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BS 30416, Menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace – Guide — Transcript

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4:48thank you
4:51so uh good afternoon everyone
4:54um first of all welcome to those who
4:56physically made it here to this meeting
4:57today so great to see so many of you
4:59here
5:00um and secondly welcome to all those who
5:02are joining us online we're incredibly
5:04proud that we had so many people who
5:06wanted to be part of this conversation
5:08that uh we are anticipating sort of over
5:11500 people online which is quite an
5:13achievement so
5:15go people that's what I say
5:17um we're here today to learn how our
5:19organizations all of our organizations
5:21can support our people as they manage
5:24their personal experience of both
5:25menstruation and menopause
5:28um it's not a subject that I've been
5:30encouraged to talk about in my very long
5:3130 years of working life and so it feels
5:34quite weird to be stood up here and
5:36saying those words with no medical
5:38background no particular issues so it's
5:40it's what a step forward we've all come
5:42but it is a subject that if it's handled
5:45right can make a significant difference
5:46to our lives both home and working and
5:50also to the culture of all our workplace
5:51environments which is quite a shift from
5:53where we are uh just so you know who I
5:56am my name's Anne Hayes and I'm director
5:58of um sectors and standard development
6:01at BSI uh I'm incredibly proud to work
6:04for BSI and I'm incredibly proud that
6:06the BSI team
6:07um with
6:08um the most amazing group of people and
6:11experts have developed the guidance for
6:13us to use to improve the experiences of
6:15our colleagues in their working lives
6:18um up front I want to thank the panel
6:21chaired by Dr Maria Tomlinson who um she
6:24asked me not to mention this but just in
6:26case you want to know it's her birthday
6:27today so happy birthday
6:30um for all their work during the
6:31development of this guidance I don't
6:33think any of you will appreciate quite
6:36how much work it is writing a standard
6:38the people in the front row now do and
6:41we've signed them up for a few more
6:43years so well done team but it is a huge
6:46huge achievement that they've managed to
6:48get this out and additionally a big
6:50thank you goes to totm who have
6:52supported us in putting on this event
6:53today and we're very grateful to their
6:55support
6:57um as ever for an event for those in the
6:59room and a little bit for those online
7:00there are some housekeeping points which
7:02I just quickly want to run through so
7:04this event is being live streamed in
7:06listen only mode so if you're online and
7:09you have any issues please go to the Q a
7:11part of that that app that I think I
7:13hope you're using
7:15um if an emergency alarm goes please
7:17follow our team out via the side
7:19staircase in the catering area there is
7:21no practice alarm due today so if it
7:23does go walk slowly but go
7:26um and uh we will ask for feedback after
7:29the event and the presentations will all
7:31be provided by email so um if you want
7:34to get CPD points you can get them but
7:36you need to give us the feedback at the
7:38same time so be very grateful to receive
7:40that
7:41um
7:42my ask of you today is to take the
7:44opportunity to learn about the standard
7:46to ask questions in the sessions and
7:48breaks and I hope that you'll remain
7:50around for the networking event at the
7:51end of the day but also just so you're
7:54aware we've had almost 4 000 downloads
7:55to date which the stand has been out for
7:57a month and that's really quite an
7:59achievement and sounds quite a big
8:00number and we we are really pleased with
8:03that it's huge progress
8:05however there are five approximately 5.5
8:07million smes in the UK so therefore so
8:11far we've hit 0.07 of those
8:15um so if you add in large businesses we
8:17have a massive opportunity to make a
8:19change
8:20um and we anticipate that this is a tool
8:22that can and will contribute to making
8:24that change and there is no excuse for
8:26not having that conversation
8:28so let's get started please join me in
8:30welcoming our amazing host for the day
8:31co-author of cracking the menopause and
8:34co-founder of menopause mandate Alice
8:36smelly
8:39thank you
8:43how lovely to be here and lots of
8:45pleasure to welcome you all this
8:46afternoon and huge congratulations to
8:48BSI whose new standard is both exciting
8:51and groundbreaking an entire event about
8:54the subject of menstruation and
8:56menopause in the workplace is something
8:58that even a few years ago it would have
9:00been almost unimaginable it really is
9:02only recently that we've started to
9:04acknowledge these entirely natural life
9:07stages even though they affect half the
9:09population and always have done so this
9:12frankly brilliant standard is much
9:14needed I have read the entire thing and
9:16it's clear that both companies and our
9:18colleagues are going to benefit the
9:20breadth of the standard encompasses
9:21diversity practicality education and
9:24awareness the breadth of interest in
9:27both the standard and today's event is
9:30unbelievable I gather that demand for
9:32today was so high it sold out entirely
9:34like a Taylor Swift concert and it's
9:36therefore being live streamed and the
9:39breadth and quality of the excellent
9:41speakers reflects all of the above so
9:43first of all I am very pleased to
9:45welcome Helen Tomlinson the UK's first
9:48ever menopause employment Champion over
9:51to you Helen
9:53thank you
9:57thank you Alice thank you very much
9:59everybody and for that warm welcome and
10:02so before I go into my
10:05um introduction I just wanted to share
10:07something with you that happened to me
10:09yesterday in the the office so my day
10:12job as I will um allude to shortly is
10:15head of talent and inclusion at um the
10:17Adecco group we are a large recruitment
10:20organization globally and yesterday we
10:23had a new starter who um he's come to
10:26join us I was our director of social
10:28media a role that we didn't even have
10:30when I first started in recruitment we
10:32didn't even have social media let alone
10:34a director of it and um he when he came
10:37into the room he introduced himself we
10:39were chatting about Recruitment and he
10:40said can I ask you a question I said
10:41yeah of course you can he said um did
10:44you have heavy periods when you were
10:46perimenopausal and I literally I stopped
10:49in my tracks and I thought wow that's a
10:51bit of an opener isn't it for someone
10:53I've not even met this guy before and I
10:55said yeah I did did I said did you have
10:58endometriosis I said no I didn't is it
11:00because my wife's got endometriosis and
11:02she's really really struggling and I
11:04just took a moment after I thought
11:06that's a bold opening to actually think
11:09even probably 12 months ago maybe six
11:13months ago even would somebody have sat
11:16down in a meeting in the workplace with
11:19somebody they didn't know and asked them
11:21that question and I just thought we've
11:24come so far in such a relatively short
11:28period of time so it's really stuck with
11:31me as that and I thought I've got to
11:32tell you that this afternoon because I
11:34think the work that everybody is doing
11:36and particularly this new standard will
11:39really have a huge impact but yeah good
11:42for him and I really hope I have loads
11:44more conversations like that in the
11:46workplace and outside of the workplace
11:48so
11:49my name is Helen Tomlinson
11:51um and as I said my day job is head of
11:53talent and inclusion at the Adecco group
11:55but the reason I'm here today is as my
11:57role as the government's first UK
12:00menopause employment champion and that
12:02absolutely exists to raise awareness of
12:05menopause in the workplace to support
12:07the four million women in the workplace
12:09aged between 45 to 55 who are
12:12experiencing menopause it is not limited
12:15to those women obviously because there
12:18are women experiencing perimenopause the
12:20average age is 41 early onset menopause
12:23Could Happen much earlier whether
12:25through
12:27symptoms of various conditions or
12:31through forced menopause through Cancer
12:33Treatments or forced hysterectomy
12:37there are also 630 000 women who are
12:40claiming
12:41um Universal Credit in that age bracket
12:43as well who would probably love to come
12:45back into the workplace so we need to
12:47consider those in addition to that
12:49and to ensure that they are fully
12:51supported and can continue fulfilling
12:53their career potential Beyond menopause
12:55we will do this by bringing together in
12:57sectors supported by sector bodies to
13:00ensure that best practice is shared
13:02allyship provided an awareness raised
13:05this will ensure that women are
13:07supported whether they work for a large
13:09employer or one of the small medium to
13:11Enterprises that we've already mentioned
13:13this afternoon so important that the
13:16majority of people actually work in a
13:18small to medium Enterprise so there's no
13:21reason why they shouldn't get the same
13:23report support as women who work for
13:25large employers it isn't about
13:28competitive Advantage whether and I was
13:31just speaking to the gentleman on the
13:32front row who are going to hear from
13:33shortly and when we were talking about
13:35political Advantage it's not about
13:37political Advantage it's not about
13:40employers having competitive Advantage
13:42it's about making the world of work
13:44better for every woman who is working
13:47and going through perimenopal or
13:50menopause
13:51it's about them thriving regardless of
13:54their employer so I took on the role
13:56because I'm passionate about women
13:57reaching their full potential throughout
13:59their career this period of life should
14:02not be any different perimenopause and
14:04menopause is absolutely not a time to
14:07step down step back or step out of your
14:10career with the right support women can
14:13go on to have arguably the best 10 15 or
14:1720 years of their career the standard
14:19will be a great enabler to support this
14:21and what I really love about it is it's
14:24free of charge Universal and applicable
14:27to all businesses large or small
14:30regardless of sector and that is my main
14:33driver in my role to make sure that the
14:35work we do is fit for purpose by sector
14:38regardless of
14:41um cultural difference socio-economic
14:44demographic who your employer is the
14:47size of their budget and the size of
14:49their HR team the size of their idea
14:51strategy it's for everybody
14:55I particularly like the fact that it
14:57also covers menstruation in the
14:58workplace because whilst this can be a
15:00headwind for women of all ages it's a
15:03key debilitating symptom of menopause
15:06and brings me right back to the
15:07conversation if I hadn't gone out in
15:10public and talked about my heavy periods
15:13during perimenopause which 44 of women
15:17experience and I would argue is one of
15:19the most difficult things to start a
15:22conversation around with your line
15:24manager if I hadn't been open and honest
15:26about that and started that conversation
15:29the guy that joined our organization
15:31yesterday probably wouldn't have felt
15:33compelled to ask me about my heavy
15:36periods so whilst we've made some great
15:38steps forward there are some really
15:41um great achievements that we still need
15:42to make and I'm really confident that
15:45the BSI standard is a really good
15:47starting point for those conversations
15:49so thank you for being here today and
15:51thank you for your warm welcome
15:57thank you
16:01Helen thank you so very much that's a
16:04great story and now we move on to our
16:06first Speaker Kylie Yale is head of
16:09commercial at eco-friendly period care
16:11product company t-o-t-m Kylie developed
16:15a period dignity workplace scheme that
16:17launched in over 5 000 sites in the UK
16:20with expansion into Europe happening
16:23this year and she's going to speak about
16:25creating a period positive workplace
16:27thank you so much Kylie
16:31[Applause]
16:35hi everyone this is um a bit bigger than
16:38my usual audience so I I hope I do the
16:40uh the presentation and the the talk
16:42Justice
16:44um I'm just going to talk to you a bit
16:45today about period care and the period
16:48sort of dignity scheme that we've
16:50implemented into the workplace why we've
16:52implemented it
16:53um and some of the things around that
16:55that kind of help in women to be able to
16:58talk about periods and the menopause
17:01more openly than we've probably ever
17:03been able to previously
17:06um so there's quite a number of of
17:08issues around menstruation in the
17:10workplace
17:11um people have never kind of really
17:12wanted to talk about it in fact I was
17:14asked on the the video interview earlier
17:16and I said actually I think if people if
17:19it doesn't exist if it's not talked
17:21about then people just don't believe it
17:22they can sweep it under the carpet but
17:24employers can't do that anymore you know
17:26we're a much more female heavy workplace
17:28than we were sort of 15 20 years ago and
17:31these issues are affecting people um and
17:34affecting people in in quite some big
17:35ways these days
17:37um part of the reason we developed our
17:40period dignity workplace which I'm
17:41absolutely super proud of is we wanted
17:45to work with employers to be able to
17:46give their employees a provision
17:50um that really really helps them in the
17:52workplace and helps them not just with
17:55their kind of General day-to-day period
17:57well-being but it helps around all the
17:59other things that people don't actually
18:00really want to talk about like
18:02endometriosis like Helen mentioned it's
18:06a real big illness and it can be quite
18:08debilitating for people
18:10um our products help with that because
18:12they're organic they're sustainable Etc
18:14and we've made it more you know more
18:16accessible and made it much more open
18:19for people to be able to talk about
18:21those illnesses in the workplace you've
18:23also got pmdd again really debilitating
18:26Helen touched on
18:28um and I can I can fully vouch for this
18:30I am going through perimenopause at the
18:31moment and so brain fog is a it's a big
18:34thing so excuse me if I forget anything
18:36today
18:37um but but also that the heavy periods
18:40that go along with that and I've been
18:41having numerous discussions with people
18:42since I've been here today around well
18:45actually you know what what do I do
18:47because you know I could just be sitting
18:48on a chair at work and all of a sudden I
18:50know my period started I know it's going
18:52to be heavy what do I do I've got to
18:54kind of rush out to the toilet but then
18:55when I get to the toilet you know I
18:58might have forgotten my bag or there's
18:59that kind of whole stigma around you
19:01know I'm going to scroll along to the
19:03toilet with my bag and then everyone's
19:05going to know I'm on my period and
19:06nobody wants to do that anymore you know
19:08and and everybody should be open about
19:10menstruation
19:12um you know because it happens to to all
19:14of us females
19:16um so we provide the provision in in the
19:19toilets
19:20um so that people haven't got to worry
19:22about that they also haven't got to
19:23worry about talking about their periods
19:25anymore you know we've helped with
19:26implementing the menstruation policy in
19:28the workplace so people can be more open
19:31and go to their line management and say
19:33do you know what I've got a really heavy
19:34period today I'm suffering with you know
19:36headaches stomach cramps and all of the
19:39other raft of illnesses that go along
19:41with raft of not not illnesses but you
19:44know raster symptoms that go along with
19:46with having a period and going through
19:48the menopause and perimenopause so it's
19:51much more acceptable with having these
19:52policies in place that we can now go and
19:55talk to people you know and we can
19:56actually get the the advice and the help
19:59that's needed
20:00um as a business as I say we've launched
20:03in in 5 000 workplaces and that's
20:06anywhere from really really tiny
20:08companies really small businesses
20:10um schools colleges universities
20:13um and we go in and we offer talks all
20:15around everything that's important
20:17around menstruation and the menopause so
20:20not just about out how your period will
20:22affect you it's all about nutrition when
20:25you're on your period it will be around
20:27the symptoms related to Mary menopause
20:31and what to do about those really heavy
20:33periods and things that you can do to
20:34help and what we've the feedback that
20:36we've had is it's made people in in
20:38business feel much more included and
20:42much more able to talk about periods
20:44without having this big stigma around it
20:47and people have actually come back to us
20:49and said it's great because we felt
20:51although it was just a video kind of
20:52talk we felt able to actually ask the
20:56questions around our period we would
20:58never sat in front of our colleagues and
20:59done that just you know on an average
21:01day
21:02um I mean I'm sure you can imagine the
21:04the conversations that go on in our
21:06office but we we find that very normal
21:09um you know we've completely normalized
21:10periods which is what everybody should
21:12be doing and what you know part of this
21:14this policy
21:16um is about so yeah that's that's me
21:21um if you guys have got any questions
21:22great um I will be around for the
21:24networking session afterwards so if you
21:27want to come and grab me ask any
21:28questions
21:29um be more than more than happy to
21:31answer any
21:33thank you
21:38[Applause]
21:40thanks so much Kylie that was really
21:42interesting I'm now very pleased to
21:45introduce Lauren Sheeran founder and CEO
21:48of women of a certain stage who is going
21:51to talk about recognizing
21:53recognizing menopause in the workplace
21:56in her early 40s she left her job
21:59thinking that she had early onset
22:01dementia but in fact it was just
22:04menopause Lauren is now dedicated to
22:08normalizing all things menstruation to
22:10menopause in the workplace and
22:12empowering individuals to thrive she
22:16also has hands down at the wittiest
22:17company name ever Lauren thank you so
22:20much thank you
22:25so I can talk about this topic until the
22:27cows come home so my phone's in front of
22:28me to keep me on time
22:31wow
22:33um I'm really super nervous today which
22:35is really unusual because I love doing
22:37public speaking but I'm nervous because
22:39this is so important to me having the
22:42standard launched is a huge milestone
22:44having a document that we can
22:46independently sign post employers to is
22:49such a massive step forward from where
22:51we were back in 2014 when I left my job
22:54thinking I had early onset dementia so I
22:57genuinely want to say a massive thank
22:58you to everyone that's been involved in
23:00pulling this together for the lengthy
23:02debates the different opinions about
23:04what words should be used where and when
23:06and how and what inclusivity meant how
23:09we made sure that these standards really
23:11had life breathed into them so that they
23:13were super useful and meaningful
23:14document for organizations of all sizes
23:19so what what is it that an organization
23:22needs to do what is it that we need to
23:23be looking at and and why are we
23:25actually even talking about menopause at
23:27work
23:28what's best practice look like and
23:30what's your commitment going to be going
23:32forward
23:34that for me is probably the key question
23:37for today whether it's menstruation
23:40menstrual health or menopause what's
23:42your commitment going to be as you're
23:44listening to the day as you're talking
23:46to each other as we're networking
23:47together
23:48what's your one takeaway going to be
23:50what difference are you going to make as
23:52you go back to your organization
23:54how can you help us move this forward so
23:58that no one has to leave their job no
24:00one has to hang their head and shame
24:02hide an embarrassment or feel weak and
24:05vulnerable because something's going on
24:07with them that's entirely natural
24:08biological process
24:12so I'm just going to quickly recap
24:14because there's so much information out
24:17there and we know that what do we do
24:19when we don't know about something
24:21we go online
24:23we use a search engine search engine and
24:27we come up with all sorts
24:28but Dr search engine can lead us down
24:31all sorts of little garden paths and
24:34tell us all sorts of interesting things
24:37we talk about menopause being 45 to 55
24:40that's a UK statistic
24:42so if you're part of a global
24:44organization you might find you've got
24:46colleagues if they're living in the
24:48states might have a slightly later
24:49menopause or if they're in Asia they
24:52might have a slightly earlier menopause
24:54our symptoms change depending what
24:56culture and what country you're in
24:58there's so many factors that were yet to
25:01understand that really really breed life
25:03into why we experience menopause in so
25:05many different ways
25:07and so we have to keep an open mind and
25:10use trusted resources and sources of
25:12information to get the best quality
25:13information to help ourselves and to
25:15help everyone else
25:17so menopause is typically classed as the
25:20time of life when we have gone for 12
25:23months without a monthly bleed and at
25:26that moment we become menopausal
25:28thereafter repost menopausal for the
25:30rest of our lives
25:32the reality is that the whole journey
25:34really starts a little bit earlier when
25:37we're in perimenopause
25:38and perimenopause is a time when or a
25:41natural monthly cycle whatever that is
25:43to us a monthly
25:45could be 17 days as mine was or it could
25:49be 34 or it could be entirely erratic
25:51everyone's different
25:53but when your cycle starts to change and
25:57you notice differences it might become
25:59heavier or lighter you might find that
26:01your periods are closer together or
26:03further apart
26:04and you might notice a few symptoms
26:06creep in anxiety
26:09that juggling Act of Life Could suddenly
26:11become a little bit trickier but you're
26:14not really sure why
26:15because the generation coming up to and
26:17going through menopause now hasn't been
26:19educated routinely on the matter our
26:21parents haven't spoken to us about it
26:24and so we end up hiding behind this
26:26thing that even we don't know over 86 of
26:30people of women don't know what
26:32menopause really is nor how it's going
26:34to impact them
26:36so we've got perimenopause menopause and
26:39then post menopause
26:41but the exciting thing for me is the
26:44conversation that we're beginning to
26:45have the conversation that means that we
26:47can be more open the conversation that
26:49means that we can say the word period or
26:51menstruation or menopause
26:53that we can get the right help and
26:55support that we can stand up and know
26:57that it's right to advocate for
26:58ourselves at a time when we need that
27:00help and support
27:02we need to teach people what a normal
27:05monthly cycle is
27:07learn what the things are that we can do
27:09to successfully ask for the help and
27:12support to learn what it is that we're
27:15deciding to do on our day-to-day lives
27:17the impact we've heard already about
27:20nutrition hydration movement sleep
27:23stress all of these things play a
27:25massive role in how we experience a
27:27monthly cycle and how we experience
27:29menopause
27:31so we've got perimenopause menopause
27:33post menopause
27:35and the other exciting thing for me is
27:37the fact that by the time you get to
27:39menopause
27:40you've probably had a monthly cycle for
27:43about 37 years
27:48you've got a whole other 37 years of
27:51your adult life ahead of you
27:52and that's what's exciting we're only
27:55halfway through our adult life when we
27:57get to menopause so we get to step into
28:00our personal power we get to use all our
28:03skills knowledge and experience
28:06and we get to give back and to do all
28:08the things that we've ever wanted to do
28:09because we are just rich in our ability
28:12to juggle everything that life comes at
28:14everything that we've managed up to the
28:17point of becoming menopausal and having
28:21periods can you imagine what we can do
28:23after
28:25so when we think about the symptoms I'm
28:28not going to list them because I know
28:29I'm got an audience in the room and an
28:31audience online that absolutely is
28:33familiar with most of the symptoms
28:35when I first started studying this nine
28:37nearly 10 years ago we were told there
28:40were 34 symptoms of menopause
28:42the reality is we don't know what that
28:45actual number is because the key
28:47hormones that drive our monthly cycle
28:51and our menopause estrogen progesterone
28:53testosterone
28:55they are integral to every single one of
28:57our body systems our skin our biggest
28:59organ in our body
29:01our vaginal Health our Volvo Health our
29:04bladder our heart health our brain
29:06health our counter function
29:08so if you've got three key hormones that
29:10are driving these
29:12and they're beginning to fluctuate and
29:14not be in sync as they were as they're
29:16declining as we hit menopause is there
29:19any wonder that our skin feels a bit
29:21weird but we're thinking feeling and
29:24behaving a little bit differently than
29:25we were before
29:26until we can settle down figure out our
29:29best way forward and step into what I
29:32reckon is the best part of our life
29:33being post-menopausal
29:37so how long does this go on for
29:41any guesses
29:47absolutely
29:49so we know that it's completely unique
29:52there will be some people maybe
29:54somewhere in the region of 10 to 20 of
29:56people that will seal through menopause
29:58without experiencing any symptoms
29:59whatsoever
30:01but the reality is about 25 of us
30:04possibly more
30:05will have really severe symptoms or
30:07symptoms that need some form of
30:09intervention to enable us to manage and
30:11to stay in our A-game going forward and
30:13the other 55 will probably need to make
30:16some minor adjustments or other changes
30:19to be able to carry on doing what they
30:20do
30:21but the whole experience we see and
30:24depending what studies you read you're
30:26going to hear different information but
30:27somewhere between two and five to 12 and
30:2915 years
30:31there's a big chunk of her life and in
30:33the workplace that is a significant
30:35significant time because often we're at
30:37the most senior roles we're typically
30:39juggling the most we've ever juggled
30:41with families
30:42you might be like me with a young child
30:44at home as a soul parent someone with
30:46lifelong medical needs
30:48working in a senior Role Family 400 year
30:51400 400 years 400 miles away
30:55and just trying to make it all work
30:58and one minute if things working really
30:59well and then the next minute you're not
31:02quite sure what's going on
31:04I see a lot of nodes
31:05yeah
31:07but we're in it together and there's
31:09somewhere in the excess of four and a
31:11half five million menopausal women in
31:13the UK but let's not forget that when we
31:16talk about menopause we're not just
31:17talking about people we're not just
31:19talking about women we've got to be
31:21mindful that we're talking about a
31:22transgender Community or a non-binary
31:24and a gender questioning Community as
31:26well so often you'll hear people saying
31:29you'll hear the talks or read documents
31:32saying people rather than just referring
31:34to women so when I do see women today
31:36it's because I'm talking about studies
31:37or research
31:39information that's come about as a
31:41result of most of what we've we've
31:43looked at which is typically
31:45higher socioeconomic Caucasian women
31:49and that in itself reflects the fact
31:51that there is so much more work to be
31:52done to truly understand menopause and
31:55to understand why different solutions
31:58work for different people going forward
32:01so if we just flick this over to the
32:03real real reality of where we're at just
32:05now you know there are a number of
32:07issues number of challenges that we're
32:09facing at the moment as employers we
32:12know that
32:13people are working harder people are
32:15feeling burned out we know that is one
32:18of the leading causes of people to be
32:19off absent from work at the moment we
32:22know that attraction retention has never
32:24been trickier
32:25we're hearing every single day I'm
32:28reading online I'm reading I'm hearing
32:30from colleagues about just how
32:32challenging it is to find the right
32:33people
32:34we also know that with the cost of
32:36living crises that there is adding
32:38additional complications to people being
32:41present at work who maybe really ought
32:44to be seeking help and support we know
32:46that people are turning up into jobs and
32:48into roles where
32:51sheer fear of not taking that salary
32:53home is keeping there and stopping them
32:56from going and asking their doctor their
32:58manager they don't want to be seen as
33:00weak and vulnerable and add into this
33:02mixed menopause add into this mix Adam
33:04and Adam meiosis add into the next Endo
33:07add into the mixed fibroids add into mix
33:10everything else that we go through as
33:11women then that just compounds
33:13everything we're edit already
33:15experiencing so it's really really
33:17crucial and really important that we can
33:19normalize the topics of menstruation
33:21menstrual health and menopause at work
33:25so I think I might have already alluded
33:27to some of the conversations I've had
33:29this morning you know this is not
33:32a minority topic this is not something
33:35that we should be talking about women
33:37make up one 51 of the world's population
33:41coming up to 2030 1.2 billion people
33:45will be experiencing menopause or be
33:47post-menopause that's not a small number
33:51so it's something that we need to be
33:54taking mainstream that we need to be
33:55talking about I'm going to challenge you
33:57straight away so I'm going to invite you
33:59to stay after me menopause
34:02menopause
34:03menopause
34:06thank you
34:08and I've made I mentioned the statistic
34:09already this is one of the statistics of
34:12the many that are out there saying that
34:14there's a cost of roughly 10 billion
34:16pounds cost economy in the UK alone so
34:18when you start multiplying that up you
34:20know globally this starts being a
34:22ridiculously large number that we every
34:24single one of us has got an opportunity
34:26to impact and to make a difference
34:30but why me why am I standing here
34:33talking to you today
34:34well let me take you back to the 5th of
34:36November 2014.
34:39senior exec Financial Services leading
34:42Global teams
34:44teams in India America the UK absolutely
34:47love my job I worked in Regulatory and
34:50compliance change totally adored what I
34:52did I took all the regulatory stuff that
34:55no one could understand including the
34:56people that wrote it sometimes
34:58broke it down to bite-sized chunks and
35:01then worked with my team to deliver it
35:03I absolutely love the complexity I love
35:05the intellectual simulation I love
35:07getting to know my people
35:09until the day I sat in a meeting
35:16unable to get a word out of my mouth
35:21or when I started having to take four
35:22cups of hot water into meetings and sip
35:25them because my throat was so tight with
35:27anxiety I couldn't squeak a word out
35:33or the day that my boss called me and
35:36to his office and he said
35:39it's been noticed you've been walking
35:40around those places if you've got the
35:42weight of the world and your shoulders
35:44it's not exactly becoming of a senior
35:46leader in this organization is it
35:50I think you were happier when you were
35:51doing that personal training thing of
35:53yours
35:54something for you to think about tonight
35:58that conversation
36:00took away any self-esteem and any
36:02self-confidence that I had left
36:05I went back to my desk and I picked up
36:07my bags
36:08and I went to work from home
36:10now I was lucky I was senior enough to
36:13be able to make that decision
36:16way before the pandemic
36:20but not long after that I left my job
36:23I left my job because I thought I'd
36:24early onset dementia
36:27and it took three months until my doctor
36:29turned around and told me that I had
36:31just been through the menopause
36:34and so began my quest to chat with other
36:37people
36:38to have conversations with former
36:40colleagues
36:41and to start to work with companies to
36:44start to talk about menopause and
36:46understand was I only
36:48was it only me
36:50and we learned very very quickly no it
36:52wasn't only me
36:54so we started having menopause social
36:56events which is one of the most powerful
36:58things an organization can do just
37:00bringing people together to talk
37:03yes it costs time to administer and yes
37:05it caused time to bring people together
37:07let them have half an hour 40 minutes
37:09away from their day job
37:11but the power and being seen being heard
37:13and being listened to
37:16is unbelievable
37:18I wish that someone had reached out and
37:21inquired what was going on with me and
37:22how they could help and support
37:26so that one step is something that all
37:30organizations can do
37:32so I've mentioned you know I've got a
37:33bit of a portfolio background
37:36um I've worked in lots of different
37:37Industries but I have also as a result
37:40of you know background in Psychology and
37:42personal training nutrition I've dug
37:44really deep over the last 10 years to
37:47understand what the link with all of
37:48those things are with menopause and we
37:51blend all of these lifestyle choices
37:53that we all make on a day-to-day basis
37:55into all the work that we do
37:58but when we're working with
37:59organizations I'm not going to go
38:00through all of this in detail because I
38:02believe the slides will be available
38:04and we could build they otherwise right
38:06I'm sure that's not part of the plan but
38:09when when we are working with
38:11organizations we invite them to look at
38:12their strategy we invite them to look at
38:14the colleague Journey right from the
38:16get-go right from the job design person
38:19spec making sure that they're created in
38:22a way that is truly inclusive making
38:24sure that they are menopause Savvy
38:26menopause supportive
38:28looking at the recruitment process is it
38:30conducted in a way that is open that
38:33says to someone going through menopause
38:34who might have had a negative experience
38:37that we're going to listen to you and
38:38support you because we recognize and
38:40value you for your skills
38:42when you onboard somebody
38:44is menopause mentions in that process as
38:47menstrual Health the men menopause sorry
38:50menstruation and menopause mentions in
38:52the onboarding process
38:54is there a flag in your HR System
38:57where you can talk about women's health
38:59issues or period problems or menopause
39:03are you holding extra interviews
39:06I wouldn't ask for a show of hands
39:08because I know there won't be many go up
39:10but there's very few organizations that
39:12I have witnessed who do really great
39:14extra interviews they're a mine of
39:16information they're an amazing
39:18opportunity to learn where you can make
39:21changes and improvements in your
39:23business
39:24so we look at you know we work through
39:27the whole strategy about making the
39:29organization truly menstruation and
39:32menopause Savvy and supportive
39:34we talk about the colleague Journey we
39:37make sure that we're looking at each
39:39aspect of that we look at Key metrics to
39:41make sure that if you're going to start
39:43talking about menopause if you're going
39:44to look at the standard pick out the key
39:46information from the standard make sure
39:48that you're applying that and you're
39:50sharing it with your colleagues
39:51breathing life into in a way that's fit
39:54with your culture
39:56that this starts to make a real
39:58difference so you can monitor and you
39:59can measure in a year in year out basis
40:03I'm not necessarily a massive fan of
40:05doing a standalone menopause policy or a
40:07standalone period policy I'd much rather
40:10see an overarching well-being policy
40:13where each individual knew that whatever
40:16was going on with them they could talk
40:18to a key individual a menopause Champion
40:20a well-being Champion a first Mental
40:22Health First either
40:24a line manager a trusted colleague in
40:26occupational health or HR whoever it is
40:29because of company culture is inclusive
40:34but a menopause policy or a menopause
40:36guidance document is a great place to
40:37start too the key thing here is there's
40:40no one right way to move this forward
40:42the key thing is to understand what
40:44where you are as an organization and to
40:46think about what's that one step that
40:48one percent difference that you can make
40:50that's going to actually impact people
40:52in a positive way going forward how do
40:55you make your mail manager feel more
40:57comfortable when they notice someone's
40:59not quite themselves to feel confident
41:01to have a conversation before something
41:04becomes a performance issue
41:08how do you signpost people to the
41:11information so they can get the right
41:13help and support that they need as well
41:18and again you know there's so many areas
41:21where we can access help and support but
