A note on Terminology: The terms “workplace psychological health and safety” are considered synonymous with, in many parts of the world, “workplace mental health and safety.” “Psychological” is used in this introduction but can be considered interchangeable with “mental”.
These pages serve as an introduction to demonstrate why organisations should manage workplace psychological health and safety in the same manner as they manage other aspects of health and safety. It also provides an overview of the types of resources available in the resource list.
The World Health Organization defines “Health” as: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” They go on further to state: “Mental health is an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health.”
See also: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/major-themes/health-and-well-being
There are many reasons for organisations to address psychological health and safety as part of their overall approach to workplace health and safety. These include a positive outcome on productivity, employee satisfaction, and employee retention. In addition, studies have shown a lowered incidence of safety incidents and absenteeism, as well as a positive cost-benefit from the introduction of workplace psychological health and safety programs. For more information on the positive impact of such approaches see: https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/resources/psychological-health-and-safety-cost-benefits
While some organisations have always recognised the need to manage workplace psychological health and safety, until quite recently no formal standards existed. Standards are very helpful to guide organisations on policy development, commitment, planning activities, implementation processes, evaluation of the results of program implementation, and continual improvement.
In 2013, Canada became the first country to develop a full national standard on Workplace Psychological Health and Safety – CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013. This Standard is available free of charge from CSA. A new edition will be available in late 2024. Five years later, the newly available ISO 45001 Standard on Occupational health and Safety mentioned psychological/mental health in several places:
- “An organization is responsible for the health and safety of its workers and other persons performing work on its behalf, including promoting and protecting their physical and mental health.
- Injury and ill health is defined as the adverse effect on the physical, mental or cognitive condition of a person.
- Workplace hazards include psychosocial and physiological hazards as well as physical, chemical, biological, mechanical, electrical and kinetic hazards.
- Work organization and social factors such as excessive work hours, poor leadership and culture in the organization, poor communication, excessive production pressure, bullying, and harassment have the potential to negatively impact workers’ psychological health and safety.”
Canada then submitted a new work item proposal to ISO which led to another global first, in June of 2021, the ISO 45003 Standard, “Occupational health and safety management — Psychological health and safety at work — Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks” became available world-wide. Psychosocial risk factors are often defined as those things that may affect workers’ psychological response to their work and workplace conditions (including working relationships with supervisors and colleagues).
In developing an approach to managing Workplace Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, it is essential to have both a policy commitment and resources from top leadership of both management and workers. Once this is in place, an in-depth planning process, starting with an audit of the workplace vis a vis the requirements of a Standard (if the decision has been made to implement a Standard) can be carried out to assess where the organisation stands with respect to a recognised standard on workplace PH&S. Other assessments can include a review of legal and contractual requirements, aggregated health and safety data (including health records, HR data on absenteeism, insurance records, etc.), existing programs and their effectiveness, and organisational and community resources (mental health professionals, EFAP resources, etc.).
Understanding where gaps exist is key to ensuring that any new programs address the needs of the workforce and are not just “tick the box”, “flavour of the month” responses that look good, but may not meet the identified needs as defined in the planning process. Developing and implementing effective programs may take some time, but the organisation that understands its needs through an appropriate planning process will also have the better outcomes. Once programs have been in place for two or three years, their effectiveness can be assessed and changes made as necessary and a further assessment of compliance with Standard requirements can be made and changes implemented as needed. This ensures continual improvement.
Resources that are available in the Mental Health Resource Bank Library include the following:
- Terminology or definitions;
- Benefits of managing workplace PH&S;
- Examples and sources of validated Workplace PH&S Standards;
- Examples of organisational policies on PH&S;
- Possible data sources to assist implementation of PH&S processes;
- Examples and sources of programs that may address identified organisational gaps in PH&S;
- Tools for evaluation and assessment of program effectiveness;
- Examples and sources of audit tools to assess progress against accepted PH&S Standards;
- Peer reviewed papers on workplace PH&S.
