What Every British Man Should Know About Duty of Care

Let’s get straight to it – when you hear “duty of care,” you probably think it’s all about mental health counselling and wellbeing programmes. That’s partly true, but there’s a lot more to it. More importantly, understanding what duty of care actually means could make a real difference to you, your mates, and the men in your workplace.

Here’s the reality: duty of care goes beyond just corporate jargon. It’s about making sure the places where you spend your time – whether that’s your workplace, university, or any organisation – actually look out for you when things get rough. And let’s be honest, things have been getting rougher for blokes across the UK.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Before we dive into what duty of care really means, let’s look at where men stand with mental health in Britain today. The statistics are sobering, and they affect lads like you.

In England, roughly 15% of men experience a common mental health condition, though that number tells only part of the story. Here’s where it gets serious: three-quarters of suicides registered in the UK are among men, a pattern that’s held steady since the mid-1990s. That’s not a typo – three out of every four people who die by suicide in this country are male.

Even more alarming, the suicide rate for males in England and Wales increased to 17.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2023, marking the highest rate since 1999. Meanwhile, suicide remains the leading cause of death for men under 50 in the UK.

The workplace statistics are equally concerning. A survey found that 77% of men have suffered symptoms of common mental health conditions such as anxiety, stress or depression. Yet here’s the kicker: 40% of men have never spoken to anyone about their mental health. Of those silent sufferers, 29% say they’re “too embarrassed” to talk about it.

It gets worse. Men are only 36% of referrals to NHS talking treatments, which is less than half of the number of referrals for women. So not only are men struggling, but they’re also not getting the help that’s available.

Why does this matter for a conversation about duty of care? Because these numbers show a massive gap between the support men need and what they’re actually getting. And that’s precisely where duty of care comes in.

What Duty of Care Actually Means (And Why It’s Not Just About Therapy)

Most people think the duty of care is about having a counsellor on speed dial or a mental health awareness poster in the break room. Don’t get me wrong – those things help. But duty of care runs much deeper.

At its core, duty of care is about preventing harm before it happens. It’s the legal and moral responsibility organisations have to protect you from foreseeable dangers. Not just any danger, mind you, but risks they know about or should reasonably know about.

Think about it this way: if your employer knows the overtime culture is burning people out, if they’re aware that workplace bullying is happening, if they see warning signs that someone’s struggling – they have a responsibility to act. That’s the duty of care. It’s not about bubble-wrapping everyone; it’s about taking reasonable steps when risks are clear and preventable.

This is especially important for men, as research shows they are less likely to speak up. When a man finally reaches out for assistance, it’s frequently because he’s already in deep trouble. A proper duty of care means organisations don’t wait for you to wave a red flag – they create systems that spot problems early and intervene before things spiral.

The Wake-Up Call From Across the Pond

To understand why this matters, let’s look at a case that changed everything in American universities – and offers important lessons for British workplaces and institutions.

In October 2009, Katherine Rosen was a third-year student at UCLA, sitting in a chemistry lecture. Another student, Damon Thompson, approached her from behind and stabbed her in the neck and chest with a kitchen knife. She survived, but barely.

Here’s what makes this case crucial: the attack wasn’t unexpected. Thompson had schizophrenia and paranoid delusions. He had been removed from university housing after informing the staff that he was considering harming others. He specifically referenced Katherine by name in a complaint. University psychiatrists knew all this. Just one day before the attack, there was a campus risk assessment meeting about him.

And yet – nothing was done. No warning was issued. No protection offered. Katherine had no idea she was in danger.

After surviving, Katherine sued UCLA. Her question was simple but profound: if a university knows about a specific threat, doesn’t it have a legal duty to protect students? UCLA said no – they claimed they had no responsibility to protect adult students from the criminal acts of others.

It took nearly a decade, but in 2018, the California Supreme Court ruled decisively in Katherine’s favour. Universities do owe a duty of care to their students, particularly during educational activities and when risks are foreseeable. The Court was clear: the university didn’t need to predict the exact attack, but it should have foreseen that failing to control a potentially violent student or warn his identified targets could result in harm.

