

imperative for every business to suitably

one being that it is the only training provider

address the psychosocial hazards to their

in Scotland double licenced by the

workforce,” Shabnum Hanif, Director of

International Institute of Risk and Safety

Clinical Psychology, explained. “This is espe-

Management (IIRSM) and the Institute of

cially true in offshore work, where someone

Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

leaves a normal social environment for

Thanks to the company’s focus on an unri-

a highly pressured and safety critical job.

valled customer experience and ensuring

We must consider their needs.

client relationships are at the core of every-

“It is no surprise that we are seeing an

thing it does, the initial projected first year

increase in stress, depression and anxiety

turnover of £860,000 looks set to increase

related absence, costly staff turnover and

to an impressive £1.5 million.

some serious mental health episodes.”

To help as many people as possible, it was

In Scotland, where Integrity HSE is

fundamental for Integrity HSE to address

based, one in four people experience a

mental health risks alongside more tradi-

mental health challenge every year, and

tional physical ones. The rationale behind

12% of the population are reported to be

250 Inside sustainability

on antidepressants, which only accounts for those that have been able to seek some form of help. It is likely that the true number is much higher, but many do not address the issue, which compounds the societal problem and stifles the mental health conversation.

“Integrity HSE therefore stresses the importance of having fully trained personnel on hand when approaching mental health”

Mr Harris explained how the topic is one near to his heart: “I have lost two people who were dear to me to suicide.

One was a childhood friend, who killed him-

“As the onshore supervisor

self during his university years, and the other

whilst that person was at work,

committed suicide while he was working for

the responsibility for that death

me offshore in January 2019.

is mine. However, the account-

“The person who worked for me left two

ability is not on me because

suicide notes: one to his wife and one to

there was no way for me to recognise

me. The note apologised because he

what was happening. Even if I had been

didn’t know how to open up about what

trained in the signs and had been working

he was feeling. Although that person was

with him in the same location every day,

outwardly very happy, he was obviously

it is likely his pain would have still gone

a deeply troubled person, and ironically,

unnoticed. The stark reality is that we

he was the person that others would go

cannot save everyone, but as employers,

to with their problems.

we do have a legal responsibility to

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INTEGRITY HSE

I PROFILE

ensure that the risks of mental health

be a buzzword that provides very little

affliction to those in our care are kept

value beyond optics.

as low as reasonably practicable.”

“For example, let’s take the word ‘stress’,” she continued. “Stress is

A no-brainer

a mental health illness. If you were to

Integrity HSE therefore stresses the

understand what stress does, you’d say:

importance of having fully trained and

‘I’m under pressure’ or ‘I’m panicking.’

competent personnel on-hand when

Those are the emotions you’re feeling. Our

approaching mental health, and the

training is about understanding triggers

level of that competence must be

versus response, and then supporting the

commensurate with the risk.

outcomes of that.”

As Mr Harris put it: “There are people

Integrity HSE offers mental health training

who operate in this space who are not

for managers, to enable them to identify the

suitably equipped to address a potentially

actions and behaviours of somebody strug-

life-and-death subject. I would never have

gling, as well as company-wide training. This

a First Aider treat somebody suffering

is alongside periodically sending qualified

from a heart attack. That is a doctor’s job.

therapists offshore and onsite, for both

The same is true with mental health. The

individual and group counselling sessions.

issue is that sometimes we are not able

The most popular service involves creating

to see what the mental health equivalent

a company-specific strategy, including

of a heart attack may be.”

a psychosocial risk assessment.

That is where Ms Hanif’s clinical

The company has also opened a clinic in

qualifications and experience come in,

the basement of its new office in Queen’s

complemented by her experience in the

Road, Aberdeen. “That’s for people who

energy industry. She explained how it is

don’t want to make use of counselling

vital to increase education around mental

onsite. It’s a more discreet option, where

health, to prevent it simply continuing to

they can come to see myself or another

252 Inside sustainability

psychologist,” said Ms Hanif. “We’re trying

towards substantial change in the

to cover every scenario. I think people will

energy industry and beyond.

see the value and the necessity.

“Deloitte conducted a survey recently

“The real driver for me has always been to help people,” Mr Lines concluded

and found that for every £1 spent by

“We’ve had quite a few situations where

an organisation on mental health, they

people have called or emailed us just

received £5.33 in return. A five to one

to ask a question. And we let them know

ratio. So, it’s a no-brainer, excuse the pun.”

what we think, on a non-commercial basis. It could lead to something, or we

A personal approach

can never hear from again, it doesn’t

This person-centred focus extends

matter. We feel that if we’ve just helped

to physical health and safety issues,

somebody that day, that’s okay. The rest

which are overseen by the Director of

will follow.”

n

Safety & Risk Management Darrell Lines.

“There are set regulations about hazards in the workplace and responsibilities for people like Directors in an organisation,” he said. “They’re liable and they need to know that. It’s not to scare them, it’s to assist them. The moral part is that we’re humans, we want to help each other. And economically, what’s best for employees benefits a company too.

“I have worked with some of the best organisations in the world and if I ask them to consider psychosocial hazards as part of their risk assessment, then there would be a blank page. We have to strip it back to basic hazards, before something turns into an active situation.”

With such a respected reputation, innovative perspective and complementary breadth of experience on offer, Integrity HSE stands out by offering a pathway

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www.integrityhse.com