March On Stress

March on Stress Ltd both adheres to and upholds the following StRaW® Code of Conduct and StRaW Standards in both its training and crisis response practices. March on Stress is committed to promoting the Code of Conduct and Standards to its client organisations through training and consultancy.

StRaW Code of Conduct

Sustaining Resilience at Work (StRaW) is a process which aims to support people who have been exposed to occupational pressure and/or stress and may be experiencing a mental health impact as a result. It is not a medical initiative; however StRaW Practitioners, Managers and Instructors should abide by this code of conduct in the same way that medical practitioners abide by the rules of good medical practice.

All StRaW Practitioners, Managers and Instructors are to abide by the following code:

• StRaW interventions, including but not limited to risk assessments, should only be undertaken by individuals who have successfully completed a StRaW course delivered by a suitably qualified and current StRaW instructor according to the StRaW standards below.
• StRaW interventions should only be carried out if the person doing so is comfortable with the duty and considers that the role they are undertaking is consistent with their personal levels of training, expertise, education & experience.
• Confidentiality about StRaW work should be maintained at all times. StRaW workers should only speak about their StRaW work to StRaW colleagues or supervisors who ‘need to know’.
• StRaW Practitioners and Managers should ensure that they inform people they support with a StRaW intervention about their approach to confidentiality and ensure they are aware of the sorts of situations in which confidentiality might be broken.
• StRaW interventions should ensure that conversations that might increase occupational mental health issues in individuals are avoided wherever possible.
• Appropriate notes relating to StRaW interventions should be recorded and stored securely, paying appropriate attention to data protection requirements and respecting the need to maintain confidentiality.
• It is imperative that having conducted an initial assessment, StRaW Practitioners ensure that they complete any appropriate follow on actions such as provision of advice or mentoring or where appropriate following up to check on progress. Where appropriate follow on actions cannot be completed for whatever reason, the Practitioner should ask their StRaW Manager to ensure that another StRaW Practitioner can be assigned to complete the required follow on actions.
• Where a StRaW Practitioner/Manager does not feel able to carry out StRaW work, for an emotional or other reason, they should tell their supervisor about the limitation as soon as they can and should, under no circumstances, continue using StRaW to help others until they have recovered a good state of personal wellbeing themselves.
• All StRaW work should be carried out with the aim of helping others whilst avoiding causing harm.
• StRaW Practitioners and Managers should ensure they access appropriate supervision where they feel unsure about an issue.
• StRaW Practitioners, Managers and Instructors should remain up to date with how StRaW has evolved and should not carry out StRaW work or instruction if they consider their experience is lacking or their skills are out of date. In particular StRaW work should be conducted in accordance with the StRaW standards below.

StRaW Standards

StRaW Practitioners will:

1. Have completed a recognised StRaW Practitioners training course;
2. Comply at all times with the StRaW code of conduct;
3. Seek supervision from a StRaW Manager or other suitably qualified person (e.g. Healthcare professional) where they are not clear about any StRaW related work they carry out.
4. Stay ‘in date’ by:
   • Carrying out three or less StRaW interviews per year and undergoing annual refresher training;
     OR
   • Carrying out four or more StRaW interviews per year and completing a refresher training package every two years.
5. Practitioner refresher training can be carried out by an ‘in date’ StRaW Manager or through attendance at a course led by a qualified StRaW instructor.
6. Refresher training must include (a) a reminder of the StRaW code of conduct and (b) an opportunity to practice StRaW risk assessment skills under the supervision of a StRaW Manager or Instructor who must provide feedback. Subject to satisfactory completion of the refresher course a dated certificate, or StRaW Log Book entry clearly signed by a qualified StRaW instructor, will be issued by the person leading the refresher training.

StRaW Managers will:

1. Will have completed a recognised StRaW Practitioners Course and StRaW Managers course;
2. Ensure StRaW Practitioners within their organisation receive the supervision they require as they carry out their StRaW duties;
3. Ensure that StRaW Practitioners within their organisation meet the standards as above and comply with the StRaW code of conduct;
4. Continue to develop their knowledge and experience through continuous professional development (CPD) by attending, as a minimum, one occupational-health related event/training courses during each two year period in addition to a StRaW Manager refresher training once per two years;
5. Ensure they receive StRaW Manager refresher training from a reputable, evidence-based StRaW training provider every two years*

StRaW Instructors will:

1. Have completed both StRaW Practitioner & StRaW Managers Courses;
2. Have considerable experience of carrying out ‘stress management at work’ (such as StRaW) interventions (in a Practitioner role) and having managed others carrying out ‘stress management at work’ (such as StRaW) interventions (in a Manager role) and experience of working with personnel and organisations who have experienced traumatic events*;
3. Hold a formal national or organisational teaching/instructor qualification or have suitable teaching experience and be working towards gaining a formal/nationally recognised teaching qualification**;
4. Continue to develop their knowledge and experience through continuous professional development (CPD) and attending at least one related event/training course per year**
5. A lead instructor or sole instructor (instructing a course of 8 or less) must instruct three StRaW courses per year and an assistant trainer is required to assist on at least one ‘two instructor’ course to remain in date. Where an instructor goes out of date they should discuss any desire to revalidate their training with a suitably qualified StRaW training provider.

* As StRaW is a novel intervention at the time of compiling these standards it will not be likely that Instructors will have conducted regular StRaW interviews themselves but Instructors should have some related ‘managing stress at work’ experience.

** Evidence of compliance with these criteria needs to be hard copy (e.g. certificate or log book) or on e-media (e.g. pdf, photograph etc). Oral reporting of evidence is not deemed to be suitable.