SFU guide promotes workplace health
Thirty per cent of B.C. employees work in an environment that is not psychologically safe and healthy, according to a new study by researchers from Simon Fraser University’s Consortium for Organizational Mental Healthcare (COMH), a national research centre in the faculty of health sciences.
The researchers - Joti Samra, Merv Gilbert, Martin Shain and Dan Bilsker – have developed Guarding Minds @ Work: A Workplace Guide to Psychological Safety & Health, a comprehensive guide to promoting psychological safety and health in the workplace. It includes user-friendly assessment tools, an online survey, a risk “report card” and ways to measure progress and outcomes.
“Everyone who worked on this project understands the realities of Canadian business, and the importance of transforming research into practical tools for a Canadian business environment,” says Samra, adjunct professor and scientist with COMH.
Case law and legislation were an important consideration, notes Shain, also an adjunct professor. “Mental health is an integral part of workplace safety and health. The duty to provide a psychologically safe workplace is emerging as an ethical and legal obligation for Canadian employers.”
The project, which involved national and international consultation, was commissioned by the Great West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace and funded by Great-West Life.
“Mental health issues pose a direct impact to the bottom line of Canadian businesses,” says Mike Schwartz, executive director of the centre and a senior vice-president at Great-West Life. “But there were very few resources for employers to assess the psychological safety and health of their own workplaces.”
(Guarding Minds @ Work is available online at no charge at http://www.guardingmindsatwork.ca/)
Public Lecture
Guarding Minds@Work
SFU Segal Graduate School of Business
500 Granville Street
Thursday, May 28, 3:30 pm-4:30 pm
Reception follows
Free, but seating is limited. Reservations: mfang@guardingmindsatwork.ca.