A HEALTHY and happy workplace is essential to employee productivity.

This is the thought driving a new series of workshops presented by the Warwick Chamber of Commerce Inc and Community Network of Warwick in partnership with the Warwick Hospital.

Held at the Warwick Hospital executive meeting room, the first in the series of community education and training will be a four-hour Mental Health First Aid course focused on how to provide support and help to someone considering self-harm or suicide, held next Thursday, starting at 9.40am for registration.

Warwick Chamber of Commerce Inc president Julia Keogh said the skills and insight that can be taken from this workshop would be helpful to anyone in our community.

"We have been building our Southern Downs Collaborative Community Care partnerships in the past few years and those now provide essential connections between commerce and our community,” Ms Keogh said.

"A well-informed business community can start to address the evidence that untreated mental health disorders are costing Australian employers around $10.9billion each year.

"However, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Qld stated back in 2014, that there was evidence to show that for every $1 a business invests in mental health, there's a return of $2.30.

"Happy and healthy employees create happy and healthy workplaces.

"We are focusing on encouraging employers to recognise that link between employee well-being and productivity, because employers who take care of

employees not only help the economic side of their business, but also help the community.”

Ms Keogh said any interested adult can attend the free training and stressed the course was not a therapy or support group, rather that it is an education course, so attendees should keep that in mind.

For more information, phone Julia on 0438665440 or go to trybooking.com/ PRAI to book.