PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH & SAFETY

Psychological Health & Safety Workshops or Webinars

Are you wanting to learn more about Psychological Health & Safety?  Akashic Communications offers training in the following topics in workshop or webinar formats:

  • Demystifying Psychological Health & Safety: An Overview
  • Psychological Health & Safety Policy Landscape: Implementation and Integration
  • Integrating Psychological Health & Safety into ESG Frameworks and Sustainability Reporting
  • Psychosocial Hazard Identification: Getting Started
  • ISO 45003 – Preparing for Certification: Gap Analysis and Readiness Assessment

 

Reach out today to book your custom workshop or webinar experience!

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Why is a Workplace Wellness Strategy Important?

In addition to an intrinsic leadership desire to fully support employee mental health alongside physical health and safety,  contemporary organizations recognize the importance of developing a workplace wellness strategy and view these initiatives as best practice.

Several international performance standards have integrated psychological health and psychosocial hazard identification and risk assessment into certification criteria, sustainability reporting guidance, and membership principles. Businesses are thus expanding their definition of a healthy workplace to include mental health, and are seeking alignment with new standards and customized solutions to address the unique well-being needs of their workforce and to drive enhanced OHS performance.

Awareness about the importance of mental health and emotional well-being was greatly accelerated by the COVID pandemic, during and after which. employees, contractors, and consultants alike increasingly universally felt and expressed:

  • Higher or enduring levels of daily stress, overload, or burnout
  • Difficulty with focus, concentration, and motivation
  • Increased challenges with work-life balance

Benefits

Workplaces with a pro-acive and positive approach to psychological health and safety (PHS) are better able to:*

  • Recruit and retain top talent
  • Reduce risk of conflict and grievances
  • Increase cost effectiveness through lower injury and disability rates, decreased burnout, less turnover, and lower absenteeism
  • Enhance productivity and organizational excellence through increased morale, engagement, and performance
  • Support creativity and innovation

 

* Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace – Prevention, Promotion, and Guidance to Staged Implementation, Canadian National Standard (2013).

Employee Assistance Programs

Many companies have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), however a surprising amount still do not. Whether front line operational personnel, mid-management, or executive level staff, today’s employees are seeking accessible resources and multiple options to meet a fuller range of their wellness needs, including individual and specialized support. Touchstone® – an 8-week, solution-focused, individual coaching wellness program focused on a blend of mental health and professional goals– was designed specifically by Akashic Communications to augment or partially fulfill a potential mental health resource gap.

Next Steps

Reach out today – ask Michelle to help design your workplace wellness strategy, or how to start incorporating Psychological Health & Safety into your work culture and workplace.

Align with International & Sector Standards

ISO 45003:2021 – OHS Management: Psychological Health and Safety at Work (Appendix /Guidance for ISO
45001:2018). Both the original certification standard and new guidance advocate for assessment, consideration, and treatment of psychosocial risk and hazards within an organization’s OHS Management System.

GRI 403-6: Promotion of Worker Health.  One of the many disclosures designed to meaningfully show your organization assesses mental health related risks and supports psychosocial worker health in sustainability reporting.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Expand and improve your organization’s progress towards SDG targets, including Good Health and Well-Being, Quality Education, and Gender Equality.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have called for concrete action to address mental health concerns in the working population in a new joint policy brief Mental Health at Work.

MAC’s Safe, Health & Respectful Workplaces Protocol was amended to include psychological health & safety in 2023 with external reporting required by members by 2026.

International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM) Principle 5 – Health & Safety. Demonstrate commitment to continual improvement in physical and psychological health at work.