Eco Design Consultants wanted to strengthen its approach to occupational health and wellbeing, particularly mental health.
Challenge
Eco Design Consultants wanted to strengthen its approach to occupational health and wellbeing, particularly mental health, within a professional services environment known for long working hours and high-performance expectations.
While health and safety processes were well established, the organisation recognised that aspects of wellbeing – particularly those relating to mental health, workload and sustainable ways of working – required a more consistent and structured approach.
As the workforce continued to evolve, the business saw an opportunity to ensure its working practices reflected a broad range of professional expectations and preferences, supporting both experienced colleagues and those earlier in their careers to thrive.
Although senior leaders were committed to good practice, there was a clear ambition to move beyond a compliance-led model and adopt a more proactive, strategic and meaningful focus on health and wellbeing, strengthening both recruitment and long-term retention.
About Eco Design Consultants
Eco Design Consultants is a UK-based sustainability and design consultancy working across the built environment. The organisation employs a multidisciplinary team, including architects and principal designers, delivering projects that combine technical expertise with strong health, safety and environmental standards.
The solution
Donna Budden, Business Development Director at Eco Design Consultants, completed the IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing eLearning course following its endorsement by IOSH and the availability of government-funded places between January and March 2026.
"There’s a lot more to health and safety than just not putting a sign out for slips, trips and falls.The mental health side is something we don’t naturally talk about. "
Donna Budden, Business Development Director, Eco Design Consultants
The course
The flexible online format allowed the course to be completed around a demanding role, with the ability to pause, revisit content and explore topics in greater depth where needed. This made it easier to tailor learning directly to the organisation’s context and current challenges.
The course provided practical guidance on managing health alongside safety and reinforced the value of proactive planning. In particular, it encouraged a shift away from annual, compliance-driven risk assessments towards more frequent reviews that involve the wider team and focus on continuous improvement – especially in relation to mental health risks.
"The eLearning course gave me the flexibility to really make it relevant to my role, rather than just passing through the content. "
Donna Budden, Business Development Director, Eco Design Consultants
The results
Although still early, the training has already led to tangible changes across the business. Eco Design Consultants is updating its approach to risk assessments by adopting IOSH-style recording, including clearer ‘before and after’ scoring. This helps teams better understand the impact of control measures and makes wellbeing risks more visible and meaningful.
There has also been a noticeable increase in engagement. Team members have shown greater interest in health and safety discussions, with staff volunteering to support risk assessments – an outcome not previously seen. This reflects a growing sense of shared responsibility for health and wellbeing rather than it being viewed solely as a management or compliance function.
The training has also influenced how wellbeing is discussed internally. Conversations around mental health, workload and risk are becoming more open and relevant to everyday office-based work, helping teams recognise that occupational health risks exist beyond site-based activities.
"People volunteering to help with risk assessments is a relatively new thing.That tells me something has shifted. "
Donna Budden, Business Development Director, Eco Design Consultants
Where they are now
By improving confidence, encouraging proactive planning and supporting more open dialogue, the training is helping Eco Design Consultants embed a more balanced and sustainable approach to occupational health and wellbeing.
"Anyone with any management responsibility should do this training.It helps you understand what good looks like and how to support it. "
Donna Budden, Business Development Director, Eco Design Consultants