Workplace Mental Health & Related Topics

IHSA is committed to supporting employers and workers with their occupational health and safety needs. That includes psychological health and safety—a growing and critically important area for workplaces to address. In the sections below, you will find tools, resources, education, and supports from IHSA and our health and safety system partners. They are designed to help you make mental health and wellness part of your everyday health and safety practice, whether you are an employer, worker, or support person.

Employers in particular can access information to build a workplace plan for identifying and addressing psychosocial hazards and to put in place effective supports. Workers and supporters will find resources aimed at a fostering a better understanding of mental health and addiction issues, and how each person can contribute to a psychologically safe work environment.

• Equipping leadership Toolkit: Improve mental health outcomes at your workplace by implementing psychological safety into your health and safety program.
• Opioid Toolkit: Learn more about opioid use in the trades and prevent opioid-related harms at your workplace.
• Fit-for-Duty Toolkit: Learn how to develop an effective fit-for-duty policy and manage fitness for duty at your workplace.
• Suicide Prevention Toolkit: Reduce suicide risk through improved prevention, intervention techniques.
• Brave Conversations Toolkit: Understand how to talk about mental health and well-being in the workplace.
• My Well-Being at Work Toolkit: Assess your personal wellness and maintain positive mental health at work.
• Are You in Crisis?: Discover supports and resources for when you or some one you know is in crisis.
• Do You Need Help Finding Resources for Yourself or Someone Else?: Connect to mental health supports or help someone else find help.

Opioid-Related and Substance Use Resources for Employers and Employees

Check them out. Watch for more to come!

Opioids and Work Workshop Report

IHSA is proud to have contributed to the Opioids and Work: Evidence, Perspectives, and Looking Ahead workshop and report, hosted by the Institute for Work & Health and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre.

This initiative brought together over 100 stakeholders—including researchers, employers, unions, and workers—to address the growing impact of opioid-related harms in the workplace. We’re especially grateful to the individuals who courageously shared their lived experiences. Your stories are the heart of this work.

Together, we’re building safer, more supportive workplaces across Ontario and beyond. Read the full report

• Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction Community Resources on: Drug checking, Opioid agonist therapy (O.A.T.), and Supervised consumption sites
  
• Looking to order Naloxone Kits for your workplace? Order through www.ordernarcan.ca
• Level Up Canada
• Naloxone Training
• Article: Opioids and Harm Prevention
• Opioid use and workplace implications for trade sectors (W132)
• Understanding opioid-related harms and the need for naloxone kits in construction workplaces (W133)
• Frequently Asked Questions About Naloxone Kits in Workplaces (W135)
• Opioid-related harms
• Opioid use disorder
• Opioid-related risk factors at work
• Stigma around opioid use
• The “man code” effect and impact on opioid-related harms
• Systemic factors associated with opioid harms
• Creating a supportive culture surrounding opioid use
• Managing pain at work   
  
• Understanding chronic pain   
  
• Discussing chronic pain with your doctor   
  
• Fit for Work policies and impairment disclosure
• Naloxone kits in the workplace
• Responding to opioid impairment
• Opioid addiction and the Ontario Human Rights Code   
  
• Opioid addiction in male-dominated trades   
  
• Leveraging peer support for workers who are addicted to opioids   
  
• Improving social relationships for workers who are addicted to opioids   
  

Training

The Working Mind for the Trades

• The Working Mind For The Trades - Manager (Virtual Training) Free for a limited time
• The Working Mind For The Trades - Worker (Virtual Training) Free for a limited time

Opening the Door to Support

• People Leader Training (On-demand learning) Free for a limited time

On-demand Awareness Training

• Occupational Mental Health

IHSA Safety Podcast: Workplace Mental Health

We all have mental health challenges, just as we all have physical health challenges, from time to time. It’s important to monitor your mental health and seek help and support if you are concerned. Find out more by visiting the podcast links below.

• Episode 33: Mental Health (Part One)
• Episode 34: Mental Health (Part Two) - Beginning the Dialogue in the Workplace
• Episode 35: Mental Health (Part Three) - Challenging Stigma and Reducing Mental Harm
• Episode 36: Mental Health (Part Four) - Toxic Masculinity
• Episode 38: Understanding Opioids, and the Crisis in Canada
• Episode 41: Assessing Your Mental Health
• Episode 42: Declining Mental Health and Suicide Risk (Part One)
• Episode 43: Understanding Opioids, and the Crisis in Canada (Part Two)
• Episode 70: Trauma Management in the Workplace
• Episode 72: Building Your Occupational Health and Safety System
• Episode 80: Women in Construction Health and Safety
• Episode 83: The Construction Athlete
• Episode 84: Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace
• Episode 88: Nutrition
• Episode 91: The Working Mind for the Trades

Mental Health Resources

• Mental health and addictions are human rights issues
• Mental Health at Work - A guide for small and medium-sized businesses (W159)
• Facilitator's guide to delivering mental health safety talks
• Assessing your mental health
• Challenging stigma and preventing mental harm
• Declining mental health and suicide risk
• Safety Talk: Opioids in the trades
• Psychological health and safety a joint responsibility
• Toxic masculinity
• Why talk about mental health at work
• Work stress and burnout
• Mental Health and Wellness - Professional Truck Drivers
• Mental Health and Wellness - Dispatcher/Supervisor