Now is the time to educate your workforce and turn taboo topics into every day conversation pieces

With World Menopause Day in October fast approaching, we are in the process of preparing further initiatives to raise awareness of menopause in the workplace at Burness Paull and I’m sure many other employers are too.

However, whilst menopause has grabbed the headlines in recent years, and has been pushed further up the agenda at many organisations, there are countless other illnesses and conditions which impact employees.

You may not be aware that September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. In the UK, about one in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. It mainly affects men over 50, with the risk increasing with age.

There are a couple of parallels that can be drawn with the menopause; prostate cancer can be linked to changes in hormones around a certain age and it can often be difficult to get a diagnosis. However, the similarity that struck me the most was that, like the menopause, prostate cancer can still feel like a bit of a taboo subject to discuss in the workplace. We need to normalise this discussion too. One of the key defences against prostate cancer is raising awareness to ensure early diagnosis and employers can play a role in doing so.

In June we hosted a prostate cancer awareness talk from Prostate Cancer Awareness UK for employees (and their family and friends) which was great, not only to provide our workers with information about the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer, but also to enable us to understand how to support our employees and colleagues who are experiencing cancer.

In addition, employers need to understand the symptoms and effects of prostate cancer to be able to comply with their legal duties. As cancer is a deemed disability under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a duty to those experiencing cancer to ensure reasonable adjustments are made to the workplace and that such workers are not discriminated against (for prostate cancer, that could be on account of disability or age).

Many employers have made so much progress discussing menopause in the workplace (and rightly so) yet employers could be doing more to prevent and support those with prostate cancer in the workplace. The discussion around menopause is just one focus for employers, there are so many other health-related issues affecting our workers that are often still viewed as ‘taboo’ topics by many. In order to ensure a working environment where everyone gets the support they require to thrive, employers need to ensure they are identifying those health-related issues and keeping the education piece going as part of their health and wellbeing initiatives.

If you missed it, please find our top ten tips for supporting employees throughout the cancer experience here:  Top ten tips on supporting employees throughout the cancer experience | Burness Paull

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