41:23often that's tucked away in a file
41:24somewhere and we don't know about it so
41:26how do you let people know regularly
41:29what's involved in your employee
41:31assistance program in your private
41:32medical if that's appropriate how do you
41:34let people know where guidance documents
41:36are and how they can access them
41:39if you've got a policy and I asked this
41:42at an event recently in Barcelona
41:45whereby we asked the room who had a
41:48menopause policy
41:49pretty much the whole room's hands went
41:51up
41:52then I asked the question
41:54and who's read it
41:58so if no one's read it how can we
42:00breathe life into how can it make a
42:02difference
42:03think about when you pour those Blood
42:05Sweat and Tears into creating a document
42:07that you do something that puts the
42:09energy that puts Communications behind
42:11it so that it genuinely makes a
42:13difference as well
42:16so just to wrap up you know thinking
42:19about what you can do
42:21listening to each of the speakers
42:22listening to the panel listening to each
42:24other during the breaks and the
42:26networking opportunities today just
42:28think about what that one key thing is
42:30that you can do that will make the
42:31biggest difference to the most people
42:33thank you so much for your time
42:35[Applause]
42:43thank you so much I've been keeping what
42:45I can only describe as the most Eagle
42:47Eye ever on the um timing we do and
42:50you're actually slightly behind I just
42:51wondered if there were any questions for
42:53Lauren
42:56lady over there
42:59uh there is a microphone
43:03is that all right thank you
43:06I'll come and get it
43:11thank you
43:17that was amazing
43:20um I I think I work at UCL I'm a
43:23professor at UCL and we don't have a
43:25menopause policy we have a guidance and
43:27we're working towards the policy so
43:29we're having regular meetings about it
43:31and that will be our end point but we
43:33have stressed that we do think we need
43:34and we will be reading it
43:36um I think we're sort of alluding to
43:38this I think the previous week's
43:39preloading to this
43:40um I I've done a lot of talks in
43:42companies I think what we probably need
43:45especially in smaller companies rather
43:47than just a menopause person or maybe a
43:50menstruation person I work in
43:52reproductive health education I I found
43:54something called the international
43:57reproductive health education
43:58collaboration long title
44:01um but I think we I don't think every
44:03line manager is going to feel
44:04comfortable about educate about not
44:07educating supporting
44:09people going through any of the stages
44:11we're going to talk about today so I
44:13think having a champion or Ambassador in
44:15each company but I think they should
44:17cover all of reproductive health because
44:19all of these things we're going to talk
44:20about today are all interlinked so if we
44:23just call that calls them the menopause
44:24coach or the menopause Ambassador when
44:27we have a woman who's 28 and having
44:29problems with her period who's she going
44:31to go to so that's that's what I'm
44:33suggesting to companies it's a
44:35reproductive health and we have someone
44:37who's approachable within that and and
44:40they're the person
44:42yeah and I think I think that comes back
44:44to the point about it's got to be a good
44:46fit for your organization and if that
44:48works at UCL then that's great and I
44:50know that that would work well in other
44:52organizations too the reality is most
44:54people who step up to be mental health
44:56procedures or menopause Champions or
44:58advocates for period Health it's because
45:01they've had a personal experience either
45:02the lived experience or they've
45:04supported somebody through that and I
45:07think that it it's always best to go to
45:10the front line of an organization and
45:12ask them what they want so that it's a
45:14really good cultural fit for that
45:15organization and that's why I say that
45:17there is no one-size-fits-all there
45:19isn't a right way to do this and I think
45:21that's a great model and I've seen lots
45:23of different models work lots of
45:25different ways so again I think that
45:28showcasing things that work is a great
45:30way to give best practice but there's
45:33lots of better practice out there and
45:35there's different ways of doing things
45:36so thank you for that
45:38and good to meet you in person
45:40a lady lady in the green over there
45:46hi Emma Cox from endometrios UK great
45:49talk thank you for that and for
45:51championing all the work for those with
45:52menopause in the menopause in the
45:54workplace just to pick up on a question
45:56I really dislike the phrase um
45:59reproductive health I think it phrases
46:01it in people's minds and Frames it as
46:03well in this country we have babies
46:04between about 20 25 and 40 and it loses
46:07the whole life cycle of menstrual
46:09well-being menstrual Health menopause so
46:12I agree completely that it'd be great to
46:15see those overall policies but my
46:17personal view is that reproductive
46:19health is not a useful term for
46:21everybody
46:22um with reproductive female reproductive
46:24organs
46:28yeah I think I think you know that comes
46:31back to individualizing it to the
46:32organization and it's about asking you
46:35know asking doing your surveys asking
46:37your employees asking your colleagues
46:39what's going to be a good fit for them
46:42thank you very much and there was I'm so
46:44sorry there was a lady just behind who
46:46had her hand up first
46:50there's time for both of you hi thank
46:54you um fantastic presentation thank you
46:56so much some Rachel said from the cipd I
46:59just wanted to pick up on the point
47:00around the role of the line manager and
47:02how we can best support people with
47:05menopause and organizations because I
47:07think that's a really important point I
47:09completely agree that there's not
47:11necessarily A one-size-fits-all and that
47:13we should have as many points of support
47:15and contact for people as possible at
47:18cipd we've got menopause Champions one
47:20of the most enthusiastic is a man so
47:24there are all sorts of possibilities but
47:25in terms of the role of the line manager
47:27on the one hand yes I do I agree I can
47:29understand that not every line manager
47:32will necessarily feel comfortable
47:34somebody might not want to approach
47:36their line manager nevertheless I think
47:39they're a really important Link in the
47:41whole chain for a lot of different
47:42reasons and it's great I welcome the
47:45annex here in the standard with
47:48um sort of guy guidance for line
47:50managers at cipd we've very consciously
47:53producing for every kind of well-being
47:55guidance we produce Standalone very
47:58accessible easy to understand guidance
48:02for line managers themselves because we
48:05recognize that the role in line managers
48:07is really key they're the Gateway for
48:09support for accessing a lot of policies
48:11they're the ones that control things
48:13like work clothes and working conditions
48:16they should hopefully have the kind of
48:19relationship with somebody that is based
48:21on trust
48:22but I want to go a bit further and say
48:25guidance is good but actually if
48:28organizations are thinking about how can
48:30they make sure line managers are
48:31comfortable confident in this area then
48:34it needs to go even further because they
48:36do need those kind of behaviors as well
48:39like empathy not to shy away from
48:42personal issues some of which are so
48:44intimate somebody discussing things like
48:46heavy bleeding and so on you have to
48:49feel extremely comfortable around that
48:51so I think it just needs to go further
48:54in terms of that kind of framework then
48:56each of the time and the space and
48:58understand what their role is as well so
49:00I think it's just looking a bit deeper
49:02into that role because it is still a
49:04really important one I think
49:06cute yeah and I think you know the
49:08reality is that the last few years has
49:10taught us a lot and in some respects but
49:14also we've moved full steam ahead to try
49:17and catch up and make good some of the
49:19stuff we've lost during the pandemic and
49:21a lot of what I'm seeing I mean I work
49:22globally so we we've got a team of 500
49:25people around the world who are
49:27delivering culturally sensitive ways and
49:29and lead on menstruation and menopause
49:31what we're seeing in the lane Management
49:33training that we deliver is very much a
49:36bunch of land managers who have got a
49:37workload that's way up there they've got
49:39zero amount of time to actually manage
49:41their team so when there is a
49:43performance issue all of a sudden their
49:44energy goes on the performance issue and
49:46their day job ends up being impacted so
49:48they're in that juggling position of not
49:50quite knowing what to do first so I
49:53think well what we do is we use
49:55menstruation or menopause or both
49:57to look at soft skills training so how
50:00do you get to know your colleagues
50:02what's normal for a colleague what's
50:05their behavior typically like do they
50:07have a monthly ebb and flow to how they
50:09behave and how they interact at the
50:11times of the month when they're a bit
50:12more withdrawn they're a bit more
50:13engaged so I think a lot of the work we
50:16need to do with Lane managers is
50:17actually building up their confidence
50:18and building up their ability to develop
50:20their soft skills and then you can start
50:22to layer and talk or use your
50:24menstruation your menopause training to
50:26actually build in those soft skills it's
50:27not just about going these are the facts
50:29about menopause notice it in your people
50:31and then step in
50:32that doesn't help anyone it's actually
50:34how do you notice when someone isn't
50:37their normal self what language do you
50:40use what body language do you use what's
50:42that person's individual personality and
50:44communication style preference like
50:45what's yours like how do you meet them
50:47where they are so that you can actually
50:49engage and not repel them so I I think
50:54everything you've said is absolutely
50:56spot on but we need to do a lot more of
50:58the line managers and and this is just
51:00one new topic for them to take on board
51:01and talk of all the other dni and
51:04well-being and every other topic they
51:05have to do as well as their day job so I
51:08think the more we can blend all of this
51:10together rather than trying to do lots
51:13of different trainings and it can be
51:15done and it can be done really really
51:16well and there's again there's lots of
51:18models there's lots of different ways of
51:20doing these things but again just
51:21looking at the overall annual plan for
51:23training and seeing how things can be
51:25put together rather than having
51:27desperate training is really really
51:29helpful thank you so much and thank you
51:31so much for your comments and questions
51:34thank you
51:40thank you very much indeed and actually
51:42two facts that leapt into my mind while
51:44you're speaking Lauren well firstly we
51:47have between four and five hundred
51:48periods in our lives so that's quite a
51:51lot if you are having
51:53um a difficult time with your periods
51:56and secondly having interviewed many
51:58many women who go through menopause I've
52:01known women who have who are having hot
52:03flushes well into their 70s so again
52:06there is no sorry everyone there is no
52:09actual because of dates and with that
52:11cheery fact
52:13next we have Gene Hewitt senior
52:16inclusive design consultant at Bureau
52:19hapled Jean is one of the leading
52:21practitioners in the field of inclusive
52:23design and a long-standing member of BSI
52:26committee design of an accessible and
52:29inclusive environment it's with great
52:31pleasure I introduce you here today
52:34[Applause]
52:40hi everyone so I'm really really pleased
52:42to be here because I think the built
52:43environment does have a role in all of
52:45this and I think it can be overlooked
52:46quite easily
52:48um
52:49so I'm going to talk about this standard
52:51but I want to start from inclusive
52:53design principles so I work as an
52:55inclusive design and what we always look
52:57at is these five principles to start
52:59with so placing people at the heart of
53:01the process acknowledging that we all
53:03have human diversity and difference
53:05we're all a little bit different with
53:06one another and we want to have
53:09environments that give us the dignity
53:11autonomy choice and spontaneity as we're
53:13using them and provide for flexibility
53:15in use now that flexibility is just as
53:19important and relevant to menopausal and
53:22menstrual Health as it would be for any
53:25other disability Faith need and so on so
53:28I really think that that's where we need
53:30to be and where it kind of fits so in
53:32terms of this standard as you know it
53:34applies across all sectors all
53:36environments and everything and that was
53:38quite difficult when I was looking at
53:39the built environment section is that
53:41some of us are in offices and it's
53:43actually quite much easier to try and
53:46kind of manage around that so you've got
53:47a kind of fixed type of environment but
53:49there are also so many women are
53:51traveling sometimes across the world or
53:53across the country might be on a
53:55building site it might be a postwoman or
53:56something like that and then that
53:58environment what environment they will
54:00be in becomes more tricky so um I'll
54:04skip over this because I know others
54:06have kind of covered this slide quite
54:07well and and the terminology we use and
54:10get straight into the environment but
54:12before I do that intersectionality has
54:15been mentioned by a couple of people
54:17previous speakers we are not just a
54:19woman experienced menstrual menopausal
54:22endometriosis or whatever we are also a
54:25wife a mother or grandmother you know a
54:28worker a carer perhaps so all of these
54:30things matter too and I think that that
54:32for me is kind of the built environment
54:34is part of that so we may have to cater
54:37for both
54:39um the immediate need that you might
54:41have through a hormonal change for
54:43whatever reason that is alongside being
54:46perhaps a carer for an elderly parent or
54:48sometimes for young child children which
54:50quite often coincide over so with
54:52menstrual and menopause and times in our
54:54life
54:56um the other intersectionality impact
54:57examples would be neurodiversity I was
55:00working on a British standard a pass
55:02around designing for neurodiversity so
55:05this is a very broad umbrella term that
55:07will cover all our neuro cognitive types
55:09and includes people with neurodivergent
55:12conditions such as ADHD autism and so on
55:15and we we know already that that people
55:18with some of those traits will
55:21experience a different type of menopause
55:23they will perhaps be self-managing their
55:26disability their their difference their
55:28sensory difference and suddenly it will
55:30change because of menopause and I think
55:32we must Overlook that so it's like well
55:34you've always self-managed you've been
55:36fine what's the problem suddenly you get
55:38hormonal change and everything's
55:39different again
55:41um in terms of the impact of physical
55:43Experts of work they are Broad and many
55:45as you will know but from the built
55:47environment we've obviously got some
55:49occupational hazards to consider it
55:50could be noise it could be chemicals
55:52these are things that affect us during
55:54pregnancy as well so you'll be well
55:55aware of them
55:57um if the uniforms are where you know
55:59could they be bamboo or cotton do they
56:01have to be that kind of sticky nylon
56:03when you're having a hot flush
56:04prolonged sitting and standing you know
56:07either is not great for us so these
56:09things need considering as well and
56:11whether we're working away from our
56:12office space or in it what sort of
56:14features do we have around us so is this
56:17jumping without me touching it it seems
56:19to be
56:23um
56:26so frequent manual handling highly
56:29repetitive handling and things like that
56:30can also affect people in those
56:32peripatetic roles
56:34um some of the examples that can may
56:36help when you're considering the built
56:38environment would be things like
56:40improving Accord Acoustics so we know
56:42for example at those difficult times of
56:45the month or difficult periods we can
56:48become hypersensitive to noise in the
56:50same way that somebody with a
56:52neurodivergent trait might be and that
56:54can cause increased headaches from
56:55Flicker and things like that we can
56:56become much more sensitive to the
56:58environment around us have a much more
57:00sensitive symptoms of smell some people
57:02will not experience that until they get
57:04pregnant other people might experience
57:05it every month
57:06certain smells will make them very
57:09nauseous and sick so all of these things
57:11need to be considered that the products
57:13that we put into buildings so even when
57:15we're buying a carpet for example
57:16choosing one that's not going to off gas
57:18and make everyone feel a little bit ill
57:20so all of these things matter easy
57:22access of course to cool drinking water
57:24is going to be helpful or maybe a warm
57:26drink if you're feeling cold because it
57:28can be either so all of the things
57:30around the T points the distances where
57:33you can get those amenities really
57:34really important and even the fact that
57:37you can move around so the sit spandex
57:38are great and so is hybrid working
57:40because you can actually maybe choose to
57:42work at home on your on your kind of the
57:45days that you're not feeling so great
57:47but not everybody can do that so I work
57:50previously my previous career was in
57:52Facilities Management so States
57:53management running buildings almost none
57:56of those people can actually stay the
57:57day at home because they're at they need
57:58to be out there running an important
58:00building somewhere
58:02we need furniture that allows us to kind
58:04of to be a bit more flexible and maybe
58:06choice of where we sit in an office
58:08things like eliminating Flickr because
58:10LED lighting can flicker if you don't
58:12design it correctly and that
58:14photosensitivity can cause headaches and
58:17migraines and lots of women I know with
58:19their monthlies will get things like
58:21migraines and again in menopause so I've
58:24got family members very young I've
58:26experienced quite drastic uh symptoms
58:31really around early menopause surgically
58:34induced menopause if you like and that
58:37can cause you know very significant
58:39migraines
58:40so the lighting and things like that can
58:43really make a difference to that and I
58:45think generally bringing biophilic
58:47considerations in so this is things that
58:49we would find in nature maybe views out
58:51or plants flowers maybe a Timber some
58:55natural products in the environment can
58:57be really helpful to help in everybody's
58:58well-being but all particularly help but
59:01these these pin points if you like in
59:03our lives
59:05from a thermal comfort point of view
59:07because I know hot flashes are kind of
59:09high on the list when we experience them
59:12um identifying the cooler parts of the
59:14building why is it that we don't say to
59:15employees actually there's two stair
59:18calls that we can give you access to
59:19that are really lovely and cool they're
59:21never heated and you could just feel
59:23that you could go there for two minutes
59:25because these flashes don't usually
59:27last that long you know can we do
59:29something about the lighting um can we
59:31go for a cool you know if you're working
59:33in a hot environment like a bakery or
59:35something like that having cooler
59:37lighting psychologically makes you feel
59:38a bit cooler too so all of these things
59:41interact and can make us feel perhaps a
59:43bit more in control and providing blinds
59:46or curtains to block out bright sunlight
59:48will also kind of help that heat
59:50radiating through through a building can
59:52make you even feel hotter and humidity
59:54is definitely number one enemy I think
59:56so airflow the ability to to open a
59:59window having the air conditioning
1:00:00correct all of these things are really
1:00:02important and finishes and fabrics one
1:00:05of things a member of my family said to
1:00:07me is oh it just makes such a difference
1:00:08just changing bedding think of that in a
1:00:10workplace you're sitting on a plate of
1:00:12plastic covered seat pack changing that
1:00:16to Bamboo or cotton or just having your
1:00:18own bamboo or cotton cushion that you
1:00:20could put on it suddenly not feeling all
1:00:22that stickiness coming through so it can
1:00:24be really little things that we can
1:00:26self-manage sometimes but sometimes we
1:00:28need the help of designers and sometimes
1:00:30we need the facility and state managers
1:00:32to help us
1:00:34or even inform us where to find these
1:00:36things
1:00:38so ease of access to those cooler areas
1:00:41in the building is important proximity
1:00:42to hot and cold drinks somewhere private
1:00:45for medication and treatment I'm working
1:00:47a lot on with others some in this room
1:00:50on inclusive environments and toilets a
1:00:53lot and I think they're a key area for
1:00:55people and even having a shelf in a
1:00:58toilet that's got a basin that's near
1:00:59the pan means if you're using
1:01:01sustainable menstrual products that's
1:01:04going to be much easier for you run
1:01:05coming out to a common area and as a
1:01:09shelf would be really helpful with
1:01:10someone with stoma management also helps
1:01:12someone who's having to inject for
1:01:14endometriosis or trying to get pregnant
1:01:16or whatever the reason all of these
1:01:19things very little interventions in the
1:01:21built environment really really helpful
1:01:23there is some more on this in the past
1:01:256463 the neurodiversity standard on
1:01:28quiet and restorative spaces and I think
1:01:30that is a good place to look if you want
1:01:33to find a room how to design a room run
1:01:36a room that can be
1:01:38peaceful that can be somewhere to go and
1:01:41reset when it's just becoming too much
1:01:43or when you're getting that brain fog or
1:01:45for some other reason and so that's a a
1:01:48good linked document I think that we've
1:01:50already mentioned
1:01:54toilets and showers are obviously
1:01:56significant
1:01:58um how important is it for a woman at
1:02:00those times to be able to know that
1:02:02she's got Summer she can go freshen up
1:02:04to know that she's got a locker where
1:02:05she can have a complete change of
1:02:06clothes I know when I went through my
1:02:09menopause which is very early because
1:02:11again surgically induced but not
1:02:13particularly horrible but very traumatic
1:02:15in terms of blood loss the ability to
1:02:19have been able to store clothes and go
1:02:20and shower would have been really really
1:02:21helpful
1:02:22um
1:02:23so there's I think there's a lot we can
1:02:25do in the built environment both in
1:02:27terms of the way we design it the way we
1:02:30run it the facilities we provide in it
1:02:33which could include of course the
1:02:34menstrual products but also how we
1:02:36dispose of them easily as well
1:02:41um I think in humid conditions providing
1:02:43dehumidifiers as I say open the windows
1:02:46make it the norm I had somebody say to
1:02:49me once oh it's okay we've got we've got
1:02:52a fan that someone can come and ask for
1:02:55actually that isn't I don't want to put
1:02:57a sign on my desk and say hey look at me
1:02:59I'm menopause and I got the phone on my
1:03:00desk you kind of want it to be a bit
1:03:02more subtle than that don't we and I
1:03:04think the inclusion passports which we
1:03:06can have for any you know disability
1:03:08they can be really helpful in recording
1:03:10what agreements you have been considered
1:03:13how you do that how you communicate it
1:03:15when you go to another site and so on so
1:03:17there's a lot that you can do on this
1:03:19and even just having the uniforms that
1:03:21are a bit flexible in size so if you've
1:03:23got a bloated tummy still going to work
1:03:25you don't feel like you're kind of
1:03:26really restricted and of course cotton
1:03:29or bamboo or something like that
1:03:32um Advanced information really really
1:03:33important on this so I think if you know
1:03:36the environment you're going into you
1:03:37can dress accordingly
1:03:39so you know you could you can make sure
1:03:41that you've got cooler clothing on you
1:03:43could you can maybe book a desk that's
1:03:46on the cooler side of the building if
1:03:47you're experiencing a lot of hot flushes
1:03:49that month you can you might want to
1:03:51book a room that's or a desk that's near
1:03:53to the toilets you might want it near
1:03:57into the cold water supply you might
1:03:59want to not be near the toilets because
1:04:01the scents are really off-putting
1:04:03let's give people some Choice back where
1:04:05we can I think that's a really helpful
1:04:06thing to do
1:04:08and that's just a few links there to
1:04:10finish
1:04:12[Applause]
1:04:19very much that was really really
1:04:21interesting does anyone have any
1:04:23questions the lady over here that was a
1:04:25very rapid response is there a
1:04:28microphone
1:04:29or you can Shout
1:04:32thank you so much
1:04:35hello
1:04:36can you hear me yeah
1:04:38um fatimerism and I'm from the
1:04:40Department for Education that's really
1:04:42thought provoking and
1:04:45um when you were going through the
1:04:46slides about the built environment it's
1:04:48made me think about what we've been
1:04:51looking at so we've been looking at the
1:04:52facilities and what's available within
1:04:55our own department and of course we're a
1:04:57government department so a lot of what
1:04:58we do and there's consideration across
1:05:01split sites and different cities and
1:05:04what's in place all over the country
1:05:07one of your slides
1:05:09um indicated the need for toilets with
1:05:12individual basins
1:05:14and
1:05:16it made me think
1:05:18a lot of the new government Hub
1:05:21buildings that have been developed
1:05:22recently are you have unisex toilets
1:05:25yeah so I just wanted to pause there and
1:05:29just ask you what your thoughts are on
1:05:31that and in terms of what you just sort
1:05:33of described about the built environment
1:05:34there
1:05:36I've got one because I know at the
1:05:38moment we haven't got clear guidance on
1:05:40what we should be doing around the
1:05:41toilet mix but I think if we have some
1:05:43male and female as alongside some what I
1:05:46would call Universal or unisex gender
1:05:48neutral whatever you want to call them
1:05:50that can be the most helpful way so
1:05:52people have choices I do think the
1:05:54self-contained toilet with a basin in
1:05:57with the toilet pan is really really
1:05:59helpful because I know when you have
1:06:01like a flooding situation and many women
1:06:04here will know what I mean by that you
1:06:06kind of need that access to the Basin
1:06:08privately you don't even you know even
1:06:11as a female only and you're going out to
1:06:12the basins it it it's really
1:06:15uncomfortable and certainly we should
1:06:17never have toilets ever where they are
1:06:20gender neutral or for everybody to use
1:06:22and you have to go outside to use the
1:06:24Basin would be horrific at these times
1:06:26of the month and there shouldn't really
1:06:27be any companies that are actually doing
1:06:29that I hope they're not
1:06:31um so it's either self-contained
1:06:33or you've if you've got classes they
1:06:36should really be kind of male female and
1:06:37then have some gender neutral or
1:06:39Universal in addition would be my my
1:06:42view I think and I think that aligns
1:06:44with the views of many others thank you
1:06:46very much anyone else later I'm sorry
1:06:49actually I'm going to go to someone else
1:06:50just because you've asked a question
1:06:52sorry lady over there
1:07:00hello thank you I'm a workplace
1:07:02menopause consultant
1:07:03um I found your presentation hugely
1:07:05interesting
1:07:06one of the things I've noticed working
1:07:08with companies is perhaps workspaces
1:07:11rather than workplaces
1:07:13um working with pharmaceutical companies
1:07:15for example where you may have people in
1:07:16offices in laboratories on Factory
1:07:18floors
1:07:19how we provide for them can be hugely
1:07:21different if a woman is flooding in an
1:07:24office that can be a very different set
1:07:25of adjustments or facilities for that
1:07:28person compared to someone who's in a
1:07:30GMP area where they're not able to
1:07:32change their clothes straight away they
1:07:34maybe have to be given permission to go
1:07:35offline have their Factory clothing
1:07:38destroyed actually so I think it's
1:07:41really important that this is really
1:07:42helpful but that we actually Empower
1:07:44people use people in those organizations
1:07:46to help us understand what good looks
1:07:49like for them in terms of adjustments
1:07:51but I think this is really fantastic
1:07:53because it gives us so many
1:07:54opportunities to explore
1:07:56thank you you've read some really good
1:07:57points there that I think it has gone a
1:07:59step further to what we've considered we
1:08:01haven't really considered that someone
1:08:03might be kind of Trapped in the uniform
1:08:05they're in and be in that awkward
1:08:07situation which is which is tricky and
1:08:09difficult to manage thank you
1:08:12anyone else I'm leaving so if the lady
1:08:15in blue here oh sorry
1:08:20there's a lady in blue just here
1:08:25just on the back of what amantha was
1:08:27saying I think
1:08:29together as tits because it is that
1:08:32environmental side which is so important
1:08:34and so varied depending on the different
1:08:36jobs but right through to ultimately if
1:08:41you have got all the information
1:08:42environmental areas in place and you've
1:08:45got people on the ground starting to
1:08:47feel confident but it's also linking in
1:08:50that manager's Point as well and looking
1:08:52at that overall picture but very much it
1:08:54is that individual cultural basis I mean
1:08:57I could write a book on stories from
1:08:59female firefighters right through to
1:09:01teachers in Special Needs schools to to
1:09:04police and fire to some colleagues for
1:09:08Ministry of Justice say people out in
1:09:09law court so it's so individualized but
1:09:12I think the key thing overall and this
1:09:15is such an amazing step forward in the
1:09:17right direction for actually having some
1:09:20practical standardization out there
1:09:22which is really real I just wanted to
1:09:25add and you know I'm really grateful for
1:09:27the work that some of you I know that
1:09:29you guys have all done because was
1:09:31actually I think it's getting the work
1:09:33that Helen's also doing just take it
1:09:34that step further which is what's so
1:09:36needed in parallel to the work that a
1:09:39lot of people are doing in the medical
1:09:40community as well because obviously on
1:09:43the the other side these poor people are
1:09:45still having this crazy postcode Lottery
1:09:48to access that right level of support so
1:09:49I just really wanted you know to say
1:09:51thank you in that individualization
1:09:52bringing all that overall
1:09:55um picture together I guess on an
1:09:57individualized basis is so important
1:10:00okay thank you thank you so much
1:10:04um I'm not quite sure who's next
1:10:06it's quite scary lady in the orange over
1:10:09there
1:10:11hello
1:10:13um thank you I um I work for the
1:10:15Association of Independent music
1:10:18um more broadly in the music industry
1:10:20um as an industry we uh we we over index
1:10:24for Freelancers
1:10:27um so when we're thinking about
1:10:28workplaces we're not just thinking about
1:10:31the kind of uh SME businesses that I
1:10:34work with directly but also about
1:10:36Freelancers going into lots of different
1:10:38environments and I wondered
1:10:41um I mean firstly I want to say how
1:10:42important this all is
1:10:44um and and how useful it is particularly
1:10:47for SME businesses I think but I
1:10:49wondered um are there any further steps
1:10:52planned to look at taking this thinking
1:10:55uh more broadly so that all uh all
1:10:58workers who are in the menopause or
1:11:01about to come into menopause are
1:11:03accommodated in different workspaces
1:11:07cool I have to admit I was desperate to
1:11:10know what if there is advice
1:11:11specifically for um for Freelancers and
1:11:15people I lost it does seem to apply
1:11:17actually
1:11:18I don't know how you would get into it
1:11:21I'm guessing I'm kind of looking at
1:11:22somebody's got HR type yeah if you've
1:11:24got an answer on this one please
1:11:27foreign
1:11:32freelancer in financial services I think
1:11:35one of the tricky things is you go into
1:11:36different organizations all the time and
1:11:38you don't know what you're walking into
1:11:39so you're contractor to do a job and to
1:11:41deliver outputs but you're not actually
1:11:42getting much say in anything else so I
1:11:46think the illness really is an an
1:11:48organization that's looking after
1:11:49Freelancers is actually to educate the
1:11:51freelancer in what they can do for
1:11:54themselves what they should be asking
1:11:56for and how they set themselves up for
1:11:58Success so we run a free menopause the
1:12:00basics course every two months so that
1:12:02we can get that basic information out to
1:12:04everybody and they can self-advocate
1:12:07knowing that they've come from a trusted
1:12:09resource and they can set themselves up
1:12:11for Success going forward because that's
1:12:12one of the things when you are working
1:12:13independently that you have to have that
1:12:16additional foresight into how you are
1:12:18going to work where you're going to work
1:12:20when you're going to work how you're
1:12:21going to deliver that work and then key
1:12:24to everyone is obviously it's self-care
1:12:27how do you look after yourself how do
1:12:29you make sure that you are looking after
1:12:31you so that you can produce the best for
1:12:34your family your friends your workplace
1:12:36and everything else so I don't know if
1:12:38that helps but
1:12:40thank you thank you so much
1:12:44um sorry lady with the blue shirt
1:12:48just just very quickly will there be an
1:12:50opportunity to say something after all
1:12:51the speakers because I wanted to hear
1:12:53what everyone's got to say first
1:12:57um I think we're hoping to have time for
1:12:59questions after the um panel which is
1:13:03after tea and coffee well I'd like to
1:13:05say something
1:13:06um well I've heard all the speakers that
1:13:08that sometimes I want everyone to hear
1:13:11we'll be coming back to questions then
1:13:13thank you bye um this is going back to
1:13:16whoever spoke behind me I didn't see and
1:13:18yourself we I was on the committee and
1:13:22this was probably one of the hardest
1:13:24things we have written because
1:13:27wording reproductive Health menstruation
1:13:30blood loss getting it into being an
1:13:33acceptable so we don't alienate
1:13:35audiences we don't alienate smes
1:13:38so it isn't nine it's not 100 perfect
1:13:42this guide it is a work in progress and
1:13:45seeing everybody here today majority of
1:13:48women and I hope in a couple of years to
1:13:51repeat this event after which the
1:13:53standard is going to be reviewed
1:13:54slightly earlier than normal the normal
1:13:57standard because of this situation this
1:13:59is one of the first ones and I hope to
1:14:02see a mixture so it's not just a woman's
1:14:04issue because it isn't and so any
1:14:07feedback here today on what terminology
1:14:10wording you liked you didn't like what
1:14:12might work would really help going
1:14:16forward promoting this so you know when
1:14:19I speak about it when all the panels
1:14:20speak about it we can answer the
1:14:22questions we can say we don't know
1:14:24everything this is the best we could
1:14:26come up with in the time and I was
1:14:28interested in that debate because that
1:14:30debate happened for months on our panel
1:14:33of what was right and what was wrong and
1:14:35we had to come up with the best best
1:14:38we've got
1:14:39thank you so much
1:14:41um we've got time for two more quick
1:14:43questions if there's
1:14:45um Jessica oh sorry
1:14:48hi hi my name's Liz St Pierre I'm a
1:14:51station supervisor for London
1:14:52Underground and I've got a question from
1:14:54my health and safety rep she asked me to
1:14:56represent her today so if I don't ask
1:14:59you
1:15:00foreign
1:15:03what additional influences are required
1:15:06to enshrine menstrual menopausal
1:15:08guidance to become policy in the
1:15:10workplace
1:15:14I'm just batting this around we're going
1:15:17to go to Anne Hayes for this one okay
1:15:19um great question
1:15:22um so a standard is voluntary so that's
1:15:24the first thing to say it's not law it's
1:15:25not it's not um it's not it's not it is
1:15:29robust it's not um it's not a must do
1:15:31however there isn't a lot of guidance
1:15:34out there that is written in a way that
1:15:36organizations can pick it up and use it
1:15:38and that's exactly the Gap that this
1:15:39standard is trying to achieve and I'm
1:15:41not sure who the person was who said
1:15:43about the fact that thank you it will be
1:15:45reviewed it will be reviewed a standard
1:15:47is constantly reviewed and that's why
1:15:49the beauty of a standard over regulation
1:15:51is that we can review it much quicker
1:15:53than you can change a law so anybody who
1:15:56starts down the path of using this
1:15:57standard it goes it follows the same
1:16:00format as other standards will do and
1:16:03have done in the past so things like
1:16:04occupational health and safety quality
1:16:07management Environmental Management
1:16:08they're all very formalaic in the way
1:16:11they're set out so that any organization
1:16:13can use it so there isn't really an
1:16:15excuse to not start using it you can
1:16:17start using it you can start to use it
1:16:18in a quite an informal away and then as
1:16:22it develops you will then be in a great
1:16:24place to go forward and take it Forward
1:16:26does that help I'm happy to talk to you
1:16:28afterwards
1:16:29I'm have you talked to anyone about
1:16:31these design disaster was quite boring
1:16:33on standards
1:16:35so basically um use the standard use the
1:16:38standard because because there isn't a
1:16:40lot else you know so so if you want to
1:16:42make a make progress if your
1:16:43organizations want to make progress why
1:16:45wouldn't you use what's there
1:16:47so true thank you very very much and I'm
1:16:49so sorry
1:16:51um but we're going to have to end
1:16:57hi everyone I'm the founder of AI Health
1:17:00tech company and we're building a
1:17:01Precision Health platform for menopause
1:17:03and I think the only thing I want to add
1:17:05was
1:17:06we have so many workplace Consultants
1:17:08here I think if you could become a
1:17:09conduit to get that feedback from
1:17:11implementation at the workplaces and
1:17:13come back to the BSI team in the panel
1:17:15that would help everybody so I just
1:17:17wanted to add that thank you thank you
1:17:19so much we're now going to take a short
1:17:21break for 15 minutes there's tea and
1:17:23coffee in the reception area and we'll
1:17:25be starting again at exactly promptly at
1:17:283 30. thank you
1:17:32thank you
1:17:52[Applause]
1:18:57thank you
1:19:05[Music]
1:19:55[Music]
1:19:59yes
1:41:16welcome back everyone
1:41:18um what a vital discussion this promises
1:41:21to be with so much that needs to be
1:41:23addressed around inclusivity and support
1:41:25in the workplace just to let you know
1:41:28there are so many questions submitted
1:41:30for this panel that having read them all
1:41:32it's heartbreaking that we only have a
1:41:34limited amount of time in which to talk
1:41:36and next time we need half a day for
1:41:38these questions alone I'm just going to
1:41:41very quickly go back to Kylie as we
1:41:44didn't ask her any questions we have
1:41:45time for one question if anyone has
1:41:47anything to ask about creating a period
1:41:50positive workplace
1:41:56not at the moment or ever or you do oh
1:41:59thank you
1:42:02I think will you shout
1:42:04thank you
1:42:18my nervousness is
1:42:20is
1:42:33policies that promote really good
1:42:36outcomes
1:42:40because that's kind of
1:42:45okay
1:42:46it goes back to what I
1:42:50mean
1:42:52it goes back to the presentation
1:43:04thank you
1:43:08very much I'm sorry
1:43:10okay so it goes back to the um to what I
1:43:14was saying in the um in the in the talk
1:43:16earlier was just around that stigma and
1:43:19it's about really trying to destigmatize
1:43:22menstruation and menopause in the
1:43:24workplace it's not an easy thing to do
1:43:27um and obviously that's what we are you
1:43:28know that's why we're here to really try
1:43:29to break down those barriers and help
1:43:31with that
1:43:33um there's no easy answer to that
1:43:35ostracization unfortunately and I think
1:43:37you you are going to get people that
1:43:39that feel that they're ostracized
1:43:41because of what they're going through
1:43:42and you're also going to get people that
1:43:44feel that
1:43:46um it's a privilege because they've got
1:43:48that they're being allowed that time off
1:43:51um we've had it quite recently and I can
1:43:53openly talk about this
1:43:54um I was on a talk
1:43:56um with one of our customers and we got
1:44:00asked a question and the question was
1:44:01well
1:44:02um men female females and gender-neutral
1:44:06employees have a free period care
1:44:08provision what do you have for men and
1:44:10that's you know sometimes that's the you
1:44:13know the workplaces that you're
1:44:14operating in so it is going to be
1:44:16difficult and I don't I don't think
1:44:19I have the answer at the moment of what
1:44:21we can do for that ostracization
1:44:24um but it has to be built into the
1:44:25policy that it's it's normal
1:44:27um you know that periods the menopause
1:44:30are normal
1:44:31um and there's something that we need to
1:44:33be talking about in the workplace
1:44:35um and the you know the kind of related
1:44:38symptoms that go with them do sometimes
1:44:41require time off of work
1:44:43um for various reasons so I think
1:44:46Darwin's gonna answer as well so much
1:44:48thank you very much indeed
1:44:50um right turning to our panel and um I'm
1:44:53going to just say these as quickly as I
1:44:55can because there's so much that we're
1:44:57hoping to get through Maria uh Maria
1:44:59Tomlinson is a lecturer in public
1:45:01communication and gender at the
1:45:03University of Sheffield and someone has
1:45:05asked how do we break down the barriers
1:45:07that people find embarrassing around the
1:45:09subjects of menopause and menstruation
1:45:12so very similar good luck thank you
1:45:15already had lots of conversations today
1:45:18about the importance of kind of talking
1:45:19openly and inclusively about the topic
1:45:22but there's loads of like amazingly
1:45:24practical things that um workplaces can
1:45:27do
1:45:28um and some of these are included in the
1:45:29standard as well
1:45:31um so or having them we talked about
1:45:33menopause Champions or menstrual Health
1:45:35Champions
1:45:37um also organizing kind of informal
1:45:39networks where women and people can
1:45:42share their experiences of menstruation
1:45:43and menopause
1:45:45um
1:45:46thank you so much
1:45:48and just kind of just talking about this
1:45:51subject is so important I mean the
1:45:53research I'm doing at the moment about
1:45:54the menstrual movement and its impact on
1:45:56young people has shown that open
1:45:58conversations about menstruation on
1:46:00social media are making a difference so
1:46:03some of the young people I spoke to in
1:46:04schools said that they read about
1:46:06periods on social media
1:46:08um and some of the girls said that you
1:46:10know thanks to seeing influencers or
1:46:12organizations talk about periods they
1:46:14were now starting to speak deliberately
1:46:16about periods in front of boys to
1:46:17normalize it
1:46:19um and some in the boys eyes boat who
1:46:21said that they saw periods mentioned on
1:46:23social media as well and they were
1:46:25starting to understand the importance of
1:46:27normalizing open discussion about
1:46:29menstruation I even had boys saying to
1:46:31me unprompted let's normalize open talk
1:46:33about menstruation let's reduce the
1:46:35shame around periods so making sure that
1:46:38boys and men are part of this
1:46:39conversation as well is really important
1:46:41and that's something that the menstrual
1:46:43movement can continue to focus on I
1:46:45think it'll make a really big difference
1:46:46but men are really important allies
1:46:47thank you so much and Sarah Williams
1:46:50equality standards consultant at
1:46:52equality counts and you very much wanted
1:46:54to you you had something to contribute
1:46:56to that conversation didn't you
1:46:59um if you've got a question or oh sorry
1:47:02no I was just I was just going back for
1:47:03that one
1:47:04um I the question I had was how can we
1:47:07ensure Women's Health and wellbeing
1:47:08needs are integrated in mainstream
1:47:11standards and don't require special or
1:47:13Niche standards
1:47:16uh so I think this um question refers to
1:47:20the other standards that are out there
1:47:22with uh BSI and in with specific regard
1:47:26to their overarching well-being standard
1:47:28so I can understand why people are
1:47:31um fearful or overwhelmed of yet another
1:47:34set of guidelines to think about and
1:47:37include in their work and yes managers
1:47:39are you know totally overwhelmed with
1:47:41different action plans they need to be
1:47:43mental health experts well-being experts
1:47:45Endo experts fertility experts you know
1:47:48that's just not practical but what we
1:47:50have here is kind of an overarching
1:47:53well-being standard and then underneath
1:47:55that this is my understanding with the
1:47:57BSI that there will be kind of um
1:48:00different elements of guidance that
1:48:03relates to you know whether it's
1:48:04neurodivergence or and mental health at
1:48:08work fertility
1:48:11and those you know our menstrual health
1:48:14and menopause guidance is like 40
1:48:16something pages long so you know you
1:48:18can't have one document that's like 550
1:48:21pages and you know nobody's going to
1:48:23look at it but within that overarching
1:48:25guidance it can refer you then
1:48:27um to you know the specific information
1:48:31that relates to you know the subject so
1:48:34you can get your technical information
1:48:35from this new standard as well as the
1:48:39kind of soft skills information as well
1:48:41thank you so sorry so these first
1:48:43questions are very much about the still
1:48:45taboo topics of menstruation and
1:48:47menopause so Helen Tomlinson just going
1:48:50to you what are the most effective ways
1:48:52of breaking through taboos around
1:48:54menstruation and menopause in the
1:48:56workplace and then secondly how can we
1:48:59ensure these aren't held against people
1:49:00experiencing symptoms and therefore
1:49:03disadvantage them in career progression
1:49:06and so I could probably answer that
1:49:09around the Practical steps that
1:49:12um we've taken as an organization in
1:49:15order to
1:49:16um start the conversation and I'll go
1:49:18back to the fact that
1:49:20um in 2021 we launched our own menopause
1:49:23policy and very naively and in hindsight
1:49:27I thought great job done we've got our
1:49:29menopause policy brilliant but actually
1:49:32all that's served to do was it was the
1:49:35Catalyst that started the conversation
1:49:37that changed the culture of the
1:49:39organization so actually the
1:49:42um we created podcasts we did podcasts
1:49:45with senior leaders who were prepared to
1:49:48talk about their menopause symptoms as
1:49:51you probably know already and I spoke
1:49:54about my
1:49:55um heavy periods during my perimenopause
1:49:57and another of my colleagues who is in a
1:50:00really senior position in the
1:50:01organization spoke about her brain fog
1:50:03her loss of confidence her feeling that
1:50:05actually she you just sat down as the
1:50:08senior vice president because she could
1:50:10no longer do that role so what that
1:50:12started to do was open up the
1:50:14conversation within the organization
1:50:16that other people thought well actually
1:50:18if they can talk about it openly so can
1:50:21I or if they're you know experiencing
1:50:23these things it's okay for me to talk
1:50:25about it as well so we did we did that
1:50:28we launched the policy we did management
1:50:31um training but every week we have
1:50:34um we call it an inclusion brunch and
1:50:36basically it's 45 minutes anybody in the
1:50:39organization can dial in and our four
1:50:42different forums as part of our Ed and I
1:50:44committee take it in turns to
1:50:47um chair those or launch the topic of
1:50:50those brunches so what they do is they
1:50:53share lived experience they educate and
1:50:56they celebrate if it's a topic that we
1:50:58would want to celebrate and we launched
1:51:00menopause through that so we'd already
1:51:02launched our policy and but I couldn't
1:51:05take over every include brunch every
1:51:07week which obviously I would have loved
1:51:09to have done on the topic of menopause
1:51:11so then we set up a network which is an
1:51:13allyship program and then we set up
1:51:17um we call it tack talk the Adecco group
1:51:20talk and it's a group of people who are
1:51:22willing to talk to people about their
1:51:24what the challenges that they are facing
1:51:26and share their lived experience to help
1:51:28normalize what people are going through
1:51:30and that has fundamentally changed the
1:51:34culture of the organization so and we
1:51:37know that from our we survey our
1:51:39colleagues three times a year through
1:51:41pcon and our Ed and I our well-being and
1:51:46our feeling of belonging has gone up
1:51:48over the last two years
1:51:51um incred a lot sorry I've got a bit of
1:51:54brain fog though I couldn't remember the
1:51:55words Alex let's use a lot and but we've
1:51:58used that same process to launch a
1:52:01number of really challenging topics and
1:52:04it's all started with lived experience
1:52:07and um I spent
1:52:09um I had a breakfast meeting
1:52:12um with Alicia from bloody good period
1:52:14this morning who's in the audience and
1:52:16she uh it feels like a long time ago
1:52:18since breakfast time but she mentioned a
1:52:21phrase which was um experts by
1:52:24experience and I think that is a really
1:52:26powerful phrase and we I will be using
1:52:29that moving forward
1:52:31um but we that's how we launched those
1:52:33topics to normalize them and have some
1:52:36really senior people being bold enough
1:52:38to start those conversations and and
1:52:41that's how in in my experience we have
1:52:44prevented people from feeling like um it
1:52:47is a taboo and it has been you it's been
1:52:50being used against them we are desperate
1:52:53to keep female talent in our
1:52:55organization at all levels whether
1:52:57that's senior leadership or right you
1:53:00know through to our Frontline staff and
1:53:02I imagine that many other organizations
1:53:04are no different so
1:53:07um normalizing it and reducing the taboo
1:53:10is such an important part of this
1:53:12process and strategy thank you so much
1:53:15and now going to Pamela Wendell women's
1:53:18health coach and menopause in the
1:53:20workplace specialist at smarter change
1:53:22one of the hardest things for women is
1:53:25to prove their menopause symptoms when
1:53:27many are not visible such as
1:53:29psychological symptoms or flooding for
1:53:31example what advice do you have for
1:53:33women to get over this hurdle
1:53:36I think I mean you know if an
1:53:39organization
1:53:41has a healthy relationship with their
1:53:43staff I mean it shouldn't really have to
1:53:46prove anything at all you know it should
1:53:48be given that whatever she's struggling
1:53:51with at work that the line manager or
1:53:54senior leader actually just accepts that
1:53:57um but you know if it's an ongoing
1:54:00condition like heavy bleeding for
1:54:02example maybe she needs to have a letter
1:54:04from a GP if that makes her feel better
1:54:07but the standard in itself just allows
1:54:10organization if that the information in
1:54:13there is embedded within the
1:54:14organization that will then we won't
1:54:17have that conversation she won't
1:54:19actually have to prove anything and she
1:54:22can remain in work thank you very much
1:54:25and Darren Duprey head of local
1:54:27government Unison Camry Wales how do we
1:54:31best involve men in the conversation
1:54:33especially when working in a company
1:54:35that's predominantly male
1:54:38yeah it's a really really good question
1:54:40and one thank goodness I won't be
1:54:42accused of mansplaining about
1:54:45um
1:54:47oh sets the tone
1:54:50well what's really
1:54:52what's really sort of um important about
1:54:55involving many the the entire
1:54:57conversation
1:54:59um it's not just that we are the other
1:55:01half of the the 50 or the 49 but
1:55:06when I look around Public Services lots
1:55:08of employers
1:55:09um around not just in Wales where I'm
1:55:11from but across the UK UC mail managers
1:55:15disproportionately
1:55:17male managers everywhere and part of
1:55:21my menopause Journey which I won't bore
1:55:24you with now but part of the things
1:55:26which I have picked up along the way has
1:55:28been how difficult it is for women to
1:55:31have that courageous first uh
1:55:33conversation with their with their line
1:55:35manager and I know that many women I've
1:55:38spoken to find that very first
1:55:40courageous conversation difficult with a
1:55:42female line manager and even more
1:55:45difficult
1:55:46um with with a male line manager so it
1:55:49one of the approaches that we did at
1:55:52philindry University NHS trust which is
1:55:55a big cancer hospital trust in in
1:55:58Cardiff was how we can engage
1:56:01specifically with men
1:56:04um in the conversation around supporting
1:56:07their education knowing that all the
1:56:09statistics were telling us that women
1:56:12themselves were saying that they were as
1:56:14prepared for menopause as they were for
1:56:16periods so how much more difficult is it
1:56:18to to expect men and male like managers
1:56:22to understand at all
1:56:25so we had a I would say it's a cheeky
1:56:28approach
1:56:29um whereby we included men in in
1:56:33menopause training
1:56:34not telling them that it was compulsory
1:56:37and that was the the background and I I
1:56:40heard just a couple of weeks ago that
1:56:42there was a big conference in in London
1:56:45um whereby there was a big a big section
1:56:47was to talk about menopause and a whole
1:56:49shed load of men in in shirts and Suits
1:56:52just walked out uh Shane floor
1:56:55um in in in my view
1:56:59but this is why it's it's so important
1:57:01to to get men
1:57:03um in and and I just in terms of
1:57:05answering this question about how I can
1:57:07distill
1:57:08my menopause journey in terms of in
1:57:12terms of answering the question into six
1:57:14words
1:57:17show up
1:57:19stand up
1:57:22and and and keep up
1:57:24and the the show up is if you get an
1:57:27opportunity to be able to uh go on some
1:57:30training whether it's compulsory or not
1:57:33and are engaged in it do it because the
1:57:36right thing to do and of course you
1:57:38become a better husband brother partner
1:57:40Uncle human being
1:57:43um
1:57:43so yep show up stand up be an ally
1:57:47and keep it up which is the pain of a
1:57:52lot of the work that I do is going with
1:57:53employers and you get the certificate on
1:57:56the back you know mental health champion
1:57:58and we've got the latest
1:58:00um uh the latest well-being and Welfare
1:58:03certificate that they've got on the wall
1:58:05and it stays on the wall alongside the
1:58:08menopause policy which stays and gets
1:58:10dusty actually the the keep it up and
1:58:14keep going
1:58:15um is about delivering outcomes policies
1:58:18are great but they're outputs
1:58:21uh delivering change cultural change and
1:58:23everything else within the workplace is
1:58:25outcomes and that's the space we want to
1:58:28be brilliant thank you so much and Sarah
1:58:30going back to you every menopause is
1:58:33different uh we're sort of focusing more
1:58:35on policy and change here every
1:58:37menopause is different what kind of
1:58:39training do you foresee this
1:58:41organizations might Implement and Are
1:58:44there specific topics that you'd
1:58:45recommend
1:58:46uh thank you
1:58:48um yes and I think I can't sit here and
1:58:52not talk about diversity and inclusion
1:58:54in the menopause conversation and this
1:58:58is one area that really can help an
1:59:00organization and its people and its
1:59:04managers to understand the sort of the
1:59:06the real difference in diversity of
1:59:08experience so I've got some colleagues
1:59:11here today and people from the menopause
1:59:13inclusion Collective and we're really
1:59:14passionate that organizations need to
1:59:17understand how um you know the
1:59:20intersectionality and can impact
1:59:23somebody's experience of menopause and
1:59:24this is this can show itself in the
1:59:27workplace as well so we need to think
1:59:29about
1:59:29um you know lgbtq people people from
1:59:32different
1:59:33um backgrounds cultural beliefs
1:59:37um people Global majority people you
1:59:39know when we're talking about what you
1:59:42do at work in in your training offer how
1:59:45do you know that your um training
1:59:47provider has any awareness of diversity
1:59:49and inclusion issues if your
1:59:51organization that has quite a mixed
1:59:52demographic you know across its staff
1:59:54and you bring somebody in who just talks
1:59:55about one experience well that might not
1:59:57be helping 50 of your staff
2:00:00um if you know of your people so I think
2:00:02you need to be we need to be a little
2:00:04bit more
2:00:05um choosy about the offer that you take
2:00:09up when you're having your training I've
2:00:10heard some great organizations I know
2:00:12Lauren's passionate about inclusion I've
2:00:14worked with Sarah from Talking menopause
2:00:16as well they're hot on
2:00:18um inclusion agenda too so I think
2:00:21um just to give an example there's no
2:00:22point putting in your resource pack oh
2:00:25we have you know employee assistance
2:00:28program if your transfer non-binary
2:00:30members the staff can't get the right
2:00:32support and advice from that and then
2:00:33bear and a global majority staff might
2:00:36not reach out to um EAP program because
2:00:40of issues around chest and Healthcare so
2:00:43training just to summarize a range of
2:00:46topics I think you can keep there's a
2:00:48technical element that managers need and
2:00:51soft skills as well but they really do
2:00:53do need to understand that this is about
2:00:55having a humanistic approach a
2:00:57person-centered approach
2:00:59and they should have that already in any
2:01:02one-to-one meeting they should be
2:01:03curious about who they're speaking to
2:01:05they should they should be
2:01:07um you know seeing that person for who
2:01:09they are not what they think they are
2:01:11because of what they see you know so
2:01:13this is about you know management skills
2:01:15that you should be working on anyway and
2:01:17you just adapting them to this
2:01:18conversation
2:01:20um and yeah you could have mail only
2:01:23talking sessions if you wanted to
2:01:26um it's really important to include
2:01:28younger employees who do experience
2:01:30menopause and even if it's not because
2:01:32of that small number of people that have
2:01:34like premature ovarian insufficiency
2:01:36what about cancer
2:01:38um people who've experienced cancer and
2:01:40have hysterectomy for that I have
2:01:42surgical menopause apmtd there are lots
2:01:44of younger people who have these
2:01:46experiences so the menstruation topic
2:01:48and bgp work around awareness around
2:01:52that is is really important so we need
2:01:54to bring all of these elements in and we
2:01:58also need to talk about
2:01:59neurodivergence as well we've got more
2:02:02and more women in my age group and I got
2:02:05my diagnosis last month as an autistic
2:02:07woman
2:02:08and I'm you know happy to say that but
2:02:11you know what's menopause and what's
2:02:13neurodivergence what's menopause and
2:02:15what's stress what's menopause and a
2:02:17bereavement or your kids leaving home or
2:02:19your divorce or your relationship
2:02:20menopause is kind of running underneath
2:02:22all of those life events and those
2:02:25important factors so having training
2:02:27that really gets you know has these
2:02:30deeper conversations maybe because you
2:02:32can get the technical information
2:02:33elsewhere so that's that's my take on
2:02:36training wow thank you so much and
2:02:40um Helen how important do you think it
2:02:42is for employers to recognize this
2:02:45workplace issue and follow the new BSI
2:02:47standard hopefully really important
2:02:50otherwise it's going to be super awkward
2:02:52and um
2:02:54what's your record recognitions for
2:02:57writing a good company policy on
2:02:59menstruation and menopause
2:03:02first of all obviously I think it's
2:03:04super super important that employers use
2:03:07that but no it absolutely is and the
2:03:10fact that I'm here today is because it
2:03:11is free to any employer regardless of
2:03:15the size of their organization the size
2:03:17of their budget and it will help to make
2:03:22it available that support to anybody in
2:03:24their organization regardless of sector
2:03:28um you know job type Etc so I think it's
2:03:31fundamentally important and I as I said
2:03:33earlier I'm delighted that it includes
2:03:36so it's right through the the whole
2:03:38Women's Health like life cycle in
2:03:41employment and it includes uh menopause
2:03:44menstrual health and menstruation so
2:03:48um yeah absolutely and I've totally
2:03:50forgotten the second part of the
2:03:51question so if you could just remind me
2:03:52of that sorry sorry what are your
2:03:54recommendations for writing a good
2:03:56company policy okay so I think the the
2:03:59more succinct it is and the less
2:04:02headings there are the easier is to
2:04:04force somebody to follow and to actually
2:04:07use it because
2:04:08um I think you alluded to earlier about
2:04:10a policy that just sits at best it is a
2:04:13PDF with some words on it so unless it
2:04:16lives and breathes and um coming from a
2:04:19sales organization the less words there
2:04:21are in something the more chance you've
2:04:23got of making it live and breathe
2:04:26um so the the key roles the
2:04:29responsibilities the support available
2:04:31the guidance for employers the guidance
2:04:34for colleagues symptom checklists
2:04:37suggested reasonable adjustments based
2:04:40on role and sector are really important
2:04:43but I would go back to the fact that it
2:04:46is literally a document and a document
2:04:49doesn't change the culture of an
2:04:52organization it is how you launch it and
2:04:55implement it that will have the lasting
2:04:57change in the organization
2:05:00thank you
2:05:02thank you very much indeed
2:05:05um Pamela a question we've had is we
2:05:08already have a menopause safe space
2:05:10however what advice can you provide to
2:05:13get employers to listen to our needs
2:05:15instead of being focused on
2:05:16accreditations from external companies
2:05:20yeah good question
2:05:24um so accreditation has its place
2:05:26definitely
2:05:28uh you know obviously set standards but
2:05:31you know if an organization only has
2:05:34accreditation in supporting women in the
2:05:37workplace in terms of menopause then
2:05:39really it's not worth anything
2:05:42I believe that from an organization
2:05:44point of view the senior leader really
2:05:46needs to be committed to the change
2:05:48within the organization and really own
2:05:52it as well
2:05:53and when that happens that's when you
2:05:55get the cultural changes that will
2:05:57enable women to remaining work whether
2:06:00it is through Administration or the
2:06:02menopause long term and it needs to be
2:06:05coming from mango really thank you very
2:06:08much indeed and uh Maria what are your
2:06:11three top three practical tips on how to
2:06:15make the workplace environment a more
2:06:17supportive place in which to be doing
2:06:19your job oh great question
2:06:22um so the first thing I kind of
2:06:24reiterate is what's been said before
2:06:25about creating a really kind of
2:06:27supportive and inclusive workplace
2:06:30environment where employees feel they
2:06:32can raise issues that are important to
2:06:34them and need to be addressed around
2:06:36menstruation and menopause
2:06:38and the second one uh practical guidance
2:06:42I think because I come from as a
2:06:45menstrual Health scholar the importance
2:06:46of having menstrual products and bins in
2:06:50all toilets
2:06:51um including so having women's toilets
2:06:53having men's toilets and having
2:06:54gender-neutral toilets too and this kind
2:06:57of goes back to the interesting
2:06:58conversation we were having earlier
2:06:59about how can these things benefit men
2:07:01specifically I think cisgender men we
2:07:03were talking about and there are
2:07:05cisgender men who go through prostate
2:07:07cancer treatment that need bins and
2:07:10there are men's that need other mentally
2:07:11bins in bathrooms for other reasons so
2:07:13this is something that benefit benefits
2:07:15the whole workplace environment
2:07:17um and as well I think another tip as
2:07:20well would be to kind of raise awareness
2:07:22around and the specific
2:07:24health conditions like endometriosis and
2:07:27premenital dysphoric disorder and again
2:07:30I think conversations about mental
2:07:33health and menstrual Health are going to
2:07:35benefit the whole workplace because if
2:07:37you create a workplace in which you can
2:07:39talk openly about
2:07:40um menstrual health and mental health
2:07:42and things like pmdd that could also
2:07:44encourage people of any gender to talk
2:07:46about other menstrual health issues and
2:07:48help break stigma into booze around that
2:07:50I think that often kind of stigma taboos
2:07:52around mental health and people's bodies
2:07:56are kind of interlinked so you know how
2:07:58can we create a workplace environment
2:08:00where we can feel confident and support
2:08:01it brilliant thank you so much and
2:08:04Darren
2:08:05um how can small businesses small teams
2:08:08and those who and I think the lady over
2:08:10there has touched you on this earlier
2:08:12those um who are working with many
2:08:14Freelancers best Provide support
2:08:19well if you're a freelance I'd obviously
2:08:21suggest join a union and if you're a
2:08:23journalist during the energy and if
2:08:26you're a freelance in any other
2:08:27organization there will be a um a union
2:08:29for you I have to say that because
2:08:33um there's no point me being here if I
2:08:35don't I'm not shy to admit that um that
2:08:38I'm I'm a trade Union official and have
2:08:40seen the power of I welcome to the
2:08:43answer I promise but I have seen the
2:08:45power
2:08:46of trade unions in a good way working in
2:08:50partnership with organizations
2:08:52to deliver menopause support and
2:08:55awareness at work and that's because we
2:08:59don't just come from it from the
2:09:01perspective of it's not a women's issue
2:09:03which it isn't but we come from it from
2:09:05the perspective this is a workplace
2:09:07justice issue just like freedom from
2:09:09misogyny sexual harassment and
2:09:10everything else is not a women's issue
2:09:12and neither is menopause support and
2:09:15awareness at work and we've done like
2:09:18shared loads
2:09:20um over the years
2:09:21um I don't want to be controversial well
2:09:23before Davina
2:09:25um but and I'm saying that with a large
2:09:27amount of tongue-in-cheek
2:09:29um but there has been a long history um
2:09:31of of providing support So in terms of
2:09:34sort of Freelancers that is not my
2:09:36expertise but what I would I would say
2:09:38was that there was an answer to the
2:09:40question a little bit earlier I know
2:09:42that for example many Freelancers have a
2:09:44portfolio career and as part of a
2:09:47conversation that we have in terms of
2:09:49reasonable adjustments the ability to be
2:09:51able to work flexibly the ability to
2:09:54have flexible deadlines the ability to
2:09:57work from home and to have access to all
2:10:00the things actually we're fighting for
2:10:01in workplaces but actually can't quite
2:10:03get yet because of design and hoping to
2:10:07retrofit
2:10:08designs so there is a there is there is
2:10:11a little bit of a good news story if I'm
2:10:13not going to get myself into any trouble
2:10:15in terms of people who are Freelancers
2:10:19and and work from home but in terms of
2:10:22small businesses which again is not my
2:10:25expertise thank you thank you for that
2:10:27but what I would say is that the benefit
2:10:30of the of BSI and and the panel that we
2:10:33had I think we'd all agree on this is
2:10:35that we were trying to think front and
2:10:37center of all the organizations that we
2:10:39weren't particularly experts on to
2:10:42ensure that they were sort of like
2:10:44covered so I work for a public service
2:10:46Trade union we normally have large
2:10:48hospitals councils utilities
2:10:52um large companies British gas Welsh
2:10:54water and and all of that but we
2:10:57specifically tried to be able to tailor
2:10:59this standard so that it would be
2:11:01attractive to small businesses sometimes
2:11:04to sole owners who um who employed
2:11:07Freelancers as well and I think because
2:11:11people talked about a compromise earlier
2:11:13and I want to ensure that compromises
2:11:16class half full
2:11:18um not glass glass half glass empty to
2:11:21get my to mix it up because actually I
2:11:24think we all ended up being very very
2:11:26proud of this document and how it could
2:11:29be picked up by an organization without
2:11:31HR departments there are training
2:11:33department in fact without a budget
2:11:36and with the ability to be able to
2:11:38transform
2:11:40um a a workplace not overnight because
2:11:43we talked about the cultural aspect
2:11:46um but small businesses and small teams
2:11:49who are also able to be very very close
2:11:51to their Workforce
2:11:52could actually in in no sense of irony
2:11:56be be the best test bed for this um
2:11:59standard
2:12:00thank you very much indeed you have no
2:12:03idea how many pages of questions I still
2:12:05have that I'm also aware that we very
2:12:07very much want to open up questions to
2:12:10you guys so does anyone have any
2:12:11questions for I knew this is going to
2:12:14happen
2:12:14uh lady and pink at the back
2:12:19hi I'm Sarah Clifford I work for the
2:12:21disclosure and barring service which is
2:12:22an um uh Albans body of a home office
2:12:26and I'm the menopause sponsor I just
2:12:29wondered um well the whole panel but
2:12:31particularly Helen
2:12:33the issues around women's confidence and
2:12:35the talent pipeline one of the big
2:12:37issues for us is 62 of our Workforce are
2:12:39female big chunk of those are over 40
2:12:41and what we are colleagues are saying to
2:12:44me is they adjust their confidence and
2:12:45you know I know because I've been there
2:12:46myself confidence just gets completely
2:12:49knocked out of you and so people this
2:12:51colleagues are just not going for
2:12:52promotion
2:12:54um or you know they're struggling even
2:12:55to say that they feel it's needing to
2:12:57stay in the job they've got so what are
2:12:59the practical things an employer can be
2:13:01doing to uh to support those women and
2:13:04make sure their talent pipeline is as
2:13:06inclusive as possible in relation to
2:13:07both menstruation and menopause
2:13:10absolutely and I you know I felt exactly
2:13:13how how you just said then uh for sure
2:13:16and we see it all the time and I think
2:13:19that um safe space that um opening up
2:13:23the conversation again it comes back to
2:13:25the cultural piece that you know the
2:13:27majority of women in in senior roles
2:13:29that leave their job because of
2:13:30menopause it's not because of the
2:13:33Practical aspects of it because
2:13:34generally they have the
2:13:37um level of opportunity and flexibility
2:13:39to be able to manage those really
2:13:41practical aspects that probably somebody
2:13:43in a different job or a different sector
2:13:46wouldn't necessarily be able to do so it
2:13:48comes down to that feeling of confidence
2:13:50feeling of anxiety not being on top of
2:13:53your game Etc and those are those kind
2:13:56there's not a vast amount that an
2:13:58employer can practically do about that
2:14:01the reasonable adjustments for it are
2:14:04relatively limited so the ability to
2:14:06have the conversation and feel confident
2:14:09and come comfortable having the
2:14:11conversation is actually probably the
2:14:13most important thing so you know us
2:14:15doing a podcast and opening it up that
2:14:17way really helped to do that and
2:14:21um those so having those safe spaces and
2:14:24that kind of thing to be able to do that
2:14:26is really important so the cultural
2:14:29piece will go a long way to allowing
2:14:31women to feel that they can be open
2:14:33about the experiences that they're
2:14:35having and feel comfortable going into a
2:14:37meeting saying as I've already said you
2:14:39know I am perimenopausal I may forget my
2:14:42words in in this session but you know
2:14:44you I'm bringing my whole self to the
2:14:46meeting which is really what we want to
2:14:48be able to do in the workplace so it
2:14:50comes down to the openness and and the
2:14:53conversation and somebody touched
2:14:54earlier on sort of the changes in that
2:14:57culture and what I've seen is both
2:14:59internally commercially and with
2:15:02government being asked to do more and
2:15:04more of those line manager sessions and
2:15:07a lot of them have been at the request
2:15:09to be be male only so I did one for DWP
2:15:13not that long ago and what I've noticed
2:15:16in terms of the changes that when I was
2:15:19doing that kind of thing maybe 18 months
2:15:22ago I wasn't getting the uptake that I
2:15:24am so being able to support the
2:15:26conversate that I am now
2:15:28um as an example when I did one
2:15:30internally two years ago I had two men
2:15:33dial into it from from two male managers
2:15:36and one of them had dialed into the
2:15:37wrong call but he was that embarrassed
2:15:41he didn't dial off but I've seen a
2:15:44massive step change in that and that
2:15:46again comes down to that opening up the
2:15:48conversation and feeling supported we we
2:15:52run programs called elevating women in
2:15:54leadership and a lot of it is about
2:15:57confidence you know opening up the
2:15:59conversation and that that kind of thing
2:16:01but if you haven't got that culture of
2:16:04open conversation in your organization
2:16:07at every level that that's not gonna
2:16:09land
2:16:10thank you and sorry so yes just to
2:16:13um comment on that as well I think from
2:16:16maybe a slight more a different
2:16:18perspective is that as women we've you
