Tools to Assess and Address Psychological Health and Safety in Canadian Workplaces
Hamilton – The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), in partnership with the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, is helping workplaces in Canada take action on psychological health and safety with the newly redesigned online toolkit, Guarding Minds at Work.
Guarding Minds at Work is designed to assess and address psychological health and safety in the workplace and is available to all employers – large or small, in the public or private sector – at no cost. The tool provides employers with an eight-step process to conduct a thorough audit of their organization’s mental health, using worksheets, surveys, and reports that evaluate psychosocial risk factors in their workplace.
In an effort to help affect positive change in as many Canadian workplaces as possible, Guarding Minds at Work remains free to use, is available in English and French, and provides a baseline from which to compare organizations with a 2016 nationally representative sample of industries.
The tool offers human resource professionals, managers, supervisors, union representatives, and small or mid-sized business owners a practical resource to focus on psychological health and safety in their workplace, undertake appropriate interventions, and measure the effectiveness of their actions. Guarding Minds at Work can also be used to help organizations as they implement the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.
Guarding Minds at Work can be accessed at www.guardingmindsatwork.ca.
“Guarding Minds at Work was one of the inspirations for the development of the Standard. It seems fitting that as the Standard celebrates its fifth year anniversary; Guarding Minds at Work is evolving to meet increasing demand.”
– Mary Ann Baynton, Program Director for the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace
“We know that employers and employees alike benefit from a mentally healthy workplace. But for many, the efforts required to address psychological hazards can be daunting. Our goal is to help organizations meet these challenges by offering credible tools and resources that they can use to create safer, healthier workplaces in Canada. Guarding Minds at Work is one such resource.”
– Gareth Jones, Vice President, Operations at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
