23/10/2022
October is Healthy Workplace Month across Canada – an initiative that encourages employers to promote healthy workplace practices throughout the year. A healthy workplace is one that cares about the physical and psychological health and safety of its employees and establishes systems and programs to achieve and maintain exemplary health.
Here are some effective actions to prevent mental health risks at work, protect and promote mental health at work, and support workers with mental health conditions.
* Prevent work-related mental health conditions: WHO recommends employers implement organizational interventions that help prevent work-related mental health conditions in the first place. This may include providing flexible working arrangements or implementing frameworks to deal with violence and harassment at work.
* Protect and promote mental health at work: Protecting and promoting mental health at work is about strengthening capacities to recognize and act on mental health conditions at work, particularly for persons responsible for the supervision of others. WHO recommends manager training for mental health, training for workers and interventions for individuals.
* Support people with mental health conditions to participate in and thrive at work: People living with mental health conditions have a right to participate in work fully and fairly. WHO recommends interventions to support people with mental health conditions gain, sustain, and participate in work, including reasonable accommodations, return-to-work programs and supported employment initiatives.
Create an enabling environment for change: Both governments and employers, in consultation with key stakeholders, can help improve mental health at work by creating an enabling environment for change. In practice, this means strengthening leadership and commitment to mental health at work, an investment in funds and resources for improving mental health at work, as well as other factors.
For local CMHA Saskatoon Workplace Mental Health training: cmhasaskatoon.ca/education/workplace-wellness
