Learn More and FAQs

WorkSafeNB has partnered with WorkSafe Saskatchewan and Dr. Joti Samra to develop a suite of free resources to help employers, leaders and workers enhance psychological health and safety in their workplaces.

MyWorkplaceHealth
Dr. Joti Samra, R.Psych.,
CEO & Founder

Email: [email protected]
Join our LinkedIn group for WCB employers.

Frequently Asked Questions

WorkSafe Saskatchewan developed content of this site in partnership with Dr. Joti Samra and MyWorkplaceHealth to provide free resources for employers and workers on psychological health and safety (PH&S). As you navigate through the site, you will find a range of resources including definitions, FAQs, best practices, infographics, action plan templates and videos. The core resources are organized around the CSA National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety, psychologically safe leadership and employee resilience.

Fortunately, creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace does not require a large budget. Many free public resources exist, including this resource centre, which has been created to support small, midsize and large employers through their PH&S journey. The PH&S Resource Centre comes complete with many free resources, programs, training and areas to connect with other organizations addressing PH&S.

The resource centre comes equipped with sections for both leaders and workers. Each page will contain information relevant to one’s position and will help one understand what is required of them to assist in workplace PH&S.

No. Just like any health and safety initiative, PH&S is an ongoing effort. You assess your workplace, take action to fill gaps, review what worked (and what didn’t) and then make improvements. Start by learning all the elements of psychological health and safety and noting where your organization already excels and where it can grow. Work towards ensuring those stay strong and focus on improving the areas posing the highest risk to your people.

Learn more about Dr. Samra and MyWorkplaceHealth

Dr. Joti Samra, R.Psych. is a national thought leader on issues relating to psychological health, wellness and resilience. She is the CEO and Founder of MyWorkplaceHealth, a full-suite national workplace consulting firm and Dr. Joti Samra, R.Psych & Associates, an in-office and online (virtual) clinical counselling practice with offices located throughout British Columbia.

Dr. Samra is a highly regarded expert in psychological health and safety (PH&S). Over the past two decades, she has been involved in numerous national initiatives that have contributed to policy change in Canada, and is a Founding and Ongoing Member of the CSA Technical Committee that developed the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace. This Standard is the first of its kind in the world and is shaping policy development for workplace PH&S at the international Organization for Standardization (ISO) level.

Dr. Samra is the lead research scientist who created Guarding Minds at Work: A Workplace Guide to Psychological Health & Safety, in which the psychosocial factor frame adopted by the Standard was developed. She is also the developer of the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment, an assessment and action planning resource that aligns leaders’ skills with the requirements of the Standard. Dr. Samra and her team have extensive expertise in helping organizations implement initiatives related to workplace PH&S including implementation of the CSA Standard; providing leadership development, training and coaching services across a broad range of areas, including emotional intelligence, psychologically safe leadership and mental health awareness; and, providing a breadth of services to enhance employee psychological health, wellness and resilience.

Dr. Samra has received a number of awards and accolades for her clinical and research work. She is proud to be the recipient of the Canadian Psychological Association’s New Researcher Award and the British Columbia Psychological Association’s Advancement of the Profession of Psychology Award. She is also the former President of the BC Psychological Association and past Chair of the BC Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards Committee.

Community of Practice

If you’re interested in joining a Community of Practice on Psychological Health and Safety (PH&S), please contact us at MyWorkplaceHealth.

Objectives:

  • Provide a network of like-minded firms interested in building and improving their psychological health and safety systems.
  • Facilitate information and knowledge sharing as it relates to the development and implementation of psychological health and safety systems.
  • Provide professional guidance and support in meeting Community of Practice (COP) requirements and working through implementation challenges.
  • Develop a COP model with defined milestones that can be replicated in the future.

The CSA/BNQ National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

What is the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace?

The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace – the first of its kind in the world – is a voluntary set of best practice guidelines that specify requirements for a systematic approach to develop and sustain a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. A psychologically healthy and safe workplace has been defined in the National Standard as “a workplace that promotes workers’ psychological well-being and actively works to prevent harm to worker psychological health, including in negligent, reckless or intentional ways.” The Standard recommends that organizations look to implement a Psychological Health and Safety Management System (PHSMS) for assessing how policies, processes and interactions in the workplace might impact the psychological health and safety (PH&S) of workers. It should be noted that implementation of a PHSMS is not about diagnosing the mental health struggles of workers.

Implementing the framework and approaches in the Standard can help organizations with:

  • worker productivity
  • increased worker happiness and engagement
  • reduced incidents and injuries – both physically and psychologically
  • reduced claims
  • increased customer satisfaction
  • reduced absenteeism and presenteeism
  • recruitment and retention
  • workplace and worker resilience
  • increased profits