Canadian Occupational Safety

February/March 2013 17 Human rights claims can be extremely costly, fi nancially and emo- tionally, and organizations would be better off avoiding the possibility of any human rights issues against them, Hardaker says. Tracking the Perfect Legal Storm, a 2010 report by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), indicates fi nancial rewards for dam- ages caused by mental injury at work have increased 700 per cent in the last fi ve years. University of Toronto professor Martin Shain, an academic lawyer and expert in workplace mental health issues, authored the MHCC report. Employers are now being con- fronted with a legal duty to maintain not only a physically safe workplace, but a psychologically safe one as well, he says. "(Mental health) has not gotten the same level of attention as the physi- cal safety side," Great-West Life's Schwartz says. " e physical safety side has been our focus for so many years now." Emotional intelligence Mental health experts believe when problems related to mental health arise in the workplace, the outcome depends heavily on the way managers handle the situation. Managers who are not equipped with the knowledge and training to eff ectively deal with these types of situation are doomed to fail. "Managers need support in this area," says Luis. "When people are struggling, you really need someone who, at least, has empathy skills, and really has interpersonal and intraper- sonal skills." As managers are o en considered the face of the employer, it is impor- tant for organizations to ensure managers are able to eff ectively deal with the issue of mental health. Without proper training and knowl- edge, managers will continue to fail employees suff ering from mental ill- ness, says Luis. Hardaker agrees. Like Luis, she also struggled with mental illness and also ended up leaving a career she worked so hard to build. "What is really emerging now is that emotional intelligence as a com- petency for managers is crucial," says Hardaker. " at means organizations need to step back and look at their hiring practices and policies." If a recent Ipsos-Reid survey is any indication, Canadian managers are still challenged when it comes to emo- tional intelligence. Although 91 per cent of managers and supervisors rec- ognize the importance of improving their emotional intelligence in the workplace, a measurement of their skill areas for emotional intelli- gence shows more challenges than strengths. According to the Ipsos-Reid study, the skill areas where respondents experience the most challenges in working with distressed employ- ees are "communicating eff ectively" and "understanding their own emo- tional reactions." Nearly one-third of managers and supervisors had some challenges in these areas. "We focus a lot of our attention at Mental Health Works (a national program of the CMHA) on the con- versation between manager and employee who is struggling, and we train managers on how to have that conversation. And that's because it is so crucial; it's a pivotal thing," says Hardaker. Stigma One of the biggest barriers to advancing mental health in the work- place is the stigma around mental illness. Experts believe the best way to break the stigma is to raise the con- versation around it. " e stigma of mental illness is best eliminated through contact with mentally ill people," Roger Bertrand, co-chair of the technical committee on mental health in the workplace, said in a June 2012 discussion on mental health in the workplace during the Canadian Standards Association's annual conference. "It removes barriers when you can see someone who suff ers from mental illness is a person, not a problem," he pointed out. In Ontario, the passage of Bill 168 in 2009 — adding workplace violence and harassment prevention to the Occupational Health and Safety Act — helped pave the way for more open conversations around mental illness, according to Elizabeth Mills, president and CEO of Mississauga, Ont.- based Workplace Safety and Pre- vention Services (WSPS). The require- ments under Bill 168 caused employers to take a long, hard look at their organization to identify and pre- vent violence and harassment. As a result, mental health was moved to the forefront. Conversations around mental health can start by asking questions about respect and inclusion in the workplace, Mills suggests. " ose don't all have to be stigma- removing questions. ey are actually really what respect in your culture, respect in this workplace — that we're all in together —looks like and feels like. ose are all neutral words that can draw out from employees what it is they need to feel attached to the workplace culture," she says. Training is also an important ele- ment in eliminating the stigma on mental illness, says Hardaker. Train- ing and education will raise awareness and literacy about the issues so people can start talking appropriately about mental illness. "What o en happens is we don't know how to talk about it, so we use derogatory terms or negative terms or terms that demonstrate inappropri- ate assumptions that we make about people. So we need to raise the lit- eracy," Hardaker explains. Designating a mental health "champion" within the organization is another way of breaking down the stigma, she adds. It may be some- one who feels passionately about the issue of mental health and can push the organization towards sustainable change. "Sometimes it's a person who steps forward because they themselves have a mental illness. ey are well into recovery, they are doing really well, they have a lot of positive things happen for them at work. ey want to make sure the good experience they had continues for all staff and so they become the inter- nal champion," says Hardaker. Employer resources Although there seems to be increasing awareness around mental health in the business community, many employers are still looking for guidance on the best and most eff ec- tive ways to address the issue. When it comes to mental health, the issue is no longer whether employers should embrace it, but how, WSPS's Mills says. "What I fi nd when we get into the majority of employers, it's not a lack of willingness. It's almost a hesitation around, 'how do I start?'" says Mills. "Where are the sources and the tools and the tips?" In the last decade, however, resources and information around eff ectively managing mental health at work have increased signifi cantly — and many of them are freely avail- able. e Guarding Minds at Work (GMW), commissioned by the Great- West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace, is one such resource. GMW off ers comprehensive infor- mation designed to help promote THE STIGMA OF MENTAL ILLNESS IS BEST ELIMINATED THROUGH CONTACT WITH MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE

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