ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Facility services provider ABM is lending its security expertise and experience to raise awareness about suicide prevention. The company is a founding member of the Security Consortium for Suicide Prevention (SCSP), which held a conference in London last month.

The SCSP is a network of security organisations in the public and private sector working as a consortium to prevent suicide. Guided by professionals on the topic including the Samaritans and academic experts in suicidology, SCSP exists to channel resources and knowledge from the corporate world towards resolving the social issue of suicide; creating a shared responsibility for the prevention of suicide.

Chris Middleton, security and client services director at ABM said: "We are proud to be a part of the formation of SCSP and to have signed the consortium covenant, expressing our commitment to helping prevent suicide in collaboration with our industry peers.

"As the world emerges from the pandemic but continues to face challenging times, this has never been more important. Our team members work amongst the public every day and we understand the positive role they can play in identifying those who are struggling with poor mental health and dealing with critical situations. Furthermore, ensuring our own team members are supported through difficult times is of the utmost importance."

In March this year ABM introduced a mental health first aid training programme across its aviation and business and industry divisions. The investment was one of the first of its kind in the industry and was created in partnership with change and development platform TalkOut.

The training programme equips team members such as security officers, train station cleaning teams and those working in airports and shopping centres, with the right skills when faced with difficult situations while working. So far 75 team members across the ABM UK business trained in mental health first aid.

Vicki Vidler, founder of the Security Consortium for Suicide Prevention added: "The very definition of security is the state of being free from danger or threat. As a community of people dedicated to protecting others we have an opportunity to use our expertise to tackle the issue of suicide."