This is the fourth blog in a series written by Mary Ann Baynton, Director of Collaboration and Strategy for Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
What did the public have to say?
After about 7 months of the Technical Committee working on the standard, it was time to ask the public what they thought. We couldn’t predict how much the public would engage. Workplace psychological health and safety was still a new concept, barely even buzz words at that point.
Over 800 comments were received within the 60-day review period. This far exceeded our expectations. With the public’s feedback, the standard we had drafted became even better. It explained things more clearly and improved guidance.
After integrating the public feedback, the draft standard was passed unanimously by the Technical Committee in September 2012 as ready to be launched.
Hold the champagne!
Just as the standard was set to launch, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) was approached by some legal and business representatives. They feared the new standard would greatly increase employer legal liability. With the brilliant minds in the room, they found a relatively easy fix that didn’t end our dream. A subtitle was added: Prevention, promotion, and guidance to staged implementation. This made it clear that it wasn’t mandatory for an organization to comply with every clause in the standard all at once.
Finally, it’s launched!
CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013 National Standard of Canada Psychological health and safety in the workplace — Prevention, promotion, and guidance to staged implementation was officially launched on January 16, 2013.
Whew!
Since its launch, there have been over 85,000 downloads. Thousands, of workplaces are now embedding psychological health and safety into their organizations. And not just in Canada. Our dreams did go international.
Countries around the world are looking to Canada to support their own efforts in this area.
We were so proud of being the first to have a national standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace, we decided to write a book about it. The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada – Toward a standard for psychological health and safety (2017), shares the journey from the days when the focus was on employees with mental illness, toward the broader view of protecting mental health as a key component of occupational health and safety for everyone.
The Honourable Michael Kirby wrote in the foreword of the Evolution book that the launch of the standard was, “A shining example of what can be accomplished when people come together for a common and important cause.”
The late Honourable Michael Wilson added, “We have come a long way, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Too many people are losing their careers due to mental illness. More accurately, it's due to workplaces that fail to support them.”
Being part of this momentous shift forward in psychological health and safety at work has been a milestone in my career. I credit my contribution to employees with mental illness. They taught me that when we see something that needs to change, we must find the courage to do something about it.
I’m grateful to have had that opportunity. Watch for next month’s blog where I talk about a life-altering experience that affected every employee in Canada and around the world. Explore the History of psychological health and safety and read all of the blogs in this series.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Canada Life or Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.
Additional resources
- CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013 National Standard of Canada Psychological health and safety in the workplace — Prevention, promotion, and guidance to staged implementation. Download your own free copy of Canada’s national standard.
- The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada – Toward a standard for psychological health and safety (2017). This book, published in 2017, takes a deeper dive into the development of the first edition of the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.