Canadian Occupational Safety

6 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com UPDATES FROM THE WORLD OF HEALTH & SAFETY Safety F irst By Mari-Len De Guzman T he newly launched national stan- dard for psychological health and safety in the workplace will help eliminate the stigma on mental ill- ness and empower workers with mental health problems to speak up about their condition, proponents of the new standard said. "We now understand that mental illness is not a supernatural phenom- enon and it's not a character fl aw," said federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, who was among the speakers at the offi cial launch of Canada's fi rst national standard on psychological health and safety in the workplace on Jan. 16. "People who suff er from mental ill- ness are afraid — they're afraid they are going to be treated diff erently, they're afraid they're not going to be as respected if they reveal they have a problem, and some may even be afraid of losing their jobs," Raitt said. e new standard is a step towards eliminating the stigma, said Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), a national labour union based in Ottawa rep- resenting more than three million workers across Canada. "Seven million Canadians will experience mental health problems this year," Georgetti said. "I think (the standard) is a great start to take that stigma away, let people acknowledge their problem and then deal with them without fear of repercussion." Taking away the stigma and allow- ing employees to speak up will also provide an opportunity for employ- ers to acknowledge there is an issue and recognize their role in provid- ing workplace support, said George Cope, president and CEO of Bell Canada, a corporate supporter of the development of the mental health standard. "Management training is abso- lutely critical to this. We have got to deal with stigma. If the stigma goes away, then we deal with implementa- tion," Cope said. Taking on the issue of mental health is not only the right thing to do, but also makes good business sense for employers, he said. If not addressed, mental health issues will cost Canadian businesses $198 billion in lost productivity over the next 30 years, according to a 2011 study by the Mental Health Commis- sion of Canada (MHCC). Mental health problems are now the leading cause of long-term disability. Cope called on corporate leaders to "step up to this challenge" and start to work towards achieving a mentally safe and healthy workplace by using the standard. "Government has done their part; businesses now has to do its part," Cope said. e new standard provides a sys- tematic approach to developing and maintaining a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. It includes tools and information on: identifi cation of psychological hazards in the work- place; assessment and control of risks in the workplace associated with hazards that cannot be eliminated, such as reasonable job demands and stressors due to organizational change; implementation of practices that support and promote psy- chological health and safety in the workplace; growing a culture that promotes psychological health and safety; and implementing measure- ment and review systems to ensure sustainability. " is (standard) is a Canadian fi rst," said Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the MHCC. "In fact, this voluntary standard is the fi rst of its kind in the world." It builds on existing structures and policies organizations may already have in place, said Bradley, and was designed in a way it can be used by any organization, regardless of its size. e standard was jointly devel- oped, through public consultations, by the MHCC, the CSA Group and the Bureau de Normalisation du Quebec (BNQ). Bell Canada and Winnipeg-based fi nancial services firm Great-West Life provided fi nancial contributions to fund its development. e federal govern- ment also provided funding. e new standard for psychologi- cal health and safety in the workplace is a voluntary standard and is avail- able for free download through the CSA Group (www.shopcsa.ca), BNQ (www.bnq.qc.ca) and MHCC (www. mentalhealthcommission.ca). Photo: Mental Health Commission of Canada New national standard aims to smash stigma on mental illness By COS staff N ew rules being implemented by the Government of Manitoba would better protect emergency and other roadside workers by setting lower speed limits for motorists as they pass emergency or other des- ignated vehicles stopped or working on a highway, said Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton. Under the plan, there would be a reduced speed limit of 40 km/h on highways where there is a normal speed limit of less than 79 km/h, when passing emergency or desig- nated vehicles stopped or working on the highway, with their beacons fl ashing, Ashton said. ese vehicles include tow trucks and vehicles used by government enforcement offi cers. Where the normal speed limit is 80 km/h or more, the reduced speed limit would be 60 km/h. Current rules require motorists to proceed with caution when approach- ing emergency vehicles on their side of a highway. e new rules would also require drivers to slow down and proceed with caution when approaching an emergency or desig- nated vehicle working on either side of the highway, unless it is a divided highway, the minister said. In situations where traffic is fl owing in two directions on an undi- vided highway, the new rules would clearly improve safety as vehicles are required to slow down, regardless of their direction of travel, Ashton said. is is similar to the requirement for motorists to stop for a school bus that has a warning device operating, regardless of direction of travel on an undivided highway. In addition, the new rules would authorize firefighters to control traffi c during emergencies and at col- lision scenes when the police are not at the scene, or under the direction of a police offi cer. Louise Bradley, president and CEO, Mental Health Commission of Canada Manitoba proposes new rules to improve safety for roadside workers

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