A NEW ROADMAP TOWARDS PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH AND SAFETY FOR ORGANIZATIONS IN CANADA

Robin Ward

Canadian Mental Health Association – NB Division

Our History as a leader• We tackle mental illness as a

compelling business issue

• We continue to address the need for equitable treatment of people with mental illness by providing workplace and general public mental health training sessions and programs to thousands of participants every year

What we know…

• The workplace impacts our mental health• A supportive workplace is a healthy and

productive workplace• Psychological safety at work is a natural

extension of physical health and safety• This is a cultural shift and a new way of

thinking about work

Why is such a Standard needed

• Serious harm is being done to workers that could be prevented or significantly reduced

• This harm is referred to as “mental injury”

• Mental injury is a significant but largely ungoverned risk for both workers and employers

Preventable workplace mental injury costs in Canada, per

annum:• Direct employers costs up to $2.75 billion• Costs transferred to society up to $8.35 billion• Total costs up to $ 11 billion• Up to 1/3 of these costs are avoidable!

Legal Landscape is changing

• Emerging legal duty – “One in which every practical effort is made to avoid reasonably foreseeable injury to the mental health of employees.” (Shain 2009)

• ‘Tracking the Perfect legal storm’; merging of various legal rulings in favor of employee who has been mental injured at work

• Damages awarded for mental health injuries up by 700% in last 5 years

• Emerging new regulations

• One in which every practical effort is made to avoid reasonably foreseeable injury to the metal health of employees (Shain 2009)

• Perfect Legal Storm; merging of various legal ruligs in favor of employee who has been mentall injured at work

• Damages awarded for Mental Health injuries up by 700% in last 5 years

Organizational Challenges and Risks

• Changing and increasing workplace demands with fewer resources

• Lack of training for managers to address complex issues

• Management approaches to interpersonal problems are ineffective

• High workplace mental health risk factors, low protective factors

• Systemic stigma and discrimination• Lack of disability management

Freely available from the Canadian Standards Assn. at

www.csa.ca/Z1003

What is the purpose of the Standard? • Provides a framework to create

and continually improve workplaces, striving to make them psychologically healthy and safe.

• Provides guidance on putting into place a documented and systematic approach:

• Establish a psychological health and safety management system (PHS)

• Establish a management review to measure progress

The business case for improving workplace Psychological Health and Safety

• Risk mitigation• Cost effectiveness• Recruitment and retention• Organizational excellence and sustainability

Thirteen psychosocial factors

1. Psychological support 2. Organizational culture 3. Clear leadership &

expectations 5. Psychological

competencies and requirements

4. Civility & respect 6. Growth & development

7. Recognition and reward 8. Involvement and

influence 9. Workload management 10. Engagement 11. Balance 12. Psychological protection 13. Protection of physical safety

Contents of National Standard• Commitment, leadership

and participation • Planning• Implementation • Evaluation and corrective

action • Management review • Annexes

StandardStep 1: Commitment, leadership and participation

• Roles and responsibilities • Worker consultation • Inclusive policy and process

development • Confidentiality

Standard Step 2: Planning

• Identify hazards and risks—what are the potential costs of doing nothing?

• Process and review • Data collection • Diversity • Objectives and targets • Managing change

Standard Step 3: Implementation

• Infrastructure and resources

• Preventive and protective measures

• Education, awareness, communication

• Sponsorship, engagement, change management

• Implementation governance

• Competence and training

• Critical event preparedness

• Reporting and investigations

• External parties

Standard Step 4: Evaluation and Corrective Action

• Monitoring and measurement

• Internal audits • Preventive and

corrective action

Standard Step 5: Management review

• Review process • Outcome of the review process• Return to Step 1 in continuous

improvement process

Standard: Annexes

A. Additional background information

B. Resources for building a Psychological Health and Safety framework

C.Sample implementation methods

D. Implementation scenarios for small and large enterprises

E. Sample audit tool

F. Discussion of relevant legislation or regulation

G.Related standards and guides

What can your organization do? • Read the Standard and the annexes • Engage senior management and other key leaders

from all levels• Ensure you have a champion (or a few)• Use available tools to assess your current situation

(e.g., Guarding Minds @ Work) and existing policies, practices, systems

• Develop a policy statement around workplace psychological health and safety

• Implement, review and continuously improve

What we know• Approx. 1 in 5 of us

experiences a mental health issue or addiction every year–and the remaining 4 are involved as family, friends, co-workers, employers, employees

• Most of us will have episodes between the ages of 18 and 65—during our working years

What we know…

• Mental health problems are driving disability rates (30% as primary cause and 80-85% as a relevant factor)

• Central nervous system medications - second highest cost driver for drugs, after cardiovascular drugs. Unlike cardiovascular drugs, they are increasing year over year

• Early identification and effective treatment of mental health problem

= reduction in disability time= reduction in frequency and severity of symptoms

• And improves probability of return to well-being and high levels of productivity!

What we know…

Why organizations should care:Performance

• 66% of companies with highly effective Health and Productivity programs perform better than their competitors

• Highly effective organizationso Commit to importance of health and its impact on the

business in goals and in their valueso Establish managers and leaders as role models for

healthful lifestyleso Focus on mental as well as physical health

Let’s focus on solutions at work• At the individual level:

o Implementing best practices for prevention of disability and return to health and ability

o Employee-centered with goal of helping employee be well, stay well, and be productive at work

• At the organizational level:o Both prevention of harm (Bill 14) and promotion of

healtho Understanding and implementing National Standard for

Workplace Psychological Health and Safety

Why invest in training, workshops and knowledge

• Disconnect*o 81% of managers feel

comfortable discussing mental health issues with staff

o 26% of employees think manager is effective

• 75%* of managers treat sudden change in employee's behaviour as performance management or “wait and see”

• Only 21%* would discuss issue with employee and direct to resources

• Managers need and want training* in dealing effectively with mental health issues in the workplace o Prevention of bullying and

harassmento Promotion of psychologically

healthy worksiteso Legal duty to accommodateo Handling difficult

conversationso Helping employee to stay

productiveo Creating inclusive workplaces

* Results from Conference Board report, June 2011

CMHA helps employers and unions with knowledge, tools, and support

• Training to help managers and union reps help workers

• New workshops to ensure workplaces are psychologically safe and free from bullying or harassment

• Increased knowledge of how to promote mentally healthy workplaces, for the benefit of all who work in them

Let’s work together!