Taking Action: A Proactive Guide to Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace

Transcription

1 Taking Action: A Proactive Guide to Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace BC HRMA May 2, 2013 Merv Gilbert, PhD Dan Bilsker, PhD Psychological Health Consultants

2 Objectives Increased awareness of the legal, financial and ethical case for addressing psychological health and safety Increased knowledge of a logical framework for creation of a psychological health and safety strategy within any organization Increased understanding of practical, effective actions that can be taken to improve employee psychological health and safety

3 HR: communicating the change Union Employees HR Executive Team Managers Occ Health

4 Employers have questions about PH&S What is PH&S? Is it important? Where do we start? Is it affordable? If we want employers to act, we must make it easier And did we mention we re busy?

5 What is PH&S?

6 OH&S movement triggered improvement in physical domain PH&S aims to trigger action in psychological domain Occupational Health & Safety Physical H&S Psychological H&S

7 No other technique for the conduct of life attaches the individual so firmly to reality as laying emphasis on work; for his work at least gives him a secure place in a portion of reality, in the human community.

8 Why is PH&S important?

9 Productivity Presenteeism Absenteeism Disability 9

10 Regulation Provincial/Federal legislation (e.g. Bill 168 in Ontario, Bill 14 in BC) Court Rulings (e.g. Duty to accommodate) National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. 10

11 Safety An organization is responsible for preventing injuries, whether physical or psychological 11

12 The choice: Do nothing: Outcome is increased costs, decreased productivity/morale, loss of skilled workforce Act: Outcome is decreased costs, increased productivity/morale, recruitment/retention of skilled workers

13 What actions are available effective, and affordable?

14 SEARCH: CARMHA Action Guide

15 Free Evidence-Based Accessible Supports Implementation SEARCH: CARMHA Action Guide

16 24 employer actions to protect PH&S Evidence-consistent Practical Stand-alone Includes stories, resources, references and topics of special interest (e.g. PH&S for small business)

17 For Each Action What Why How

18 Obtain endorsement from organizational leaders Support from senior organizational leaders underlines the importance of psychological health Might take the form of a statement expressing the priority of PH&S or a comprehensive strategy for organizational change

19 Survey employees Your employees know a lot about PH&S risks and protective factors in your organization. Guarding Minds@Work examines 13 psychosocial risk factors: free & easyto-use

20 Build Psychological Safety Skills PS Training gives resiliency skills to cope with the challenges of everyday life -- whether work or personal. Training is given through workshops that teach skills for managing negative emotions and stress, solving difficult problems and working well with colleagues.

21 Ensure access to psychological treatment Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, CBT, is effective in treating common depression/anxiety and fostering work return Canadian health system basically does not provide CBT. Consider coverage of CBT psychologists via Extended Health

22 Provide self-care tools Individuals with psychological distress are more able to cope with their problems if they get training in psychological safety skills Tools include workbooks & websites that teach skills for managing psychological difficulties and preventing harm Search: Antidepressant Skills at Work

23 Provide coordinated disability management Coordinating among employees, care providers, HR, managers & insurance companies is critical to effective and timely RTW Assign RTW coordinator to facilitate conversation among the key players. In smaller organizations, this would be a part-time consultant.

24 Plan your evaluation The action team should identify purposes of the evaluation before initiating the action plan. This way, your team will have a useful answer when asked, Did it work? Make a list of short-term and long-term outcomes Identify evaluation methods that will help you demonstrate change

25 Where do we start?

26

27 (someday will be) Free Evidence-Based MORPH Accessible Implementation Tool Talk to us!

28 PH&S: Strategic Planning Aim: to help employers determine which PH&S actions are acceptable and feasible. Potential Actions are selected by leaders Actions are rated online by the workforce according to key dimensions of readiness Incorporates quantitative scores (measuring relative readiness for various actions) and qualitative information from comments and focus groups (why one action would be embraced and another resisted).

29 Let s say Company X had these results:

30 What are key insights derived from this session and how can you implement them in your workplace?

31 Thank you Merv Gilbert: Dan Bilsker: SEARCH: CARMHA Action Guide