WSPS Mental Harm Prevention Roadmap Year-Two Study
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Limitations
Because this was an open trial without a control group, we cannot definitively attribute
any changes found in the building blocks or the MFI scores from Test 1 to Test 2 to
exposure to the Roadmap. However, qualitative interviews indicate that psychological
health and safety facilitators attributed the changes to their knowledge and skills
improvement to the Roadmap. As the subjective experience of confidence is critical, the
fact that they attributed the increase in confidence to the Roadmap is meaningful.
Additional studies could provide a more robust test by comparing companies using the
Roadmap to companies not using the Roadmap. Additionally, numerous companies
participating indicated that eight months was insufficient time for them to implement
any plans. For example, some indicated that they did not have enough time to get
budgetary approval for new initiatives, which inhibited launching new initiatives. It also
is worth noting that this study was done during a peak period in the COVID pandemic
when leaders were managing return-to-office and other ongoing pandemic demands.
Conclusion
Psychological health and safety is gaining more attention as a strategic imperative for
reducing mental harm and promoting workers' mental health. While the CAN/CSA
Z1003 Standard provides clear guidance on what should be done, it does not provide
guidance on how to implement it. Thus, the Roadmap provides an implementation
guide and fills a space that many psychological health and safety facilitators are
needing. It includes practical, applied insights for using a PDCA approach to impact
workplace mental health.
This study found that the Roadmap can help psychological health and safety facilitators
(i.e., persons tasked to support workplace mental health) obtain the knowledge, skills,
