Case study: Adjustments for an employee with a visual impairment

Trevor Peart, a business and continuity manager in procurement, experienced a detached retina in February 2006, which led to his vision impairment. Since then his line managers, right up to vice president level, have been incredibly supportive.

“BT kept in touch while I was off, and arranged a gradual return to work plan for me to ease me back into work gently. The support I’ve had from BT has been second to none,” says Trevor, whose line manager also assisted him with a flexible working solution.

“I now work from home, which cuts down on unnecessary travel, and adjustments have been made which enabled me to remain in my role. I have a large monitor, a task lamp and I use Zoomtext magnification screen reading software”.

'Positive Mentality' Campaign: Raising  staff awareness on mental health issues.

On 10 October 2006, World Mental Health Day, BT launched its new ‘Work Fit’ campaign aimed at helping BT staff improve their mental health.

The objective for the 16 week campaign entitled ‘Positive Mentality’ was to raise awareness of mental health and explain what BT people can do to build positive changes in their lives. It is believed to be the UK’s biggest ever drive to improve mental health in the workforce.

As with previous Work Fit programmes, the Positive Mentality campaign has a strong backing of both the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) and Connect – the union for professionals in communications. CWU deputy general secretary Jeannie Drake describes it as: “An excellent initiative in which union and the company are working in partnership.”

Additionally the charity ‘MIND’ a leading body for people with mental health problems has been enlisted to support the programme through a series of road shows at key BT sites across the UK.

The programme will give all BT people in the UK and worldwide, information on how to stave off and combat mental ill-health. It will also educate staff to help reduce the stigma of mental illness and promote the range of support services that the company provides.

BT chief medical officer Dr Paul Litchfield said: “BT takes pride in the way it supports people who develop mental illness – but we want to go beyond that and help them avoid ill health in the first place so they can lead happier and more productive lives.”

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