By Merv Gilbert & Dan Bilsker

The psychological health and safety of employees will soon get the same attention as physical health and safety. On June 16, 2011, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) announced the intent to create a national standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace.

MHCC is championing the development of the Standard, working collaboratively with the Bureau de Normalisation du Québec (BNQ) and the CSA Standards. The funding for this is being provided by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Bell Canada.

Over the next six months a consultation process will occur with concerned parties across the country with the final standard to be completed in 2012. The standard will provide organizations with the benchmark and tools to achieve measurable improvement in psychological health and safety for Canadian employees which will, in turn, enhance engagement, productivity and the bottom line.

This will position Canada amongst a number of enlightened jurisdictions, primarily in Europe and Australia, with similar standards. There are a number of critical reasons employers should attend to psychological health and safety of their workplace and workforce:

• There is current and emerging case law and legislation that articulates employer responsibilities in this area;
• Success and productivity are primarily dependent on the psychological, rather than physical, skills and competencies of employees; and
• There is a large and growing body of scientific and applied research on the impact of workplace psychosocial risk factors on employee physical and psychosocial health.

Negligence in addressing organizational psychological safety and health increases the likelihood of increased disability and benefits costs, turnover and risk of grievances and litigation. On the other hand, addressing it reaps benefits in terms of organizational growth, profitability and resiliency.

So what is a psychologically healthy and safe organization? It has been defined as a workplace that promotes employees’ psychological well-being and does not harm employee mental health in negligent, reckless or intentional ways. It fosters employee health and well-being while enhancing organizational performance and productivity.

This is rather abstract; the real evidence is in the day-to-day practices and workplace culture. Most of us know if an organization is psychologically safe and healthy based on our own experience, be it as a staff member, customer, client or as a member of the public. It is a workplace where employees clearly want to be, support each other and really do want to do good work and to be helpful (and not just because it is stated as company policy).

Increasingly, organizations ‘get it’: workplace psychological safety and health matters. However, they are not sure what to do (and what it is going to cost)? There are an increasing number of tools, consultants and programs purporting to address some of these factors, but it can be difficult to determine where to start and which of these are effective. An upcoming resource is intended to address this problem. Researchers and practitioners at the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions (www.carmha.ca) at Simon Fraser University are creating an integrated set of resources to improve workplace psychological health and safety. This will be available to all Canadian organizations – public or private, large or small – across the country at no cost.

A key component of this project is “Psychological Health and Safety: An Action Guide for Employers”, which is soon to be released. This guide consists of an overall framework and strategy to organize a psychological health and safety initiative and provides a set of accompanying practical and effective actions and resources. While the primary audience for this guide is human resources, the guide will also be of interest to business leaders and managers, union representatives and occupational health providers, as well as to employees. The guide is designed to be consistent with existing business practices, relevant legislation and regulatory requirements, including the upcoming national standard. Included in the guide are actions that:

• help plan and implement effective workplace PH&S strategy;
• build resilience and good job fit amongst employees;
• identify and support employees who are at particular risk for, or may be showing early signs of, psychological distress;
• assist employees off work due to a mental health disorder to successfully return to work; and
• improve effective communication between employers and the healthcare system.

The guide will be made available over the coming months and will also be found online. Further information about the guide and related activities will be published in subsequent articles both in PeopleTalk and online at HRVoice.org  Stay tuned.

Merv Gilbert, Ph.D. is a registered psychologist, Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University and a principal partner with Gilbert Acton Ltd, organizational health consultants.  Dan Bilsker, Ph.D. is a registered psychologist, Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University and practicing clinician providing independent employee interventions and assessments.

(PeopleTalk Fall 2011)