Mental Health Risks in the Workplace: A Primer

Workplace mental health is one of the most important issues facing leadership today. In Canada, nearly half of industrial workers are currently experiencing mental health issues while a whopping 83% have experienced them in the past[1]. Traditionally, a worker’s mental health was their private business – and it still is. However, it poses a threat to business operations and safety which makes it a bonafide concern for employers. More than that, employment conditions have been shown to contribute to poor mental health[2]. That means employers are creating psychosocial hazards and the responsibility to manage those hazards has brought forward complex ethical, moral, and legal discussions that are shaping our world today.

Understandably, the idea of managing workplace mental health is a touchy subject. Workers typically don’t want to let their employers into their personal space and employers walk a fine line from a legal standpoint regarding issues of privacy, discrimination, and so on. Plus, it’s a new type of hazard and leaders have not yet developed the skills and competencies needed to address this type of risk. That’s led to an over-reliance on worker resiliency and mental health services as control measures. Our current approach isn’t sustainable, but we’re learning together, and that’s OK.

What are Psychosocial Hazards?

The Canadian Standards Association describes psychosocial hazards as sources of potential psychological harm that are, “elements of the work environment, management practices, and/or organizational dimensions that increase the risk to health”[3]. The terminology around psychosocial health is still developing, so you will see a range of terms used to describe these hazards depending on what standard or article you are reading.

Research into these types of hazards typically results in some kind of grouping system to make thinking about the hazards easier and more efficient. Some common categories appear in literature, like lack of job control, welfare concerns, work hazards, job demand, workplace injustice, family, lack of work support, and coping[4]. Some hazards are clearly within the boundaries of the workplace, but others exist in the area where home life and work life interact.

How do Psychosocial Hazards Appear in the Workplace?

Let’s look deeper into those eight categories of psychosocial hazards and consider how we might experience them in the workplace. Keep in mind this is just one way to group hazards and it’s not an exhaustive list of all the threats.

• Lack of job control. Self-determination is an important aspect of individual wellness. Employees who have little or no opportunity to influence their work pace, rest periods, pay, or tasks are more prone to distress.
• Welfare concerns. Thinking about the basics of life – food, water, shelter, health, and safety are all critical to overall wellness. The quality and availability of these can vary depending on the work arrangement and significantly impact wellness.
• Work hazards. High-hazard work is emotionally demanding. We often think of firefighters, police, and other emergency services when considering this type of threat. However, similar demands are placed on industrial workers who work extreme hours in challenging environments, often exposed to workplace hazards.
• Job demand. We’ve all experienced periods of work where there is a lot to do and not a lot of time available. When this pattern becomes the norm, it’s a recipe for poor mental health. Workers become overwhelmed and don’t have the time needed to recharge mentally or physically.
• Workplace injustice. Health + safety systems are only effective when they are adhered to consistently. When organizational rules are applied inconsistently, it erodes the agreement between employers and their employees. I talk about this more in Safety Basics: Intro to Health + Safety Management Systems.
• Family. When work disrupts the ability to connect with family, it removes an important social support that helps to maintain mental health. Employers may do this inadvertently through work schedules, lack of internet and infrastructure, social demands outside of work, or the time and distance separation between home and the workplace.
• Lack of work support. I’m a theory Y believer – people generally want to do a good job[5]. When they are unable to do a job to their own standards, they experience frustration and if they cannot get support, that frustration amplifies. Providing workers with information, resources, and good leadership goes a long way.
• Coping. For many workers, part of getting their job done is simply coping with all the bureaucratic nonsense that happens around them. Coping may be needed to deal with poor leadership, negative culture, changing priorities, lack of information, and many other conditions. The energy it takes to navigate these additional challenges is draining, especially over the long run.

What can be Done to Manage Psychosocial Hazards?

Like other types of health + safety hazards, those of a psychosocial nature benefit from the application of practical risk management practices. It’s important to recognize that risk mitigation is a shared responsibility between employers and employees that requires both individual and organizational-focused approaches[6]. Employers can start by educating their leadership on psychosocial risks and incorporating specific risk management strategies into the broader health + safety management system. Then, by raising awareness of how psychosocial hazards occur within their organization, they can become more adept at reducing risk through proactive planning and minimizing the need for reactive management of poor mental health.

Summary

This article introduced the concept of psychosocial risk management as a mechanism to improve workers’ mental health. It briefly reviewed some of the common hazards that are found in the workplace and ways those hazards might impact workers. Plus, it offered some insight on how to manage these types of threats in our organizations.

There’s no doubt that psychosocial risk management is a challenging topic for today’s organizations. The reality is, that while leaders are stepping up to advance psychosocial safety in the workplace, they are often dealing with their own mental health struggles. We need to be compassionate while not losing sight of the problem at hand. Mental health is a global issue and it will take time to gain the knowledge and understanding that we need to address it effectively in the workplace.

[1] Liu, Q., Feng, Y., & London, K. (2021). Theorizing to improve mental health in multicultural construction industries: An intercultural coping model. Buildings, 11(12), 662. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11120662

[2] Tijani, B., Jin, X., & Osei-Kyei, R. (2020). A systematic review of mental stressors in the construction industry. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 39(2), 433–460. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbpa-02-2020-0011

[3] Canadian Standards Association. (2013). National standard of Canada for psychological health and safety in the workplace (CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-809/2013). CSA Group. https://doi.org/https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/national-standard/

[4] Chan, A. P. C., Nwaogu, J. M., & Naslund, J. A. (2020). Mental ill-health risk factors in the construction industry: Systematic review. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(3). https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0001771

[5] MindTools. (2023). Theory x and theory y. https://www.mindtools.com/adi3nc1/theory-x-and-theory-y

[6] Asare-Doku, W., Rich, J., Kelly, B., & James, C. (2020). Mental health interventions in the mining industry: A narrative review. Mental Health Review Journal, 25(2), 153–167. https://doi.org/10.1108/mhrj-10-2019-0039