Agreeing best practices regarding working culture, working conditions, awareness of and approaches to mental health, sickness and injury, and recognising how systemic factors and poor practice can negatively impact the wellbeing of freelancers. To ensure that physical and mental health needs of freelancers will always be valued above the requisites of any job, Turtle Key Arts and collaborating companies and artists pledge:
- to state, enshrine and implement what a safe working environment means for artists and freelancers
- to have clear wellbeing and mental health policies
- to provide freelancers with our wellbeing and mental health policies with their contract. Policies will explain processes and protocols on who to turn to if they have any issues to raise, and transparency in how issues will be handled within the organisation
- to plan schedules with wellbeing in mind, giving additional attention to contributors to injury, sickness and mental health difficulties
- to ensure core staff have first aid training
- to ensure core staff have mental health first aid training
- to share key information from the mental health training among staff
- to implement check-ins and supportive systems to ensure wellbeing is valued before work and no worker is sacrificing health to “get the job done”.
