Corporate

MENTAL HEALTH " WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED MANY NEW SAFETY MEASURES AND INVOLVED ALL OF OUR STAFF TO ACHIEVE THIS. WORKING IN A RETAIL ENVIRONMENT WE RECOGNIZE THE MANY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH COVID. NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE INCREASED MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES FROM OUR STAFF, WE HAVE HAD INCREASED VERBAL ABUSE FROM CUSTOMERS." —PROACTIVE RESPONDENT Again, mental health was identified as the top emerging concern among 70% of respondents, marking a mere 3% increase over last year's results. Only 81% said that mental harms prevention was part of their overall OHS program, just like physical health and safety—a drop of 13% from last year's response. Perhaps a small consolation is that this year, unlike last, mental health found its way to the list of top five business challenges and was ranked number three overall. Almost all of the respondents in the Managing (83%), Leading (89%) and Proactive (93%) said they are concerned about the level of stress and workplace mental health and wellness issues among employees. However, only 60% of Reactive and 59% of Start of the Journey respondents felt the same way. Dr. Bill Howatt, mental health expert and founder of Howatt HR Consulting, has been supporting WSPS in providing mental health support to Ontario workplaces, including collaborating on the development of Moving to Action: Implementing the Workplace Safety and Prevention Services Mental Harm Prevention Road Map, 3 a framework for guiding organizations interested in reducing mental harm and promoting mental health. He suggests that if respondents do not see a jump in disability claims related to mental illness, they may not consider it an issue. Another possible contributor to the moderate increase in numbers related to mental health may be that attention was diverted away to deal with physical safety issues and protocols related to the pandemic. However, the pandemic has intensified the need to protect mental health and prevent mental harms. Dr. Howatt says that, perhaps, what is most important from these results are the questions that these numbers prompt. If mental health isn't seen as important in some workplaces, why is that? Are these employers having the right conversations in their workplaces to understand the extent of the issue? Do they have plans in place? Are they working? It is noteworthy that respondents in the Proactive, Managing, Reactive and Start of Journey categories identified stress as a primary concern. Particularly among those in the Start of Journey (71%) and Reactive categories (68%)—an 18% jump for Start of the Journey respondents. CANADIANS will personally experience a problem or illness in any given year WSPS.CA | 2021 HEALTH & SAFETY LEADERSHIP SURVEY WHITE PAPER 17

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