At OHC, we believe workers are dignified individuals showing up to work each day as whole human beings who have unique physical, emotional, and mental health needs. The field of occupational health and safety has gradually come to recognize how day-to-day workplace stressors – whether physical, psychological, or social in nature – put workers at increased risk for both physical and psychological harm.
Did you know?
- Every year approximately 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental illness[i]
- On average, the typical employed Canadian will spend 60% of their waking hours on-the-job[ii]
- During any given week, as many as 500,000 Canadians call in sick due to a mental health problem, representing nearly 3% of the Canadian working population[iii]
The quality of the workplace environment has a tremendous impact on all aspects of workers’ health and well-being. Research over the past 20 years has shown that certain workplace factors have a direct bearing on mental health. The Mental Health Commission of Canada highlights thirteen such factors, which if left unchecked risk becoming true workplace hazards. For example, not valuing direct input from workers or not clarifying expectations about how they can succeed in their roles, often increases anxiety, and stress potentially leading to burnout. Experiencing a lack of joy, meaning and purpose at work grinds a person down. These chronic negative feelings degrade trust increasing the likelihood of interpersonal conflict and low morale leading to increased rates of absenteeism and high turnover. Poor psychological health and safety also increases the likelihood of physical injuries undermining the success of the entire workplace safety program.
OHC is a provincial leader in providing cutting-edge health promotion and education on workplace psychological health and safety. All stakeholders – employers, workers, joint health and safety committees, and supervisors – have a shared responsibility to learn more about how personal mental health and workplace factors impact everyone’s health and safety. OHC offers public presentations, customized workshops, and other kinds of hands-on support to workers and employers wanting to prevent illness and injury.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can assist you and your team to better understand the root causes of poor psychological health and safety and how to get started, please contact us.
[i] Centre for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH)