The Owen Sound HR/H&S SIG in January met to find out more about the issues relating to mental health and effects in the workplace.  Canada will be releasing a voluntary standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace in 2012.

Jeff Suchak with the Community Mental Health Association and a Certified Trainer with Mental Health Works gave a presentation regarding this very important and timely issue.  He indicated that 1 in 5 people have some degree of mental health issues - stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, etc.  It is feared that this number may actually be higher but not reported.  Also, of that 1 in 5, 2 in 3 will not come forward with that information.  This can have huge ramifications in the workplace - productivity, duty to accommodate, etc.

According to the website www.mentalhealthworks.ca , a psychologically healthy work environment supports employee engagement, worker health and well-being, recruitment and retention, productivity, effective risk management and corporate social responsibility.  Employers benefit from fostering a psychologically healthy and inclusive work environment and workers and individuals at all levels of a workplace benefit from knowledge and support.

This website is dedicated to assisting employers with this very complex issue.  Please check it out.

The other website to explore is www.gwlcentreformentalhealth.com   The site includes a lot of information to assist with these issues.  Jeff highlighted the "20 Questions for Leaders" found at http://www.gwlcentreformentalhealth.com/display.asp?l1=180&l2=191&d=191 as a good place to start.

Thanks go to the folks at Veyance for hosting this very informative event.