This Standard – which is the first of its kind in the world, and is now informing the developing of an international ISO Standard – comprises a set of voluntary guidelines, tools, and resources focused on promoting employees’ psychological health, and preventing psychological harm due to workplace factors. In her webinar, Dr. Samra whose research over the last decade has significantly contributed to the evolution and development of the Standard – will address the legal, business and health cases for why all workplaces need to dedicate efforts to creating psychologically healthy and safe work environments. She will provide practical, action-based strategies which all employers can begin to take next steps on. Dr. Samra is a Founding and Ongoing Member of the CSA Technical Committee that developed the Standard, and is the lead Research Scientist who developed the 13 psychosocial factor Assessment-Action-Evaluation frame adopted by the CSA Standard.
Take-home messages:
- The World Health Organization identifies mental health issues as the leading cause of worldwide disability.
- Every week, there are 500,000 Canadians unable to work due to mental health issues.
- Mental health conditions are projected to cost the Canadian economy $88.8 billion by 2021.
- Investing in mental health has clear benefits on the bottom line. Companies with mental health programs in place for one year had a median annual ROI of $1.62 for every dollar invested – with the ROI more than doubling for companies with programs in place for three or more years
