Improving psychological health & safety in the workplace: Critical analysis and pragmatic options

This report is a critical analysis of currently available models for guiding efforts to improve psychological health and safety in the workplace. It is based on a review  of the empirical and ‘grey’ literature on select international approaches to this topic. These models are described and reviewed in terms of generally accepted quality standard, the extent to which the models support an integrated approach to workplace mental health, and the extent to which they are relevant to the Canadian workplace context.

On the basis of this review, a pragmatic approach to improving workplace psychological health and safety in Canada is presented. The proposed approach, the P6 Framework, is intended to facilitate an integrated response to workplace psychological health issues across the continuum of employment and between the key employer, regulatory, labour and mental health care stakeholders who may play a role in addressing and enhancing workplace psychological health and safety.