One More Reason to be a Proud Canadian: Our Psychological Health and Safety Standard

If there aren’t already enough of them, here’s one more reason to be a proud Canadian…

Canada is a world leader in prioritizing the psychological safety of workers.  We were pretty sure that the development and implementation of the first ever National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (The Standard) in 2013 would change Canadian workplaces for the better.  And now we know this is true, with certainty.

Stats are Improving

A 2016 Ipsos poll of 5000 Canadian workers confirmed that workplaces are improving. More Canadian workers are knowledgeable about mental health conditions now, than ever before, less are concerned about the psychological safety of their workplace, and fewer describe serious or significant psychological concerns of their work environment. The survey confirms that workplaces who implemented The Standard did better than those workplaces who didn’t.

Implementing The Standard

Knowing that The Standard can improve the human experience at work is compelling enough; however, the study also provided a remarkable and game-changing finding: in workplaces who adopted The Standard, employees with depression averaged almost 5 days/year fewer sick days. That adds up to significant savings.

This survey demonstrates that implementing The Standard can improve your employees’ feelings of psychological safety, and save you money on absenteeism.  If you are interested to implement The Standard, and were waiting for some ROI information, consider bringing this article to your workplace leaders.  Marcel VanderWier says it beautifully!

Diana Vissers is the Founder and Director of Corporate Services at Work to Wellness Rehabilitation Inc. – a Canadian company providing expert disability management services to Canadian customers. She is in the business of making your place of business healthy, safe and productive. Follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for the latest news and updates on health, wellness and integrated disability management.

Discover why you should develop a mental health policy for your workplace or learn more about how to use the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety.