Safety First

How A Free Resource Can Help Your Business Promote Psychological Safety

By Workplace Safety & Prevention Services

Psychological safety has a big impact on business. According to the Canadian Mental Health Commission, in any given year, one in five Canadians will experience a mental health problem or illness, with a cost to the economy well in excess of 50 billion dollars. But if you’re not sure where to begin, it may seem difficult or overwhelming. So where do you start?

Start with the Mental Health Prevention Roadmap

Workplace Safety & Prevention Services’ (WSPS) Mental Harm Prevention Roadmap is a free step-by-step guide developed to help employers reduce the risk of mental harm at work. The Roadmap shows employers how to meet the requirements outlined in CSA-Z1003-13 -Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, which was introduced in 2013.

Kristy Cork, Specialized Consultant for Healthy Workplaces with WSPS explain that while the CSA Standard gave employers the specifics on what was expected of them in terms of protecting employees from mental harm, many employersdidn’t know where to start. “The CSA Standard is similar to the ingredients in a recipe and the Roadmap tells you how to combine them and in what order for a successful finished product.,” says Kristy. “The Roadmap gives them something tangible to follow based on their own readiness, size, and available resources.”

Mental Health vs Psychological Safety

One of the first things you’ll see when you visit the site is a definition of psychological safety and how it differs from mental health, which is an important concept to understand as you work towards a mentally safe and healthy workplace. “Mental health is what we carry with us all the time. It’s about how well we deal with various stressors. You can be living with positive mental health or poor mental health,” says Kristy. “Psychological safety is when you look at the factors that can harm our mental health. We want to reduce those factors and move from a culture of carelessness to one of carefulness in the workplace.”

It helps to think of these concepts in terms of physical safety. We’re used to dealing with hazards in the meat industry that may harm us physically, such as working with sharp objects, or near heavy machinery. Controls are put in place to protect employees from these types of physical health hazards. Similarly, we need controls in place to protect employees from mental health hazards. “An example of a mental health hazard could be working long hours with minimal breaks causing overexertion. Fatigue can lead to potential impairment –affecting the employee’s ability to work safely and effectively, and increases the risk of injury,” says Kristy. “Ensure staff are given appropriate breaks so the worker can rest their physical body and their mind.”

How to build your plan

• Create an account and select a Champion. Go to Roadmap to get started. Identify someone internal to be a Champion who can facilitate within the organization. You can involve the joint health and safety committee (JHSC) as well, to integrate psychological safety into the organization’s overall health and safety management system.

• Assess your organization’s current state. Use the tool on the site to determine where your organization is on its journey toward a mentally healthy workplace. These results indicate which areas to prioritize when you begin to build your roadmap.

• Build your roadmap. The site breaks down eight building blocks that represent an area of focus to help you build your roadmap. Based on the results from your assessment, the site recommends which building blocks your organization should start with.

• Monitor your results. Using the dashboard, track your results and evaluate the effectiveness of the controls your organization has put in place. If you find that your organization has made progress on its journey toward a mentally healthy workplace, move on to the next building block.

Learn more: free resources

• Visit the WSPS Mental Harm Prevention Roadmap to start building your roadmap.

• Sample Policy: Right to Disconnect

• Psychological Safety: A Roadmap

• WSPS.CA Mental Health & Employee Wellbeing

Resource Stream

• Small Biz Safety Podcast: How a new FREE resource can benefit your business & promote mental health