SAFETY4SEA SEAFiT - Issue 01

ISSUE 01 | Q1 2023 34 35 ISSUE 01 | Q1 2023 W E L L N E S S C O R N E R W E L L N E S S C O R N E R H E R S I D E What does ‘wellness’ mean to you? What do you do in your everyday life to embrace wellness? Wellness to me is a balance I’m constantly striving to find. I have found that my mental and physical wellbeing are closely linked, with it being hard to have one without the other. When I prioritise my mental health, ensuring it is looked after, my physical wellbeing comes more easily. What are the two things to do that can make you feel happy after a challenging day? Challenging days can be extremely draining on your mental health. I find that spending time with those closest to me is particularly grounding and helps keep things in perspective. In addition, getting out for long walks with my dogs brings me joy and I find that to be a great reset. What do you do to keep balance between your personal and business life? There are quite blurred lines between my personal and business life. This is largely due to my own choosing be- cause I absolutely love what I do! However, where balance is required, it is important to have dedicated time for each and to maintain these boundaries. In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your personal life? In the last five years, the practice of slowing down has improved my personal life immensely. The pandemic helped me appreciate the value in not having all my time fully mapped out and ‘going with the flow’ more often. What would you like to change in the current maritime landscape with regards to wellbeing? I think the most urgent change required in the maritime industry is improving the wellbeing and psychological safety of seafarers. Although it is reassuring to see a much greater emphasis being placed on it in recent years, a huge shift in culture and attitude is still required. What wellness-promoting initiatives would you like to see in the workplace? In my role at the Diversity Study Group, I am privileged in seeing the huge breadth of initiatives available, as well as exciting new initiatives being developed. The key for me is having wellness initiatives that are relevant, accessible, and well communicated to the workforce, taking into considera- tion regional differences, for example. Name: Heidi Heseltine Position: Founder, the Diversity Study Group & CEO, Halcyon Recruitment Short bio: Heidi Heseltine specialises in diversity, equity and inclusion for the global maritime sector, working at an industry, corporate and individual level to support pro- gress and change in DEI across the shore based and seafaring communities. With over 30 years’ experience in the maritime industry working in commercial, opera- tional and human resource roles, and as an international maritime business leader since 2008, Heidi has unique insight into maritime related DEI. Heidi founded the Diversity Study Group in 2018 to provide data, bench- marking, industry collaboration and DEI consulting services for the maritime sector. H I S S I D E What does ‘wellness’ mean to you? What do you do in your everyday life to embrace wellness? Wellness is making decisions that support physical, emotional and mental health. Those decisions aren’t always easy, especially when there are times of work or personal pressure, but I suppose I start with physical health; getting out for a run or a bike ride helps declutter my thoughts and I hope it makes me more available to people around me! What is the most worthwhile wellbeing investment (in energy, time, money) you’ve ever made? Any time I buy a pair of trainers. And - genuinely - being curious. Pushing through natural cynicism and exploring new approaches or perspectives to well-being can be enormously rewarding. What would you like to change in the current maritime landscape with regards to wellbeing? There are good examples of supportive working environ- ments, including changes first implemented amid the covid-19 pandemic. There’s a lot still to do. For example, there’s much more research needed to better assess and protect the well-being of those working in the maritime environment, as well as identify the interventions that actu- ally work. In this space, we already know that long-term evaluations are very rare and there has been little appetite for systematically refining existing programmes. In the meantime, let’s retain the practical covid-related changes as the foundation of long-lasting structural improvements to well-being. What wellness-promoting initiatives would you like to see in the workplace? To me, a healthy starting point is a commitment to well- being from employers and industry. On board working conditions for seafarers can then be optimised via changes to vessel design, contracts, scheduling, ability to communi- cate regularly with loved ones and so forth. What is the one thing that you are feeling grateful at the moment? Any opportunity to sleep! I’m very aware that getting enough rest is one area in which my well-being could be much improved. What is your personal motto? This actually goes back about twenty years. I was once told that we are guaranteed two days on Earth; the day we are born and the day we die. I asked “What’s today then?” and the response has rather guided me since; “Today is a celebration.” Name: Dr. Tim Slingsby Position: Chair, Maritime Charities Group Short bio: Tim is Director of Skills and Education at Lloyd’s Reg - ister Foundation, where he works with an international network of HE, NGO, IGO and industry professionals to manage, direct and communicate issues and research that have an impact on society. Tim previously worked in the science team at the British Council, the UK’s inter - national organisation for cultural relations and educa- tional opportunities. He studied Human Genetics at the University of Nottingham, and then completed a PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Leicester. Today, he is determined that the romance, creativity and inno- vation of all things science and engineering are valued as a resource for making the world a better place.