2:16:21know possibly worked had a lifetime of
2:16:23working in environments of gendered
2:16:25ableism ageism and sexism and maybe by
2:16:29the time we're um if we are having a an
2:16:32average menopause in our midlife our
2:16:35confidence is knocked as well because
2:16:36we're we're not being heard
2:16:39um so there's an element of this as well
2:16:41which is about
2:16:42inclusive leadership and
2:16:45um people taking
2:16:46responsibility and accountability for
2:16:49their behaviors and the way that they
2:16:51contribute to the culture in the
2:16:52workplace so you know that there is an
2:16:54element around confidence being impacted
2:16:56because of things like anxiety but also
2:16:58it's about the actual culture in that
2:17:00workplace and I think we can't Overlook
2:17:02that and pretend it's not happening
2:17:04thank you and there was a gentle and
2:17:06over here who wanted to speak earlier
2:17:09and actually I know the point he's going
2:17:10to make is very valid
2:17:13I hope that's okay
2:17:17firstly I greatly absorbed all the huge
2:17:19work that's been done in by everyone
2:17:24but a lot of what I hear is sort of top
2:17:27down and
2:17:29um structured office environments line
2:17:32managers and so on I come from 40 years
2:17:36running construction companies
2:17:40and um
2:17:42building sites and what goes on there
2:17:45has no relationship to what's being
2:17:48talked about the thousands of women who
2:17:52work in construction
2:17:53and thousands who would like to
2:17:56but the attitude the likes a person and
2:18:00they're probably done enough to tick a
2:18:02box in the health and safety checklist
2:18:04for menopause and menstrual health
2:18:07issues
2:18:09um but on the great majority of building
2:18:11sites
2:18:12this
2:18:13this is no line
2:18:16no line manager there's a foreman and
2:18:19the attitude is probably if you don't
2:18:21like the heat in the kitchen get out of
2:18:22the kitchen
2:18:24get on with it deal with it did I put
2:18:26that to the panel and see if they have
2:18:28any because I is do any of you have any
2:18:31comments that could happen I'd like to
2:18:33say but yes please do is that's all
2:18:35right I'm so sorry and so constantly
2:18:38aware of time which no one else has to
2:18:40be
2:18:40um thank you Pamela yeah
2:18:44earlier today in the break and in answer
2:18:47to the other question that the lady
2:18:49asked for the bag
2:18:51um I think of an organization whether
2:18:53it's top down or whether it is the other
2:18:55way that you mentioned
2:18:57um fundamentally it's about also
2:19:00empowering women to take ownership of
2:19:02their health as well and we've talked
2:19:04about nutrition nutrition is a vital
2:19:07part of this and from an organization
2:19:10point of view when we go into
2:19:12organizations we actually support those
2:19:14women to make those changes and also
2:19:17look broadly it's not just the menopause
2:19:20you know what else is happening for that
2:19:22woman you know what are the health
2:19:24conditions for example you know
2:19:25particularly like sleep was one of the
2:19:27questions we're going to talk about
2:19:28earlier
2:19:30um you know has she got the building
2:19:31blocks to sleep estrogen is part of that
2:19:35but then if she's struggling with heavy
2:19:36bleeding from fibroids or endometriosis
2:19:39then iron is part of that building
2:19:42blocks and then you know she's got PCOS
2:19:45then it's I highly likely she's going to
2:19:48be potentially type 2 diabetes diabetic
2:19:51and that could impact her sleep as well
2:19:53so when we go into organizations and
2:19:55actually support women really educate
2:19:58them about the lifestyles that they take
2:20:01the mindset that they have around their
2:20:04health you know we've all been
2:20:06brainwashed thinking that Health looks
2:20:08like this well actually it doesn't it's
2:20:10a very different thing for Women's
2:20:12Health in terms of if we support our
2:20:15hormones then that's how from a
2:20:18nutritional point of view and lifestyle
2:20:20that's how we get the results so from an
2:20:22organization whether it is they don't
2:20:25have line managers or they do actually
2:20:28supporting women in the workplace
2:20:30educating them is really key but none of
2:20:33that opportunity exists they don't have
2:20:36not able to do that they're flattened
2:20:39they're pushed away from dealing with
2:20:42those issues and what happens on
2:20:44construction sites happens in the
2:20:45majority of small smes workshops
2:20:48clothing places food industry there is
2:20:51nothing there they're not allowed to do
2:20:54anything
2:20:56thank you thank you so so much thank you
2:20:59H indeed a lady in the in the blue
2:21:04oh sorry
2:21:07um to answer your your question
2:21:11um the HSE sorry the HSC are not as far
2:21:16ahead as head ahead as the BSI and until
2:21:19HSE starts to adopt the BSI then we're
2:21:23not going to get anywhere in
2:21:25construction there are some small
2:21:27changes
2:21:29um I've been on construction sites where
2:21:31they will have a small room for
2:21:33breastfeeding for engineers who are
2:21:35breastfeeding that type of thing but
2:21:37that is proactive people that are doing
2:21:40that
2:21:42but what's coming through because of the
2:21:45health and safety at work at the
2:21:47equality Act and the management regs
2:21:48because reproductive Health gender
2:21:51Health identity has been ignored and
2:21:54it's been allowed to be ignored that's
2:21:56why we're here
2:21:58um it is changing and soon organizations
2:22:01like the HSC will not be able to ignore
2:22:05it it isn't getting there but this this
2:22:07first of its kind document will shame
2:22:10other organizations of why they're not
2:22:12protecting their workforces I completely
2:22:15agree with you but wanted to give you a
2:22:17bit of Hope
2:22:19they yes they need finding now how many
2:22:21organizations are fined for
2:22:23psychological stress they HSE threatened
2:22:25that they would but that they're not for
2:22:27me you know but that is a hazard the
2:22:29same as physical hazards so
2:22:32hope it is changing thank you and thank
2:22:36you so very much thank you
2:22:40and finally this is my great pleasure to
2:22:43welcome presenter journalists and
2:22:45campaigner Mariella frostrop in 2018 she
2:22:48made her acclaimed BBC program the truth
2:22:50about the menopause and then wrote the
2:22:52best-selling book of which I was
2:22:54fortunate enough to be co-author
2:22:55cracking the metaphors which was
2:22:57published in 2021
2:22:59last year she co-founds at the campaign
2:23:01group menopause mandate for which she is
2:23:04a chair she has spoken and written
2:23:06widely about the importance of menopause
2:23:08education access to treatment and
2:23:11informed Choice currently helming her
2:23:13own afternoon show and times radio
2:23:15Mariella was recently named one of
2:23:18vogue's 25 most influential women in the
2:23:20UK her wit passion and quick minds are
2:23:23legendary good luck
2:23:26[Applause]
2:23:36and
2:23:37thank you very much Alice which what
2:23:40else did you say look brain fog
2:23:43um I'm afraid that um I was going to say
2:23:45fresh from my radio show but um that
2:23:48would be uh the wrong description of how
2:23:50you feel after two hours of live radio
2:23:52in three days so far I've just enough
2:23:54one more to go anyway I'm absolutely uh
2:23:57delighted to be here in such excellent
2:23:59company I'm not sure what the collective
2:24:01noun is for business people a success a
2:24:05drive a host I'm not sure but anyway I'm
2:24:07delighted to see you all here and um I
2:24:10was just listening to this session uh
2:24:13here I mean such a fascinating panel and
2:24:15just listening to people speak with such
2:24:18passion and eloquence about women's
2:24:21health I think we all have to remember
2:24:23how unusual just that Barry thing is and
2:24:28um how far we've come already and it
2:24:31looks like it's been an incredible
2:24:32afternoon chock full of informative talk
2:24:34from an array of speakers about an array
2:24:36of top effects that were ironically
2:24:39considered unspeakable
2:24:42um as a teenage girl who used to hide
2:24:44her tampons under a cereal box when I'd
2:24:47go to the shops uh to get them I didn't
2:24:49even need the cereal
2:24:51um so that no one knew I was having a
2:24:53period to find myself on this platform
2:24:57and deeply immersed in the issues being
2:24:59discussed feels like the great world has
2:25:03really spun to paraphrase the wonderful
2:25:04author Colin McCann if you haven't read
2:25:07his book let the great world spin me I
2:25:09highly recommend it
2:25:11menstruation menopause and the workplace
2:25:14are very much the topics du jour I can
2:25:16only congratulate the BSI on their
2:25:19excellent standard and full-on
2:25:21recognition of the Zeitgeist the
2:25:22standard has already had such an impact
2:25:24and and Promises to a far more over the
2:25:28following years and standards aren't
2:25:30necessarily what we expect in the world
2:25:32at the moment exposed as we are to the
2:25:35incessant lowering of them in so many
2:25:38aspects of Our Lives from the political
2:25:40world to the online world where
2:25:42Anonymous voices create salem-like
2:25:44conditions without a shred of what used
2:25:46to be called common decency so what a
2:25:49pleasure it is to be here at an
2:25:51institution devoted to creating positive
2:25:54standards that can be referred to and
2:25:56measured and ultimately will lead to
2:25:59making our lives better
2:26:01embarrassingly until this year sorry my
2:26:04glasses have stretched because I keep
2:26:05wearing them on my head it's sliding
2:26:07down my nose embarrassingly until uh
2:26:10this year I was woefully ignorant of the
2:26:13bsi's work
2:26:15and didn't really realize it was
2:26:16possible to create a standard for the
2:26:18workplace that could play a key role in
2:26:21embracing women's biological Journey
2:26:22instead of sidelining it as a pesky
2:26:25stumbling block to continuing business
2:26:27as usual from Century to Century the
2:26:30long linear hierarchical progression uh
2:26:34best suited to the male of the species I
2:26:37didn't understand that we needed a
2:26:38standard for the workplace I just knew
2:26:40full well that we didn't have
2:26:41legislation protecting those of us whose
2:26:44possession of ovaries wombs and vaginas
2:26:46made our working lives different and far
2:26:50less linear perhaps to the experience of
2:26:52the other half of the population
2:26:54why it still comes as a surprise that a
2:26:57different arrangement of hormones means
2:27:00just that not demanding or difficult but
2:27:05different I don't know but there are
2:27:07unquestionably still many people who
2:27:09look upon 50 of the population's biology
2:27:12as inferior and irritating
2:27:16so I can't quite emphasize that my joy
2:27:20enough at the excellent beautifully
2:27:22researched and perfectly presented new
2:27:25standard menstruation menstrual health
2:27:27and menopause in the workplace launched
2:27:30with a Fanfare of excitement news
2:27:33stories and general Joy this year
2:27:35deserving of all of them I've read it
2:27:37from start to finish though I won't be
2:27:39taking questions thank you but I can
2:27:42assure you that it is a masterpiece and
2:27:44I've read a few of those uh there is
2:27:47I've recently learned a standard for
2:27:49everything there are standards for all
2:27:51manner of sectors you know food and
2:27:53Retail Energy Healthcare manufacturing
2:27:55the list goes on I'll try not to
2:27:58standards are the structure around which
2:28:01our workplaces and economy are woven and
2:28:04built and as I say I had no fully formed
2:28:07understanding of their imperative
2:28:09contribution to our lives until we spoke
2:28:11with BSI before our last menopause
2:28:14mandate meeting in Parliament and we're
2:28:16fortunate is enough to have a preview of
2:28:19the current one
2:28:21looking on the BSI website I read that
2:28:24new standards are developed when there's
2:28:25a market or organizational need for one
2:28:28from an employer point of view a
2:28:30standard can help a business to succeed
2:28:32reduce costs boost growth and which is
2:28:35really the end game of any business help
2:28:37companies become more profitable in the
2:28:41case of menstruation menopause and the
2:28:43associated Joys this is the sort of
2:28:46Clear Blue Sky Thinking and policy that
2:28:49we desperately need I can't help
2:28:51wondering why the entire governing of
2:28:53the UK isn't handed over to the BSI
2:28:55let's just get it over and done with
2:28:57maybe they're just too professional
2:29:01and the aim of this particular standard
2:29:04is for organizations to do more for
2:29:06those employees suffering from the
2:29:08impact of a totally natural biological
2:29:11progression from menstruation to
2:29:13menopause with all the stuff imperative
2:29:16to our survival as a species in between
2:29:18including but not primarily focused on
2:29:21fertility has been the ca which has been
2:29:23the case for far too long the standard
2:29:26can be used if necessary to appoint
2:29:28Employers in the right direction but
2:29:30really
2:29:31really it's to enable everyone to do
2:29:34better to make life easier and to fill
2:29:36and to facilitate employers uh employees
2:29:39to continue working
2:29:41as I say I'm not going to deconstruct
2:29:43the whole thing you can all do that at
2:29:45your own Leisure but I will flag up a
2:29:48few excellent points it tackles myths
2:29:51reminds employers that they should
2:29:53recognize that there are racial and
2:29:55ethnic disparities in experiences
2:29:57something that's coming to the fore more
2:29:59and more at the moment and needs to be
2:30:01highlighted by all of us and it gives
2:30:04clear and very practical suggestions for
2:30:07employers many of whom do come up with
2:30:09baffled looks on their faces just going
2:30:10we really want to do something but we
2:30:13don't know what to do well here's here's
2:30:15a clue more than a clue a Direction
2:30:19the emphasis is on education awareness
2:30:21and an individual approach that
2:30:23considers the diversity of experiences
2:30:25I'd like to think that it's going to be
2:30:27launched on a global scale uh one of the
2:30:30great rewards of the work we've been
2:30:31doing recently on menopause is that many
2:30:34other countries are looking to the UK
2:30:37for inspiration how wonderful to think
2:30:39that we might be global leaders in
2:30:41something
2:30:43if only there had been a standard in
2:30:46place throughout my personal and I
2:30:48absolutely hate this word and I hate
2:30:50using it but it just felt appropriate
2:30:52here Journey
2:30:54um
2:30:54I can't think of a of a better word in a
2:30:57way because that's what we all go
2:30:58through it though I say that it's not
2:31:00really been so much of a progressive
2:31:03Journey as a a slow Dawning realization
2:31:06that awareness about women's health has
2:31:08been so appalling that even I a
2:31:11dedicated campaigner for women's rights
2:31:14my entire career my entire life seemed
2:31:16to have overlooked parts of it as
2:31:18demonstrated by my lack of knowledge
2:31:20about my own menopause
2:31:23it's the biggest elephant in the room
2:31:25ever or at least it was a few years ago
2:31:28and hopefully gradually is dissipating
2:31:31the biological experience of women
2:31:32including trans men and those who
2:31:35identify as non-binary effects over half
2:31:38the population 52 percent of the
2:31:40population as such it surely ought to be
2:31:43an instant number one or maybe maybe
2:31:47we'll put up with number two
2:31:49um priority on any government or
2:31:50employer Health Care agenda
2:31:53rather it's been the case that our
2:31:56health has relied for far too long on
2:31:58the idea that the possession of certain
2:31:59physical attributes means that we are
2:32:02lesser versions of humanity The Spare
2:32:06Rib theory has haunted us down the ages
2:32:08with the assumption that we're fashioned
2:32:10from a cast off bit of male anatomy and
2:32:13our health needs are one and the same or
2:32:16where they diversify irrelevant
2:32:19I absolutely can't myself complain about
2:32:22menstruation or indeed pregnancy on on a
2:32:25personal level the only downside to
2:32:27pregnancy for me was my horrific craving
2:32:30for sardines my husband would come home
2:32:32and find me inside the fridge door like
2:32:35cramming another load of them and I mean
2:32:37that's not
2:32:38um physically unpleasant I suppose
2:32:40unless you're trying to kiss me
2:32:41afterwards
2:32:42um but a boss at the BBC did I
2:32:45remembered when I was jotting down notes
2:32:47for this speech tell me when I returned
2:32:49uh to work 12 weeks after my second
2:32:52child that my breastfeeding schedule was
2:32:55inconveniencing the production of the
2:32:58culture show
2:33:00um I'm very happy to say that that would
2:33:01never happen now I think
2:33:04um such accepted misogyny is no longer
2:33:07tolerated but I have to admit that my
2:33:10own menopause hit me like a truck an
2:33:13invisible one as I had no idea at all
2:33:16utterly clueless about what was coming
2:33:18down the track at me
2:33:20um I mean it's shameful it feels
2:33:22shameful now because things have already
2:33:24started to move on which is a really
2:33:26positive thing but you know I went
2:33:27through two years of low level anxiety
2:33:30high level insomnia completely oblivious
2:33:34to the idea that this complete change of
2:33:36character and alarming struggle to cope
2:33:39might have anything to do at all with
2:33:41midlife hormones menopause was something
2:33:44you didn't talk about and you knew you
2:33:46had it if you had a hot flush or tan
2:33:50and and that was it so it just never
2:33:52even occurred to me I I suffered from
2:33:54really
2:33:55um horrendous anxiety
2:33:58um but completely irrational you know
2:33:59I'd be as agitated about you know
2:34:01whether I'd ordered Tomatoes uh on the
2:34:04uh Supermarket list to whether we could
2:34:07achieve world peace uh or whether I was
2:34:10getting home in time to relieve the
2:34:12babysitter I mean everything was at a
2:34:14completely heightened level and I just
2:34:17had no clue about what was happening
2:34:21um incidentally back then just a few
2:34:23years ago I definitely didn't have the
2:34:25confidence or indeed the knowledge of
2:34:27the subject to be standing here my my
2:34:3050th birthday was a particularly muted
2:34:32event as I just couldn't face large
2:34:34crowds at all at my 60th I'm happy to
2:34:37report
2:34:39um just a few months ago was a rather
2:34:41raucous weekend with dear friends
2:34:45probably yeah embarrassingly raucous
2:34:47really uh with dear friends and and
2:34:49family from which I emerged um exhausted
2:34:52but very happy
2:34:54um but back to Perimeter perimenopause I
