February 5, 2013
The Canadian Standards Association (“CSA”) is a non-profit organization that works in Canada and around the world to develop standards that address real needs, including but not limited to enhancing public safety and health.
Recently, the CSA, the Bureau de
normalisation du Québec and the Mental Health Commission of Canada (“MHCC”)
released a national standard on psychological health and safety in the
workplace (“Standard”). The Standard is
designed to assist organizations and their employees improve psychological
health and safety. The Canadian Standards Association (“CSA”) is a non-profit organization that works in Canada and around the world to develop standards that address real needs, including but not limited to enhancing public safety and health.
There have been considerable
efforts in recent years to bring awareness to mental health issues in the
workplace: Most notably, anti-bullying
legislation found in Ontario’s
Occupational Health Safety Act pursuant to Bill 168 and similar legislative
amendments in British Columbia and Manitoba and, of course, human rights
legislation. Despite these efforts, an
employer’s legal obligations with respect to psychological health and safety
are still only partially addressed. The
new Standard provides a framework and step-by-step implementation to ensure psychologically
healthy work environments.
According to MHCC President and
CEO Louise Bradley,
"One in five Canadians experience a
mental health problem or mental illness in any given year and many of the most
at risk individuals are in their early working years. Canadians spend more
waking hours at work than anywhere else. It's time to start thinking about mental
well-being in the same way as we consider physical well-being, and the Standard
offers the framework needed to help make this happen in the workplace".
The Standard’s framework allows
organizations to develop and sustain a psychologically healthy and safe work
environment in the following manner: - The identification of psychological hazards in the
workplace;
- The assessment and control of the risks in the
workplace associated with hazards that cannot be eliminated (e.g.
stressors due to organizational change or reasonable job demands);
- The implementation of practices that support and
promote psychological health and safety in the workplace;
- The growth of a culture that promotes psychological
health and safety in the workplace;
- The implementation of measurement and review
systems to ensure sustainability.
Although there is no legal requirement to abide by this Standard, there are a number of reasons why employers should do so. First, volunteering compliance could avoid unwanted human rights complaints and occupational health and safety concerns. Second, the Standard promotes a business’s bottom line: employees who are happy and healthy at work will perform better, remain an asset to an organization and minimize employee turnover.
For more information about the
Standard contact the Carvery Law Firm.
By Sumitha Carvery BA(Honours) JD
Carvery Law Professional Corporation
829A Oxford Street | Toronto ON M8Z 0B3
(T) 416.259.3244
(M) 647.444.3244
(F) 416.255.7140