THIS week marks the fifth annual Rail R U OK?Day, an industry event inspiring rail employees across Australia and New Zealand to look out for one another’s mental health.
Partners of this campaign are the suicide and harm prevention charity, R U OK? and the TrackSAFE Foundation.
TrackSAFE Foundation chairman Bob Herbert was thrilled with the amount of participants, said to have grown from 6500 to 50,000 in just five years, making it the “most high-profile initiative involving rail employees.”
“Due to the nature of roles in the industry, some workers could potentially be exposed to traumatic incidents,” Mr Herbert said.
“And these incidents can have lasting effects. Not only this, we’re all exposed to life’s ups and downs so we want to empower rail employees to deal with confronting challenges that might be thrown their way. Rail R U OK?Day equips rail employees with the tools to reach out and connect with each other in a meaningful way.”
R U OK? chief executive Katherine Newton applauded the rail industry’s continued support.
“With participation in Rail R U OK? Day having grown by almost 700% since the inaugural event in 2015, rail employees from across Australia and New Zealand are transforming their workplaces into strong and resilient environments every day of the year,” Ms Newton said. More information is available at: https://www.ruok.org.au/rail-r-u-ok-day
