Mental health at work: 10 best practices from early adopters of CSA Z1003

In any given week, 500,000 Canadians will not make it to work because of a mental health problem or illness. Forty-one companies across Canada are tackling this head on. To promote positive mental health among all employees, these companies are implementing CSA Z1003, Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. They're also sharing their experiences with the Mental Health Commission of Canada. 

In 2014 the commission began monitoring the progress made by these 41 companies by embedding two researchers in each workplace. This three-year research project aims to identify promising practices, as well as challenges and barriers to implementation, and develop tools to help other workplaces adopt the standard.

Mental health problems and illnesses are considered the number one cause of disability in Canada, accounting for 30% of disability claims and 70% of disability claim costs. The commission estimates the economic cost at a staggering $20 billion annually.¹

10 promising best practices

Interim results show these practices can potentially help all organizations implement the standard and create psychologically healthier and safer workplaces:

1. Communicate to employees the organization's commitment to psychological health and safety and why it wants to implement the standard.
2. Establish firm, unwavering and sustainable leadership commitment that can survive organizational changes.
3. Tell employees how and why the organization is assessing psychosocial factors, and what it will do with the results.
4. Establish clear practices for identifying and managing psychological hazards. Build on existing measures to prevent bullying and harassment.
5. Identify specific psychological health and safety indicators. They can help to evaluate and plan a response to psychological health and safety issues.
6. Partner with relevant stakeholders, such as disability insurance providers, employee assistance programs and workers compensation boards, on developing targeted indicators to assess psychological health and safety and strategies for addressing psychological safety together.
7. Incorporate evidence from research and industry best practices into action planning.²
8. Evaluate employee knowledge of psychological health and safety.
9. Take psychological health and safety into account when preparing for organizational change.
10. Build organizational capacity for evaluating psychological health and safety initiatives.

Attending to the mental health and wellbeing of employees can have a profound impact on absenteeism, turnover, presenteeism, benefits usage and disability, sustainability, and productivity. In addition to being sound business practice, it's an employer obligation. Under Section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers have a duty to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker. This means taking every practical effort to avoid reasonable, foreseeable injuries to the mental health of their employees.

How WSPS can help

Resources

• Check out Guarding Minds @ Work, a free survey tool to help organizations effectively assess and address psychosocial factors.
• Visit the Mental Harm Prevention Roadmap site to create and implement a psychological health and safety strategy at your workplace.
• Why encouraging vacation increases productivity and job satisfaction (article)
• Do your managers know how to create a psychologically safe workplace? (article)
• Small Biz Safety Podcast - Episode 31: How prioritizing workplace culture pays!

Consulting

Connect with a WSPS workplace mental health expert for help developing your workplace wellness programs.

Training

• Psychological Health and Safety Awareness (eCourse, 20 minutes)
• Psychological Health and Safety for Workers (eCourse, 1 hour)
• Leading for Psychological Safety in Challenging Times (Online Instructor-Led Training, 1 day)
• Workplace Mental Health: How Managers Should Respond (Online Instructor-Led Training, 4 hours)
• Workplace Mental Health: What Health and Safety Committees Should Know (Online Instructor-Led Training, 1 day)
• Reducing Mental Health Stigma in the Workplace (eCourse, 30 minutes)

¹ Mental Health Commission of Canada. Making the Case for Investing in Mental Health in Canada. (2013).