Embedding psychological health and safety at London Luton Airport.
“ISO 45003 has given invaluable practical guidance and structure to our approach to managing the psychological health and safety of our employees.”
The Covid pandemic shone a light on psychological health and wellbeing in the workplace, prompting LLA to assess and evaluate the measures and processes required to ensure it was, and continues to be, an understanding and supportive place of work.
However, it recognized that greater clarity and structure was needed if the airport was to evolve the management of wellbeing, stress, and mental health impacts to a more proactive, risk-based approach that managers would embrace.
LLA needed to address several specific challenges to successfully embed psychological health and safety across the operation. This included aligning wellbeing support for shift and day workers and managing any potential impact of increased recruitment and employee resilience as the airport continues to grow.
The Psychological Health and Safety at Work Standard (ISO 45003) has enabled LLA to build on the Occupational Health and Safety at Work (ISO 45001) management system it had already implemented. As it worked towards certification, LLA completed extensive gap analyses and risk assessments.
Collecting comprehensive, department-specific wellbeing data has also enabled the analysis of trends across departments, making the impact of wellbeing truly tangible.
In the year since achieving ISO 45003 certification, LLA has experienced multiple benefits:
Improved organizational resilience.
Positive feedback from employees.
Reduced stigma means employees are reporting mental health absence more openly.
Improved employee understanding of the importance of taking a break when needed to avoid crisis.
Enhanced proactive and reactive support meaning more employees feel able to return to work sooner.
Taking a risk-based approach to assessing and managing workplace wellbeing.
LLA has recorded significant improvements in the psychological health and wellbeing of employees (2023 vs. 2024):
7% increase in overall wellbeing, despite a 22% headcount increase and highly publicized fire.
Employee Net Promoter score increased from +12 to +38 (benchmark +14).
41% reduction in mental health days lost.
50% reduction in average days lost, despite a 15% increase in mental health absence spells.
“Working to the Standard has created a significant step change. We're now breaking down barriers and delivering tangible results for our organization.”
Creating a fair society means prioritizing people's physical and mental wellbeing. Implementing globally recognized standards demonstrates commitment to all stakeholders, helps develop a culture of trust, improve performance, and unlock innovation.
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