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Board of
Canadian
Registered
Safety
Professionals
A NEW STANDARD
Shain is a member of the Technical
Committee that advised the Canadian
Standards Association on the creation of
a new Canadian Standard for Psychological
Health and Safety in the Workplace,
introduced in January 2013.
“The Standard emerges from the recthe
same way that they are expected to
prevent risks to physical health and safety.
It calls for “a systematic approach in assessing
and addressing risks to mental health
that arise from the ways that people are
organized and managed,” said Shain, and
HR professionals “need to be instrumental
in creating policies that are consistent
with it.”
An organization that performs according
to the Standard will, as it states, “maintain
procedures to monitor, measure and
record” conditions affecting psychological
health and safety, take “preventive and corrective
action procedures to address risks”
and engage in “management review and
continual improvement.”
SIGNS TO WATCH FOR
The signs of stress manifest themselves in
many ways.
“Mood Disorders Society of Canada
has identified some physical signs and
symptoms, such as muscle tension, stomach
and digestive problems and restless
sleeps,” said Lee. “Some emotional signs
include depression, irritability and mood
swings, and social indicators can include
things like intolerance of others or social
withdrawal.”
The effects depend on the individual,
according to Shain. Different people exhibit
different symptoms of suffering from
stress.
“It can be unusual behaviour: uncharacteristic
aggression, sudden withdrawal,
appearance of depression,” he explained.
“It can take the form of agitation, interpersonal
conflict or not recognizing where
other people are coming from.”
There are also specific work-related cues
to be on the lookout for.
“I would look for missed deadlines or
unacceptable reports,” said Earle, in terms
of employee performance. “Turnover, internal
and external client dissatisfaction,
the drug benefit plan – specifically, antidepressants
on the uptick. Employment
standards, human rights and harassment
complaints, absences on Monday – they
suggest drugs or alcohol.”
And workplaces can do more to make
sure their employees are not dealing with
overbearing amounts of stress on a consistent
basis.
“As we have said in our Mental Health
Photo by Kemal Bas/Photos.com
ognition that mental harm in the workplace
is a largely unmanaged risk that we
can and should be doing something about,
and it’s based on a lot of scientific and legal
evidence that says this is harmful and also
preventable,” he said.
The Standard will oblige employers to
take more responsibility for protecting the
mental health of their employees in much
Photo by Pixland / Photos.com
34 ❚ JANUARY 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL