Learn how to implement the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, improve mental health and mitigate risks.

The Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace Professional Certificate focuses on a practical and applied approach to creating psychologically safer workplaces. This program is designed for individuals or teams working for human resources, occupational health and safety committees, and unions within large, public organizations such as the government, law enforcement, and other public or not-for-profit agencies, with multiple units and departments.

Psychological health and safety is the new frontier in occupational health in the workplace. Approximately $51 billion each year are lost to the Canadian economy because of mental illness, and 25-30% of costs incurred due to mental health issues could be avoided (Mental Health Commission of Canada). With depression quickly becoming the leading cause of disability, preventing harm and supporting mental health in the workplace has become a business and social imperative. Learn more about implementing the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.

This program will run over several sessions, and you are expected to complete an action learning project between sessions that you can apply to your workplace.

What You Will Learn:

By the end of the program, you will be able to:

• Identify key concepts and principles of the National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety and the implications for your organization.
• Identify factors that promote and detract from psychological safety in the workplace.
• Understand the current legal, business and social landscapes supporting the push for workplace psychological health & safety.
• Apply practical tools to help assess and address organizational risk factors
• Implement approaches to improve workplace relationships, individual and team. performance, employee engagement, absence/disability management.
• Use benchmark and outcome measures.
• Understand how to navigate existing resources that support Standard implementation.

How Will You Benefit:

Support change in your organization! Learn how to turn theory into practice with the new Psychological Health and Safety Standard.

By the end of the program, you will be able to:

• Identify key concepts and principles of the National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety and the implications for your organization.
• Identify factors that promote and detract from psychological safety in the workplace.
• Understand the current legal, business and social landscapes supporting the push for workplace psychological health & safety.
• Apply practical tools to help assess and address organizational risk factors
• Implement approaches to improve workplace relationships, individual and team. performance, employee engagement, absence/disability management.
• Use benchmark and outcome measures.
• Understand how to navigate existing resources that support Standard implementation.
• Apply tools that can be used to implemented the standard in your organization.
• Action Learning Project  -  The opportunity to apply program material to your workplace needs using a mentoring approach with our instructor.
• Learn and interact with your inter-professional peers who are working towards the same goals.
• A  Professional Certificate highlights a skill group related to an area of professional expertise. Professional certificates awarded by the Health Leadership and Learning Network do not include any academic credits and cannot be applied towards a degree program.
• You have the opportunity to earn at the end of the program, on successful completion of all mandatory requirements:
  • A digital credential: Psychological Health & Safety Professional Certificate
  • A certificate of completion.

Entry Requirements:

• You must have at least 1 year of experience in Canada working in the following roles
  • Employees at all levels who are interested in psychological health and safety
  • Executives/owners who are interested in addressing psychological health and safety.
  • Human Resources professionals
  • Employee relations/ Legal counsel
  • Occupational Health and Safety professionals
  • Organizational Development Specialists
  • Union members and leaders
  • Directors and Managers

• Programs at the Health Leadership & Learning Network (HLLN) are offered in English. To register in our programs, it is your responsibility to ensure that you meet the language requirements. You may be asked to demonstrate language proficiency. Click on the link to learn more: English Language Requirements

If you are unsure whether you meet the minimum requirements, please inquire at 416 736 2100 ext 22170 or hlln@yorku.ca.

Customized for Your Needs

Whether your unit is at an introductory level or further along at a risk mitigation stage, this program can be customized for your organization.

We have extensive experience training individuals from several federal and provincial agencies committed to a building a psychologically safe workplace, including:

• Employment and Social Development Canada
• Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
• Immigration and Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• Canada Revenue Agency
• Canadian Space Agency
• Canada Employment and Immigration Union
• Canada School of Public Service
• Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
• Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO)
• Ontario Mental Health Association

Note: In-house program costs will vary depending on the size of your group, the location of your program, and the amount of customization required. Please contact us for more details at hlln@yorku.ca or 416-736-2100 ext. 22170.

The Psychological Health and Safety  in the Workplace Professional Certificate will introduce The National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety and how it relates to your workplace.

The program will equip you with the tools and knowledge you need for implementation, and feature applied learning techniques, as well as interactive small group simulations to help you make a case for PHS, build a logic model, address the metrics, and overcome implementation challenges.

The program will cover topics such as: 

• The National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety and You

We all own the Standard because it's a social standard, not just an elective for employers. We will show how this ownership can be enacted in everyday interactions and tasks. This will benefit not only the organizations you work for but your own mental health too!

Learning Outcomes:

• Application of the Standard within current workplaces (past, present, future)
• Overview of the Standard including the need, development process, terms, and vision
• Structure and benefit of The Standard including an introduction to the 13 workplace factors
• PHS Management systems and application to your workplace
• Introduction to Action Learning Project

Cultivating the Conditions for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

Psychological Health and Safety is created within a broad, psychosocial context. Before we can address such things as stigma and resiliency as they relate to PH&S, we must understand the contextual factors that present obstacles to making the workplace a safe place.

Learning Outcomes:

• Planning framework and logic model
• How to make a case to get started
• Getting started with a baseline scan and data collection
• How to make a pitch
• Discussion of Action Learning Project

Impact and Outcomes of “Sub-Standard” Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

The cost of doing nothing is no longer an option when it comes to Psychological Health and Safety in the workplace.  Mental Illness is the leading cause of work absence and disability. The individual, organizational and societal costs must be clearly understood in order to initiate effective change in order to prevent or mitigate the fallout from unsafe practices. A Psychologically Safe workplace can prevent the need for time away from work or greatly reduce recovery time for those who do experience disabling mental health challenges.

Learning Outcomes: 

• Understand 13 workplace factors in detail
• Understand how to develop your own logic model for PHS implementation in your workplace
• Discuss and extract participation and engagement strategies for your workplace
• Develop your own vision for PHS
• Learn from the presentation and review of Action Learning Projects

Implementation and Integration

Psychological Health and Safety in the workplace is dependent on an integrated approach, one that brings scientific evidence to bear on day-to-day practice. We are moving toward understanding that PH&S is inherent in any Occupation Health and Safety, and is not to be considered as something separate.

Learning Outcomes:  

In addition to allowing for the review of all materials to date, including the Action Learning Projects, this module will explore, based on the interests of the group:

• Infrastructure and resources considerations
• Preventative and protective measures
• Education, awareness and communication strategies
• Sponsorship, engagement, and change management strategies
• Implementation governance for execution
• Competence and training for execution
• Navigating existing resources and examples of other workplace initiatives and plans

Nancy Dubois - Hons. BA

Owner/Principal Consultant - Du∙B∙Fit Consulting

Nancy is the Principal Consultant with DU∙B∙FIT Consulting, a health promotion and planning firm based in southwestern Ontario.  The firm focuses on the facilitation of workshops and planning sessions, as well as project management and consultative services on a wide variety of health promotion and public health topics.  Nancy has worked on many projects related to workplace health including:

• Lead Consultant for The Psychology Foundation of Canada in developing the online StressStrategies resource for adults to be disseminated largely through workplaces.
• Co-author of “Workplace Mental Health Promotion: A How-to Guide” jointly produced by the Canadian Mental Health Association (Ontario) and The Health Communication Unit, University of Toronto.
• The lead consultant for ten years in a capacity-building project for workplace health professionals through The Health Communication Unit, University of Toronto which included providing consultation, training and resource development to intermediaries across Ontario.
• The designer for a community-based workplace health toolkit used by workplaces in Waterloo and Haldimand-Norfolk regions.
• A presenter at numerous workplace health training events and conferences, most often organized through public health units, as well as with the Manitoba Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance.
• The developmental consultant in workplace health for the Heart and Stroke Foundations in Ontario and Nova Scotia and the British Columbia Active Workplaces initiative.

Nancy is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute.  She facilitates strategic planning and conducts evaluations for multiple organizations, especially in the social profit and public sectors and taught for many years in the Kinesiology program at York University.  Nancy was the proud recipient of the Queen Elizabeth the Second Diamond Jubilee Medal for her leadership in physical activity across Canada and has worked internationally in Chile, Bosnia, Finland, Serbia and Italy.

Nancy was born and raised in London, Ontario and now hails from Scotland ONTARIO (!) where she and her husband of almost 30 years have adjusted quite well to an “empty nest”.  Nancy is an avid skier, heads for the water and sunshine at any opportunity.

Certificate of Completion & Digital Credentials

Certificates of completion and digital credentials are issued approximately three to four weeks after the end of the program, as long as you have :

• Attended all sessions
• Completed and passed all assignments and assessments, as they may be assigned during the program

Please note, you must complete and submit your assignments and assessments before the program end date.

For more information, please review our Program Policies & Disclaimer.

Schulich Executive Hotel on Campus

The Executive Learning Centre features:
• 60 executive style guest rooms on 12 floors each with a queen size bed
• Complimentary high speed internet access
• In room coffee/tea maker
• Wheelchair accessible

Call Reservations: (416)-650-8300      Book on-line: www.elc.schulich.yorku.ca E-mail: reservations@schulich.yorku.ca