2:34:58mean my temper was horrific I suspect my
2:35:00husband would gladly testify to this uh
2:35:03but he says all of it was horrific
2:35:04pregnancy everything really getting me
2:35:07pregnant in the first place I mean it's
2:35:09a sort of constant it's nice to have a
2:35:11constant in life isn't it
2:35:13um but alongside the kind of tamper was
2:35:16the self-loathing and the confusion
2:35:18because I didn't know what it was so I
2:35:20just thought I was actually falling
2:35:22apart and and also that I'd I'd lost
2:35:24myself I just couldn't find myself in
2:35:27this morass of hormonal activity as I
2:35:30understand it now
2:35:32um I gloss over the road to diagnosis
2:35:34but as is the case for so many women it
2:35:36was a bit of a postcode and also bank
2:35:38balance lottery I ended up going private
2:35:41in order to just get some answers and I
2:35:43was very very lucky to be able to do
2:35:45that I know there are lots of people who
2:35:47go private and don't get their answers
2:35:48so there is no you know one size fits
2:35:51all on that
2:35:53um but suffice it to say there's a
2:35:55there's a happy ending a sort of happy
2:35:57HRT pact ending for me anyway
2:36:01um did my career suffer probably yes uh
2:36:05but like every other woman on the planet
2:36:06until very recently there's only been
2:36:08the niggling sensation of feeling below
2:36:11par and trying to mitigate and most
2:36:14importantly disguise uh what pesky
2:36:17hormones are putting us through in
2:36:20instead of um shaping the Working World
2:36:22around our imperative presence in Israel
2:36:26I mean I mean economically imperative uh
2:36:29presence in it we're forced to try and
2:36:30find space for our inclusion and that
2:36:33has to has until recently depended on
2:36:36maintaining a male standard and that's
2:36:39really the issue because it's a playing
2:36:41field full of lumps and bumps that only
2:36:43one half of the population have to
2:36:45navigate and until recently appeared to
2:36:48the other a handicap they hoped we'd
2:36:51find a way through whilst keeping our
2:36:53noses family to the grindstone
2:36:56so like most other women I just got on
2:36:58with it we've been bred to be stoic to
2:37:01accept hormones and hormonal turbulences
2:37:04a lot and to pretend actually that our
2:37:06hormones don't really exist especially
2:37:08when it comes to work
2:37:10I struggled horrendously uh brain fog
2:37:13and Eric better I couldn't even say it
2:37:15irritability aren't ideal when you're on
2:37:18uh live radio uh neither is lack of
2:37:21sleep but in our book cracking the
2:37:24menopause um we wrote about menopause
2:37:27being the third shift uh something to be
2:37:29got on with alongside work and home life
2:37:31uh the only ones to really suffer being
2:37:34of course women had there been the
2:37:37awareness of these life stages that
2:37:39there are today a mere decade on then
2:37:41perhaps I might have recognized my
2:37:43symptoms better sooner been supported
2:37:46when they were at their most
2:37:47debilitating and navigated my way
2:37:50through this inevitable biological phase
2:37:53most importantly it could have been a
2:37:55shared experience to laugh about with
2:37:58friends over a glass of wine recklessly
2:38:00ignoring the bad night's sleep that that
2:38:02would ensure uh and maybe I would have
2:38:05felt confident enough even uh to mention
2:38:07it at work
2:38:10of course being me at once I had my
2:38:12hands on a pocket full of HRT which
2:38:14coincided with the nice guidelines God
2:38:17bless the nice guidelines If Only They
2:38:18were employed more often
2:38:21um so coincided with the nice guidelines
2:38:23being Rewritten I started to write and
2:38:26talk and actually make a documentary
2:38:29about menopause and why it so badly
2:38:31needed uh demystifying
2:38:34but all the elements of our biology from
2:38:38menstruation to menopause have been seen
2:38:41as an inconvenience in the workplace
2:38:43periods pregnancy and Associated
2:38:45complications pregnancy loss fertility
2:38:48problems fibroids endometriosis and pmdd
2:38:52or until very recently swept under the
2:38:55carpet
2:38:56and all of this because it's not been of
2:38:58interest to those who've historically
2:39:00written the medical textbooks and made
2:39:02the rules it's effectively a gas
2:39:05lighting and a cover-up bigger than the
2:39:07fact that there was room on that
2:39:09floating door in Titanic
2:39:12um
2:39:13a good example perhaps of how it all
2:39:17started is back in 300 BC when Aristotle
2:39:21the revered Greek philosopher we might
2:39:24question why it suggested that the
2:39:26reason we have periods is because we are
2:39:29colder than men as well as less active
2:39:32positively lazy
2:39:34so we need to get rid of our excess
2:39:37blood and I'd be tempted to scrutinize
2:39:39Aristotle's pioneering philosophies with
2:39:42a Stern eye if they're anything like as
2:39:44flawed as his description of women's
2:39:46bodies periods According to Aristotle
2:39:49are the process of getting rid of this
2:39:52excess blood hence the issue when
2:39:54menstruation stops whereas men of course
2:39:58are constructed with perfect balance and
2:40:01just the right amount of heat and blood
2:40:03which they make into semen for which
2:40:05were incredibly grateful
2:40:09this idea of menstruation as a cleansing
2:40:12process of some sort or rather endures
2:40:15for almost another 2 000 years
2:40:20um incidentally uh just in case you
2:40:22can't get enough of Aristotle uh he
2:40:24thought of women as mutilated males
2:40:28and he may have kicked off the theme of
2:40:31women being little more than an
2:40:32embarrassing biological footnote but
2:40:35things are only just changing now and
2:40:37medical misogyny I'm afraid Still
2:40:40Remains Rife obviously the presence of
2:40:42ovaries and wombs doesn't make us second
2:40:44best just listen to that sentence and
2:40:48how ludicrous it sounds nor are they
2:40:50impediments that need to be worked
2:40:52around our biology is what should be
2:40:55shaping business as we go forward that
2:40:58means that working practice must
2:41:00fundamentally change to stop the brain
2:41:02drain that happens along the route of
2:41:04the female biological Journey that just
2:41:07happens to coincide with our working
2:41:09lives and that's what I see starting
2:41:11very gradually to happen now the
2:41:14realization that our biology isn't
2:41:17something to apologize for but accepted
2:41:19as a part of our lives with time and
2:41:21research devoted to how we can be at our
2:41:24individual best and supported when it
2:41:27comes to the occasional trial and
2:41:29tribulation as I emerged from my own
2:41:32experience of menopause and educated
2:41:33journalists considering myself to be
2:41:35well informed and aware of my body
2:41:38I was really really shocked at the death
2:41:41of general knowledge about the subject
2:41:43and I remained so I mean if only my
2:41:46company had had a standard my various
2:41:48companies I mean I don't mean my various
2:41:51companies I'm not a magnet but at
2:41:54various companies I work with in my
2:41:56experience might have been preempted and
2:41:58now that's true for so many women out
2:42:01there
2:42:02um you know now we have the possibility
2:42:03of being understood being understood
2:42:06what might happen and the possibilities
2:42:08of adjustments being made that very
2:42:10simply just make working life better
2:42:14um and this is right across the board as
2:42:16well I mean it's not just in the area of
2:42:19menopause and that's what I feel so
2:42:21passionately passionately about today
2:42:24because working in the menopause sphere
2:42:26is only highlighted for me the fact that
2:42:28you know right across the board women's
2:42:30biology is seen as something that we
2:42:32have to apologize and make up for that
2:42:37we need mentors to help us through and
2:42:40so on and what we've entirely failed to
2:42:42grasp is that we are 50 to 52 percent of
2:42:46the population and
2:42:48absolutely imperative to the future of
2:42:51our world and so actually it's a
2:42:53woman-shaped space that we want in the
2:42:56Working World and it's a completely
2:42:58different shaped space to the linear
2:43:00hierarchical one that I referred to
2:43:02earlier that men have created because
2:43:04their bodies work differently it's not
2:43:06as an act of you know punishment to us
2:43:09but I think it's just what's happened to
2:43:11evolve and that's what we need to change
2:43:13today it's not minor adjustments and
2:43:16slight tweaks you know we who'd ever
2:43:18thought that we'd be working you know
2:43:20flexi hours and flexi days until the
2:43:23pandemic came along and actually opened
2:43:26the world's eyes to the fact that there
2:43:27were different ways to do things and
2:43:29that's what we need to continue with
2:43:32today I interviewed um
2:43:34just a few weeks ago on my program on
2:43:37times radio a young woman I think just
2:43:40in her early 30s when I spoke to her
2:43:42um about her endometriosis
2:43:45um and what she described was just it
2:43:47was spellbinding radio because it was so
2:43:49horrifically unjust 10 years of
2:43:52excruciating Agony that was repeatedly
2:43:55dismissed as just painful periods and
2:43:58that she needed to just suck it up and
2:44:00get on with it and she had to pretend
2:44:02she was fine until a decade later she
2:44:05really wasn't by the time she was
2:44:06diagnosed after a whole 10 years of
2:44:09humiliation and career setbacks any of
2:44:11you who've actually found yourselves
2:44:13calling up
2:44:15um a a boss and saying to them I'm sorry
2:44:19I've got bad period pain will know that
2:44:21you're treated often as though you're
2:44:23calling up with a hangover or it's a
2:44:25bear bear excuse for for something else
2:44:28that you've been up to and and this was
2:44:30something that this woman had endured
2:44:32for over a decade and so by the time she
2:44:35was diagnosed after this decade of
2:44:36humiliation and career setbacks her
2:44:39condition was critical because
2:44:40endometriosis obviously gets worse
2:44:43her career was in tatters and her
2:44:46fertility entirely gone her story
2:44:49doesn't just highlight the agonies that
2:44:51we might face but also the patronizing
2:44:53I'm afraid and unhelpful societal
2:44:55attitude that covers the female
2:44:57situation you know as I just mentioned
2:45:00it's seen as flaky shameful even to call
2:45:03your boss and say you're having a bad
2:45:05period or indeed that you haven't slept
2:45:07because of menopausal symptoms and both
2:45:10those things just add extra stress to an
2:45:13already stressful situation and here are
2:45:16some statistics to further show the need
2:45:19for this standard and support for us 1.5
2:45:22million British women suffer from
2:45:24endometriosis as many as 30 percent of
2:45:27moderate to severe PMs and five to eight
2:45:30percent have pmdd premenstrual dysphora
2:45:34dysphoric disorder in addition according
2:45:37to Women's Health concern one in three
2:45:39described that period as heavy in at
2:45:41least one in 20 women speak to their
2:45:43doctor every year about this problem as
2:45:46did the young woman that I spoke to
2:45:48according to the brilliant Fawcett
2:45:50Society report from last year menopause
2:45:53in the workplace one in ten women who
2:45:55worked during the menopause have left
2:45:57their job June due to menopause symptoms
2:46:02eight out of ten say their employer
2:46:03hasn't shared information trained staff
2:46:06or put in place and menopause absence
2:46:08policy when it comes to menstruation
2:46:10this all makes just dismal dismal
2:46:13listening
2:46:15um and also worryingly as I do now go
2:46:18often to different companies to give
2:46:20talks I'm often accosted in the toilet
2:46:23afterwards something that began after I
2:46:25made the menopause documentary and has
2:46:27continued ever since the toilet's no
2:46:31long no longer a refuge for me but
2:46:33somewhere where I have some of my most
2:46:35heated discussions but I often find
2:46:37myself in these companies and having
2:46:39listened to you know various bosses
2:46:41described the wonderful policies that
2:46:43they have in place the menopause Mentor
2:46:46Etc and then have women tell me that
2:46:49actually the the culture is completely
2:46:52different and that nothing has changed
2:46:54and I I'm really sad to say that I think
2:46:56perhaps menow washing might be a new
2:47:00inclusion in the Oxford dictionary net
2:47:02next year
2:47:03um the workplace as I've said is
2:47:05designed in a linear hierarchical and
2:47:09patriarchal fashion no wonder after
2:47:11hundreds and indeed thousands of years
2:47:13it's not because we're being actively
2:47:15discriminated against but because the
2:47:17female form is such a relatively new
2:47:19presence in every walk of working life
2:47:23if you want women and trans women and
2:47:27non-binary
2:47:28be involved and to stay involved and
2:47:30frankly if you want your business to be
2:47:32successful you don't have a choice
2:47:34and you want them to give their best and
2:47:36to actively Aid your company's success
2:47:38then it's got to be a sea change not
2:47:42just little changes as I said and tweaks
2:47:45but an absolute acceptance that the
2:47:47world that we live in now has been
2:47:49constructed around one half of humanity
2:47:51and not around the other and that is
2:47:55what needs to change a tsunami of change
2:47:58from the ground up
2:48:00would I Rejoice over and the BSI
2:48:02standard is an excellent example of this
2:48:04is the fact that menstruation pregnancy
2:48:06and menopause are finally in 2023
2:48:09accepted as not just an inconvenience
2:48:12but a fact and one to be openly and
2:48:14enthusiastically celebrated for its
2:48:17imperative to the future of our species
2:48:19not just as something that stops us
2:48:20being as biologically perfect apparently
2:48:24as the male of the species
2:48:27um and I think it's really really great
2:48:29that so many of you here today
2:48:30highlighting the fact that businesses
2:48:31are finally taking responsibility for
2:48:34the health of half of their employees
2:48:37the amount of successful people taking a
2:48:40stand using their voices is increasing
2:48:42daily all of you here today my menopause
2:48:45sisters including Davina Penny Lancaster
2:48:48Lisa Snowden Michelle Griffith Robinson
2:48:50and Gabby Logan of course my co-author
2:48:52Alice who's safe hands you've been in
2:48:55all day there's also Daisy Network
2:48:57raising awareness of premature a very
2:49:00and insufficiency and of course Davina
2:49:02McCollin and Kate Muir have recently
2:49:04spoken at about contraception as well
2:49:06and its failings
2:49:09um I am personally incredibly proud to
2:49:12have been a part of the discussions in
2:49:13his chair of menopause mandate pioneered
2:49:16some of them
2:49:17I'm just as excited also to have the
2:49:20conversation opened up even further and
2:49:23along with colleagues such as BSI
2:49:25it looks out to continue improve and
2:49:28perhaps get even louder but if you leave
2:49:31this room with anything from what I've
2:49:33said I really think it has to be a
2:49:35wholesale Revolution
2:49:37um you know the times have come for
2:49:40Change and it really needs to happen now
2:49:42it's a completely ridiculous
2:49:44unsustainable and I think unjust uh
2:49:47situation still and we need to change
2:49:49that each and every one of us can play a
2:49:51part thank you
2:50:02all right
2:50:05isn't she a washer thank you thank you
2:50:08very much Mariella and
2:50:10um thank you to everyone who has been
2:50:12here who's working towards a more
2:50:14inclusive and supportive working
2:50:15environment and finally I'm going to
2:50:18hand you over to the Excellence and Haze
2:50:20for her closing words after which her
2:50:22invited to join us for drinks thank you
2:50:26Palace
2:50:27um tough hat to follow just so we all
2:50:29know so what I'm going to say is that
2:50:32um I believe the revolution has started
2:50:34I believe that this standard is is a
2:50:37great tool for you
2:50:38um I also believe that there are drinks
2:50:40outside so I'm not going to go on too
2:50:41long there are three three things that
2:50:43really struck me today are um sort of
2:50:45the role of this standard is to
2:50:47normalize the conversation so there's
2:50:49there's uh a document out there that you
2:50:52can now take into your workplaces you
2:50:54can talk to people about it and actually
2:50:55you have a starting place in order to
2:50:58have that conversation the other key
2:51:00thing is not one size fits all what
2:51:02might work for our organization might
2:51:04not work in another organization and I
2:51:06think that's come up a number of times
2:51:07in the questions and I really can't
2:51:09emphasize that enough the standard
2:51:11doesn't say you have to do one thing it
2:51:13gives you a whole plethora of ideas and
2:51:15things that you can use about it and
2:51:17finally there's been a lot of questions
2:51:18today around or comments today around
2:51:20people leaving the workforce early not
2:51:23necessarily of their own choice but
2:51:25because they feel it's impossible to go
2:51:27on and and I'm actually coincidentally
2:51:30really proud to say that today BSI have
2:51:32launched some research that we've done
2:51:33globally on um the second glass ceiling
2:51:36and why women leave the workplace and so
2:51:38there should be a QR code that will
2:51:40appear in a minute and if it doesn't
2:51:41we'll make sure you get it so that you
2:51:43can download that report because all of
2:51:45this information which is validated
2:51:48information is out there to help that
2:51:49conversation that you can take back to
2:51:51your businesses
2:51:53um our board constantly asked me about
2:51:54what is the call of action that you're
2:51:56you're giving people so my call of
2:51:57action to you is to say uh you need to
2:52:00go out of here and you need to tell at
2:52:01least five people about this standard
2:52:03and you need to tell them that they need
2:52:04to download it it's free to download
2:52:07um we will take on board comments or at
2:52:09least the team at BSI well not me
2:52:10personally but we will all gather
2:52:12together and take on board the comments
2:52:13we want to make it a success we believe
2:52:15we have a real opportunity to make a
2:52:17difference in having you all here today
2:52:18and online um just makes that easier for
2:52:21us so thank you for your attention
2:52:23please stay for a drink and some food
2:52:25and we really appreciate the efforts
2:52:27you've all made to get here today
2:52:28because I know transport and schools
2:52:30situations has made that difficult so
2:52:32thank you very much and thank you to
2:52:34Alice actually
2:52:34[Applause]
2:52:47thank you

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