What is psychological health and safety (PH&S)?

An introduction to the psychosocial work environment factors that contribute to enhanced PH&S

Occupational health and safety best practices have expanded over recent years to include a broader focus on psychological health and safety (PH&S), or, practices as they pertain to enhanced workplace mental health. Psychological health and safety (PH&S) is embedded in the way people interact with one another on a daily basis. It’s part of the way working conditions and management practices are structured within the workplace.

Psychological health comprises our ability to think, feel and behave in a manner that enables us to perform effectively in our work environments, our personal lives and in society at large. Psychological health problems occur on a spectrum, from common psychological difficulties such as fatigue, to serious mental illnesses.

Psychological safety is different. It deals with the risk of injury to psychological well-being. Improving psychological safety in a work setting involves taking precautions to avert injury or danger to employee psychological health that is within the influence and responsibility of an employer.

The vision for a psychologically healthy and safe workplace is “one that actively works to prevent harm to the psychological health of workers in negligent, reckless, or intentional ways, and promotes psychological well-being.” (CSA Z1003)

Why is psychological health & safety important?

There are many reasons employers should assess and address the psychological health and safety of their workplace:

• Current and emerging legal and regulatory mandates articulate employer responsibilities in this area.
• Compelling financial incentives exist for employers to reduce costs and improve the bottom line.
• Scientific and practical evidence exists that demonstrates the impact psychosocial factors have on employee well-being.

Does work cause psychological health problems?

With the exception of psychological trauma related to an extremely stressful event such as being robbed or assaulted on the job, it may be difficult to draw a conclusive link between a person’s work situation and their development of a mental disorder.

However, we do know that while our psychological health can impact our ability to perform at work, work can also contribute to psychological health problems in the following ways:

• Workplace factors may increase the likelihood of a mental disorder, make an existing disorder worse, or impede effective treatment and rehabilitation.
• Workplace factors may contribute directly to psychological distress such as demoralization, depressed mood, anxiety or burnout. Psychological distress may not reach the level of a diagnosable mental disorder, and yet be a source of considerable suffering for the employee, productivity loss for the employer, and legal consequences if work conditions are judged to have contributed to an employee’s suffering and disability.
• A supportive work environment may help reduce the onset, severity, impact and duration of a mental health disorder.
• Organizations that make the effort to identify psychosocial risks and to create a psychologically healthy workplace see benefits in productivity, sustainability and growth.

The Standard

The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ9700-803/2013) (the Standard) – the first of its kind in the world – is a set of voluntary guidelines, tools and resources intended to guide organizations in promoting mental health, and preventing psychological harm at work.

The Standard provides a comprehensive framework to help organizations of all types guide their current and future efforts in a way that provides the best return on investment.

The Standard advises organizations to assess and address the psychosocial factors – adapted from the framework developed in Guarding Minds at Work: A Workplace Guide to Psychological Health & Safety – known to impact workplace psychological health and safety and to reflect on the factors that organizations have strength in, and work towards improvements on those indicating areas of risk.

The psychosocial factors are from CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013 – Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. For more information, see also Guarding Minds at Work (Samra et al.).