Performing hazard
assessments is a core component of your health and safety program. Your program
should already include hazard assessments around harassment and violence.
Workplace Safety and Health legislation requires workplaces to have policies
and practices in place to address the psychological hazards associated
with
harassment and
violence.
Other psychological hazards should be considered, including
the
National
Standard for Psychological Health & Safety’s 13 factors. Individually
(or in combination), each of these factors can contribute to either the
promotion or detriment of psychological health and safety.
Learn
about the 13 Factors that may cause psychological harm in the
workplace and why they are important.
Ensure you 'Spot the Hazards' by including psychological
hazards into your existing safety and health system framework, and incorporate
other methods, such as:
- Use
your existing tools for spotting hazards to also look for psychological
hazards. Some examples include: job hazard
analysis forms, inspections,
worker concerns and reviewing internal stats
- Conduct
surveys: use existing surveys like engagement surveys, or use surveys
developed by Workplace
Strategies for Mental Health.
- Conduct
focus groups: A good place to start is to have a discussion with
your joint workplace safety and health committee to provide a temperate
check on the current workplace climate. More formal focus groups can be
developed and include all areas of the workplace.
FIND SAFER WAYS
Addressing the
13 Factors can help prevent
psychological injury and help promote positive mental health in the
workplace:
- Organizational
culture - Build trust by ensuring avenues for conflict resolution
and having respectful workplace policies. Have opportunities for
meaningful employee participation.
- Psychological
and social support - Provide an EAP program, create peer support
groups, ensure leaders are trained and know how to respond to someone who
needs psychological support, offer team building activities, provide
resiliency and mental health awareness training, and train staff in mental health first aid.
- Clear
leadership and expectations - Ensuring the right people are in
the right role will provide clear expectations. Ensure roles and
responsibilities are clearly assigned. Include responsibilities in job
descriptions and performance reviews. Include emotional intelligence in
professional development for leaders.
- Civility
and respect - Build a respectful workplace policy, which demands
civility and respect in interactions with each other, customers, clients
and the public.
- Psychological
job demands - Include psychological demands in job descriptions.
Examples include ability to work in isolation, ability to work with little
direction, ability to manage conflict.
- Growth
and development - Provide internal and external opportunities for
workers to build their competencies. Identify skill advancement
paths, learning opportunities and mentorship programs.
- Recognition
and reward - Build recognition into performance reviews.
Acknowledge achievements such as years of service, project completion and
good work through celebrations, formal recognition, compensation and
personal expressions of appreciation.
- Involvement
and influence - Create mechanisms for continual feedback. Educate
and support leaders to have discussions with workers about work processes
and how they can be improved.
- Workload
management - Provide education about resilience, time management
and preventing burnout. Provide the Tools, resources, equipment, support
and time to complete work assigned. Take concerns regarding workload
serious and take actions to address.
- Engagement -
conduct surveys and/or focus groups - survey to establish a baseline. Ask
for worker feedback, relay results of surveys, host team meetings on a
regular basis. Provide space for workers to gather. Ask for workers ideas
on social activities
- Work/life
balance - Ask leaders to model balance. Consider flexible work
arrangements, work from home, reduced work weeks/hours, and opportunities
to make up time. Build health and wellness activities into work routines.
- Psychological
protection - Have your staff trained on mental health awareness
to address harmful stereotypes and stigma. Protect you workers from
violence and harassment in the workplace. Ensure that supervisors are
trained.
- Protection
of physical safety - Have a safety and health program that ensure
workers are protected from hazards. Communicate to employees that safety
is a priority. Consider becoming certified through one of the SAFE Work
Certified programs.
Learn
more about addressing the 13 Factors.
Return to list of 11 elements of a safety and health program.
