Psychological health and safety basics

What is psychological health and safety?

Psychological health and safety (PHS) refers to the protection of the health, safety and well-being of all workers in an organization. The aim is to prevent incidents, injuries and illnesses by identifying and controlling psychosocial hazards. 

Psychological health and safety (an employers' responsibility to protect employees' mental health) is different than Dr. Amy Edmondson's concept of psychological safety (creating a safe place for employees to speak up). While both are important, just making it okay for people to speak up at work isn't enough to address psychological health and safety. How tasks are assigned, how feedback is given, how team members work together, and dealing with heavy workloads and workplace stress all still pose risks, even if everyone feels comfortable speaking up. 

Psychological health and safety helps ensure employees can work safely, respectfully, and productively. It is found in a workplace where people:

• Can speak up and make mistakes without fear
• Are treated with respect and fairness
• Know what’s expected of them
• Receive support during challenges
• Experience a fair balance between effort and reward

Psychologically healthy and safe workplaces drive performance, productivity, recruitment, retention, and operational success while reducing costs from disability claims, turnover, absenteeism, and conflict.

What are psychosocial factors and hazards?

A psychosocial factor is a work condition that can have either a positive or negative effect on employee psychological health and safety.

Psychosocial hazards are elements of the work environment that have the potential to cause harm to an employee.

To learn more see, Psychosocial factors and hazards.

Who is responsible for psychological health and safety?

The short answer is everyone. This is necessary because psychological harm can come from anyone – co-workers, providers, vendors, customers, patients, leaders, union reps or managers. But different people in the workplace have different levels of responsibility due to their roles and authority.  While leadership and HR are responsible for the formal framework (policies, resources, etc.), psychological health and safety is built and maintained by the daily interactions of every single person in the organization. You can do a deeper dive in Roles and responsibilities for psychological health and safety.

Does work cause psychological health problems?

Work can and does contribute to psychological well-being. When psychosocial hazards exist in the workplace, they can also cause health problems in the following ways:  

• A critical incident can result in psychological trauma—for example, being robbed or assaulted on the job. 
• For employees with a vulnerability to certain illnesses, such as autoimmune disorders, mental health concerns or gastrointestinal issues, work environment factors may:
  
  • Increase the likelihood of illness
  • Make an existing disorder worse
  • Slow or block effective treatment and rehabilitation 

This is similar to the way someone vulnerable to asthma may be more severely impacted by exposure to certain chemicals at work. 

Certain work environment factors could be a direct cause for psychological distress, especially if they are chronic or extreme conditions. For example, demoralization, unreasonable demands, or bullying. Psychological distress does not need to reach the level of a diagnosable mental disorder to create a legal liability for the employer. When work conditions are judged to have contributed to an employee's suffering and disability, this distress can result in legal consequences. On the other hand, a psychologically healthy and safe work environment may help reduce the onset, severity, impact and duration of a mental health disorder. 

Organizations that make the effort to identify psychosocial risks and create a psychologically healthy work environment see benefits in productivity, sustainability and growth. 

Reducing psychosocial risks can save money

Various psychosocial hazards—such as workload, leadership factors, and job demands—can contribute to employee burnout, and a national survey by Mental Health Research Canada (2025) shows that nearly 39% of Canadian employees report feeling burnt out. Burnout is not just a wellness concern but a business risk: for a company with 500 employees, burnout-related productivity losses and salary costs can exceed $3.4 million annually, while organizations of a similar size that invest in preventing burnout can save approximately $1.7 million each year. 

For more information on how to prevent employee burnout, see Burnout response for leaders. 

Preventing burnout is only one potential cost-savings opportunity for psychological health and safety. Others could include reduced absenteeism, lower turnover, fewer workplace conflicts, improved productivity and quality of work, and reduced litigation or civil suits. To understand how psychological health and safety can improve your bottom line, see Cost-benefits.

What does Canadian law say about psychological health and safety?

Canadian occupational health and safety laws require employers to take reasonable precautions to protect workers’ health and safety. This duty applies to hazards that may cause psychological harm, including harassment and other work-related risks, even where psychological hazards are not explicitly named in legislation.

Beyond Canadian occupational health and safety laws there are many other potential legal concerns including those found in human rights codes, employment standards and workers compensation requirements across Canada mandating (directly or indirectly) protection of workers from psychological harm at work.

How has psychological health and safety evolved in Canada?

Federally and provincially in Canada, for over a century, employers have had a duty to protect employees from physical harm. This has evolved to include the duty to protect employees from psychological harm. And the legislation continues to evolve both here in Canada and around the world. For more information about where we’ve been and where we are headed, check out History of psychological health and safety.

What is the evidence for which approaches to psychological health and safety actually work?

The research on psychological health and safety continues to build the case for what works. You can explore some of the key messages in Evidence for psychological health and safety and review Psychological health and safety statistics. Not every strategy works in every sector or work environment, so it remains the responsibility of each workplace to choose from the strategies available to find what makes the most sense for their workplace. Psychological health and safety change process uses a structured a critical thinking process to help you do this. Evidence-based actions for psychological health and safety provides you with many practical low-cost strategies and resources, based on credible research and workplace practices. This is a convenient place to start your search for solutions. 

What lessons have been learned so far from employers?

While each organization will have different hazards and different approaches to preventing and addressing them, there are some lessons learned from those employers who have been successful in improving the psychological health and safety of their employees. These include:

• Intentionally creating safe and respectful ways to hear from people whose perspectives may otherwise be overlooked, so decisions reflect the real experiences of everyone at work.
• Participation of employees in both identifying potential hazards and in developing solutions that reduce risk.
• Embedding change in the way work is designed and carried out day-to-day over campaigns, posters and workshops. 

Additional resources

If you are making broader changes to impact psychological health and safety (PHS) at work, you may want to review:

• Getting started with psychological health and safety
• Psychological health and safety surveys and tools
• Psychological health and safety strategies and solutions
• Psychological health and safety for health and safety committees
• Evaluation planning for psychological health and safety 

There are many more free resources available, including tools you can facilitate yourself, such as workshop materials and team-building activities.