By Dan Bilsker

With the January release of the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the  Workplace, a new chapter has opened in the development of policies and practices to protect workers’ psychological health. Although the standard is voluntary, and there will be no attempt to enforce its call to action, still it expresses and reinforces a strong case for employers to take concerted action to protect and promote psychological health. If we also consider new legislation for protection of worker mental health that has emerged in several provinces, taking action in this domain has truly become a priority for organizations across the country.

But before they can take action, employers need the answers to some basic questions: How can I evaluate the needs of my organization in this area? What sorts of actions are available and effective? Which actions are feasible and affordable? Which actions are most relevant to my organization?

To help answer these questions and support employer action, the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health & Addiction at Simon Fraser University, in partnership with the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health, has produced a set of psychological health resources for organizations:

Guarding Minds @ Work
This is a free online survey to determine an organization’s profile of psychological risks and strengths. The survey can easily be administered to your entire workforce, and it automatically produces a profile of your organization’s psychological strength and risk factors. Furthermore, the profile compares your organizational data to the results from a national Canadian sample. The importance of GM@W is reflected in the adoption of its 13 risk factors by the standard itself and its identification as an audit tool for the standard. HR staff will find this a critical tool in identifying risks and suggesting responses.

Employer’s Action Guide to Psychological Health and Safety
This free online tool provides brief and jargon-free explanations of 24 evidence-based actions an organization might implement to improve psychological health and safety. HR staff can use this guide to recommend actions that are most relevant and feasible for their organization. Even adopting one action from the 24 could represent a big move forward.

Measure of Organizational Readiness for Psychological Health
Often referred to as the MORPH, this is a quick and easy survey that gives concrete feedback about an organization’s readiness to implement specific actions. The MORPH process is to work with the leadership team to select a set of feasible/relevant actions, have these rated by the whole workforce in terms of key change-readiness questions, than consider the highest-ranked actions for implementation. HR staff can use this tool to develop a specific plan that is most likely to succeed.

These three tools are designed to work together, allowing HR staff to develop an integrated approach to psychological health and safety.

Dr. Dan Bilsker and Dr. Merv Gilbert are presenting Taking Action: A Proactive Guide to Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace at the 2013 HRMA Conference + Tradeshow in Vancouver May 1-2, 2013.

Dan Bilsker is a clinical psychologist with a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).  Dan provides independent assessments of disability due to mental health problems as well as psychotherapy. www.psychdrs.ca.