The Court emphasised something crucial: a duty of care doesn’t demand perfection or extraordinary measures. In Katherine’s case, the bare minimum would have been warning her. That’s it. Just letting her know she’d been named as a potential target.

Why This Matters for British Men Today

You might be thinking, “That’s America, though. And it’s about universities. What’s that got to do with me?”

Everything, actually.

The Rosen case exposes a truth that applies everywhere: duty of care isn’t about having better counselling services. It’s about the structure of responsibility itself. Who knows what? Who can act? And critically, who must act when risk is foreseeable?

In Katherine’s situation, mental health support for the attacker existed. What failed was the system around him – communication, coordination, and the willingness to protect others from a known risk.

Sound familiar? That’s exactly what’s happening with men’s mental health across British workplaces and institutions right now.

The biggest causes of mental health issues in men’s lives are work (32%), finances (31%), and health (23%). These aren’t random, unpredictable problems – they’re systemic issues that organisations have knowledge about and control over. 52% of men would be concerned about taking time off work for poor mental health, whilst 46% would be embarrassed or ashamed to tell their employer.

When nearly half of working men would rather suffer in silence than tell their boss they’re struggling, that’s not a personal failing – it’s a system failure. And it’s exactly the kind of foreseeable harm that duty of care should address.

Where British Law Stands (Spoiler: Not Great)

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the UK lags significantly behind when it comes to legally enforceable duty of care in higher education and many workplaces.

There have been developments. In a case called Feder and McCamish v The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a court held that universities have a duty to carry out reasonable investigations when students report sexual assault. The college had procedures in place but failed to follow them, and was held liable.

But here’s the catch – liability arose only because the college already had voluntary procedures and then ignored them. There’s no general duty to protect student or employee welfare. British law creates duties only in piecemeal, procedural ways, leaving massive gaps whenever institutions haven’t explicitly committed to specific processes.

For working men, the situation is slightly better but still inadequate. Employers have health and safety obligations, but mental health often falls through the cracks. Mental health problems at work now cost the UK economy £57.4 billion a year, which is almost double what they were a few years ago. Despite this enormous cost, there’s no comprehensive statutory duty of care specifically addressing mental health and wellbeing in workplaces.

This is changing, slowly. The UK government talked about its first-ever men’s health strategy in November 2024. It would focus on important issues like mental health, preventing suicide, heart disease, and cancer.. It’s a start, but we need more than strategies – we need legal teeth.

What Duty of Care Should Actually Look Like

So what would proper duty of care for men’s mental health actually involve? Let’s break it down into practical terms.

First, it’s about creating systems that don’t rely on men speaking up. Remember, 40% of men never talk about their mental health. A duty of care approach means organisations proactively monitor risk factors – excessive overtime, toxic management, financial stress, workplace conflicts – and intervene before crisis hits.

Second, it’s about taking action on known risks. When management is aware that a team is struggling, action should be taken immediately – not after someone experiences a breakdown. If HR receives reports of bullying or harassment, it’s their responsibility to investigate and ensure protection. If financial pressures are increasing throughout the workforce, it’s a foreseeable risk that demands attention.

Third, it’s about proper training and communication. Managers need training not just in spotting warning signs but in having conversations with men who might be struggling. This is especially crucial given that 45% of employees feel uncomfortable discussing mental health concerns with their manager, fearing negative repercussions.

Fourth, it’s about accessibility. The current NHS talking therapy system sees only 36% male referrals. Organisations need to provide or facilitate access to support that actually works for men – whether that’s through employee assistance programmes, partnerships with organisations like Men’s Prosperity Club, or creating peer support networks that feel less clinical and more natural.

Finally, it’s about accountability. When organisations know about risks and fail to act, there should be consequences. That’s not about creating a compensation culture – it’s about making sure institutions take their responsibilities seriously before someone gets seriously hurt or worse.

The Men’s Prosperity Club Approach

This is where organisations like Men’s Prosperity Club come in. Rather than waiting for men to ask for help, they take a proactive approach that aligns perfectly with what duty of care should actually mean.

Men’s Prosperity Club recognises that blokes need more than just therapy appointments. We need communities where talking about struggles doesn’t feel weird or weak. We need practical strategies for handling work stress, financial pressures, and health concerns – the three biggest drivers of men’s mental health problems.

The club creates spaces where duty of care isn’t an abstract legal concept but a lived reality. Members look out for each other. They share resources. They normalise conversations about mental health without making it feel like group therapy. A lot of men find that this peer-based approach works better than going to a traditional clinic.

Moreover, organisations that partner with groups like Men’s Prosperity Club are demonstrating a genuine commitment to duty of care. They’re not just ticking boxes with mandatory training sessions. They’re providing real, accessible support that meets men where they are.

What You Can Do Right Now

Whether you’re dealing with your own mental health struggles or worried about a mate, here’s what matters:

Understand your rights. Your employer has health and safety duties that extend to mental health. If work conditions are making you ill, that’s not just bad luck – it’s potentially a breach of their duty of care. You have the right to raise concerns without facing retaliation.

Don’t wait for a crisis point. 40% of men polled said it would take thoughts of suicide or self-harm to compel them to get professional help. That’s waiting far too long. If work stress is affecting your sleep, your relationships, or your physical health, that’s the time to act – not when you’re in crisis.

Build your own support network. Whether through Men’s Prosperity Club, your mates, or other communities, create relationships where you can talk honestly. Duty of care works best when it’s not just top-down from organisations but also peer-to-peer among men looking out for each other.

Hold organisations accountable. If your workplace knows about problems and does nothing, speak up. Document concerns. Use official channels. The more men do this, the harder it becomes for organisations to ignore their duty of care responsibilities.

Check in on your mates. You don’t need to be a trained counsellor. Just asking “You alright, mate?” and actually listening to the answer can make a massive difference. Remember, three-quarters of suicides are men – and many of those men never told anyone they were struggling.

The Bigger Picture

Here’s the bottom line: duty of care isn’t about wrapping everyone in cotton wool or creating a culture where nobody can handle adversity. It’s about organisations taking responsibility when they have the power and knowledge to prevent foreseeable harm.

For men in the UK, this matters enormously. Men are dying by suicide at three times the rate of women. We’re silently struggling because we’ve been taught that seeking help is a sign of weakness. We’re burning out in workplaces that are aware of the issue but only respond when it’s too late.

The Rosen case in America showed what proper duty of care looks like: when you know about a risk, when you have the power to act, and when the steps needed are reasonable – you have a legal and moral obligation to take them. That shouldn’t be a revolutionary concept. It should be the baseline.

The good news? The Workplace Health Report 2024 identified an increase in the number of men seeking help for their mental health. Things are changing. More men are talking. More organisations are listening. The government’s new men’s health strategy suggests political will is building.

But we can’t wait for perfect policies or comprehensive legal frameworks. Every workplace, every organisation, every community can start implementing real duty of care now. It starts with acknowledging that men’s mental health is in crisis. It continues with creating systems that don’t rely on men asking for help before they receive it. And it succeeds when organisations move from reactive to proactive – spotting risks early and acting before harm occurs.

Katherine Rosen’s near-death experience and decade-long legal battle taught us something crucial: duty of care isn’t about offering sympathy after tragedy strikes. It’s about preventing foreseeable harm before it happens. For British men facing a mental health crisis that kills thousands every year, that lesson couldn’t be more urgent.

Your employer, your university, your community organisations – they all have duties toward you. Those duties extend beyond physical safety to mental wellbeing. They require action when risks are known, not just policies that look good on paper.

Understanding the duty of care isn’t just academic knowledge – it might just save your life or the life of a mate who’s struggling in silence. And in a country where suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50, that understanding is worth having.

The question isn’t whether organisations should care about men’s mental health – of course they should. The question is whether they’ll take responsibility for the predictable consequences of their own systems, structures, and decisions. That’s what real duty of care looks like. And it’s what British men urgently need.

If you’re struggling with your mental health, reach out to Samaritans on 116 123, or contact Men’s Prosperity Club for peer support and practical resources specifically designed for men.