health & safety
“IT REALLY IS ABOUT TAKING ONE STEP AT A TIME. THE REALITY IN MOST
ORGANIZATIONS IS THAT THERE ARE ALWAYS A LOT OF PROGRAMS ON THE GO.”
– JENNIFER LOMBARDO-SEIB, CORPORATE WELLNESS SPECIALIST, REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF YORK
“Right now a lot of the groundwork is being
done in HR, but there’s also a level of
change involved that made it important to
have other employees including the unions
on board,” she said.
Lombardo-Seib says engaging unions
alongside highly visible senior leadership
support is making implementation more
manageable across York Region. A wellness
website features the CAO’s commitment
to psychological health and wellbeing, as
well as a broad range of resources that are
available through the region’s new Mindful
Health Initiative.
For those worried about time and resources,
Lombardo-Seib advises using the
Standard, which provides a framework with
excellent free resources to help organizations
get started.
“It really is about taking one step at a
time,” she says. “The reality in most organizations
is that there are always a lot of
programs on the go, and many could be
interwoven with others, including those related
to health, safety and wellness or other
HR programs.”
Carol Sinclair, director of HR and labour
relations at the Royal Ottawa Health Care
Group, says that she and her organization’s
psychological health and safety tactics team
are excited by the opportunity to advance
organization practice of a critical mental
health initiative in the workplace.
“We have two years of data from our engagement
surveys which provided some
good information to start with,” she said.
Sinclair offers advice for organizations
with “resource-constrained environments”
that are looking to adopt the Standard:
“Share the data that you’re able to pull together.
For our organization, this includes
data on safety and labour fronts, from absenteeism
rates, benefits utilization data
and long-term disability claims to employee
assistance program statistics and extended
healthcare claims. We’re gathering this
quantitative data along with qualitative data
from employee engagement surveys and
cross referencing it all against the 13 psychosocial
factors that are known to impact
psychological health at work.”
The surveys are available at no cost from
www.guardingmindsatwork.ca. Psycho-
social factors are elements that impact
employees’ psychological responses to
work and work conditions, potentially
causing psychological health problems.
They include factors such as psychological
support, organizational culture, civility and
respect, clear leadership and expectations
and work/life balance.
In reviewing the data, Sinclair says, “a
clear picture is emerging” to help guide their
planning activities.
Jeanette Dietl / Shutterstock
38 ❚ FEBRUARY 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL