Corporate

# 2 IS on the list of the top five business challenges. WSPS.CA | 2022 HEALTH & SAFETY LEADERSHIP SURVEY WHITE PAPER 19 MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE When Lorraine Martin, President of the National Safety Council opened Valuing the Whole Person: A Virtual Summit on Psychological Safety and Wellbeing in 2021, she told the leaders in the room "We can't look at traditional safety issues without looking at the other factors that affect our ability to be safe…You really can't be safe unless you feel safe. Voices save lives, and if people don't feel safe to speak up, we're going to have more injuries and deaths in our workplaces and in our lives." It seems that many leaders agree and understand this, as mental health is number two on the list of the top five business challenges, and, once again, tops the list of priorities to address immediately. This year, it made a 10 point gain over 2019 numbers, reaching 77%. It is a critical issue for all sectors, but particularly in health/education (71% ) and retail (60%). Most respondents agree that employee mental health influences productivity (81%) and attraction and retention (76%). However, only 76% of respondents indicate that mental harm prevention is part of their OHS program. Kiran Kapoor, Vice President, Service Delivery at WSPS, says it may be a case that employers are still figuring out how to integrate mental harm prevention into their OHS programs. "You need to start somewhere. Pick what you will focus on and work through it in a way that makes sense for your business. The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace is excellent, but can be overwhelming. We developed the Roadmap to make the process simpler and more digestible for businesses of all sizes." (see sidebar Choose Your Own Adventure) WSPS Mental Health Consultant, Kristy Cork, says that stigma is a huge issue affecting many workplaces and some sectors are worse than others. "Employers know employees are struggling, and they know this is an important issue. They see the claims for long and short-term disability, but they don't know how to support employees. They are hesitant and concerned about saying or doing the wrong thing. It is important to address stigma and figure out how to have these conversations in the workplace." Not surprisingly, Cork says she has seen an uptick in demand for psychologically safe leadership training. In Being a Psychologically Safe Leader in the New World of Work, Dr. Bill Howatt explains that "a psychologically safe leader is open to differences and has developed interpersonal (e.g. emotional intelligence) and intrapersonal (e.g. communications) skills to navigate fairly and objectively the dimensions found within their team. Their day-to-day objective is to ensure all team members feel safe, valued, welcomed and included. They create a psychological space where all their employees feel safe to speak up as they know their leader will listen without judgment or ridicule." 8

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