The following section describes the work of system partners, such as the health and safety associations (HSAs) and the WSIB, in the mitigation/prevention of psychological injuries and the elimination/mitigation of psychological hazards in the workplace.

In alignment with Prevention Works areas of systems focus, the WSIB and the HSAs have introduced initiatives focused on addressing work-related mental health and workplace violence and harassment. The HSAs and the WSIB also worked with employers to:

  • raise awareness, reduce stigma and educate workplace parties about the importance of psychologically safe and healthy workplaces
  • provide strategies to achieve improved worker mental health and well-being

Please note that the KPI for work-related mental health and workplace violence and harassment is in development and will be included in future reports.

Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) Mental Health Spotlight

The hired a full-time Mental Health and Wellness Specialist in May 2022. Their work included launching a on IHSA’s website, four toolkits, eight podcast episodes, five webinars, 11 safety talks, and a facilitator’s guide to help firms start the conversation about mental health issues. IHSA also engaged in extensive advocacy and engagement with stakeholders, delivering 24 presentations to labour/management committees and industry stakeholders. These presentations aimed at raising awareness of the need for °ÄÃÅÓÀÀû employers to implement controls to support mental health and reduce psychological hazards within workplaces. In response, there were:

  • 4,327 downloads of the
  • 2,946 downloads of the

Workplace Psychological Health and Safety: a guide to support worker well-being

Workers in the broader public sector, including health and community care, education, and public safety, are particularly at risk for work-related mental stress injuries. This is due to the high prevalence of direct and indirect exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events. In support of worker well-being in public sector workplaces, the developed a , associated program guide and program checklist. This unique program starts with the workplace as a whole, focusing on primary prevention at the organizational level, instead of focusing only on supports for worker mental health — which would largely be considered second or third-level prevention strategies.

Workplace mental health resources and training

The is working to help workplace parties more easily find and access work-related mental health and workplace violence resources and training. To date, the Centre has:

  • created a multi-channel digital media campaign linked to a new and optimized
  • added a wider schedule of training in both in-person and virtual classrooms
  • provided several publications exploring interrelated issues and the need for quality mental health and workplace violence prevention training — these included hazard bulletins on domestic violence, work stress, working alone and workplace harassment

Mental Harm Prevention Roadmap Microsite

The was launched on September 6, 2022. This online evidence-based framework was developed by . The Roadmap contains building blocks to help organizations roll out a psychological health and safety strategy aligned with the . Results included:

  • 1,965 users have visited the site since its launch
  • 341 users created an account in 2022-2023
  • 6,427 pages were accessed across the site

Psychological Health and Safety Project

continued to implement a three-year initiative (2021-2024). Its goal is to leverage evidence-based approaches through research partnerships to develop and rollout awareness, training and consulting programs focused on skill development, tools and interventions. This work is to address issues of psychological health and safety, including mental health in the workplace. A few achievements of the initiative so far include:

  • 102 materials have been developed.
  • 1,781 materials were distributed.
  • 9 educational events were held with 846 attendees.
  • More than 200 training sessions were delivered to over 2,900 participants.

Please see Appendix C for additional work-related mental health and workplace violence and harassment initiatives delivered in 2022-2023.