Friday, July 12, 2013

The presence of psychological risks or mental illnesses in the workplace

Mental Illness is a recognized disability under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace standard was released on January 16, 2013, by the Canadian Standards Association. Canadian companies and employees across the country can turn to a new national standard to help them identify and address psychological risks and mental health issues in the workplace.

What is a psychological risk or mental illness?

Some health experts define psychological risk as a product of a life-changing event with significant emotional, physical and spiritual consequences that can lead to mental illness. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says mental illness is “characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behaviour (or a combination), and impaired functioning over an extended period of time. The symptoms vary from mild to severe depending on the type, the individual, the family and socio-economic environment.”

The following are examples of mental illnesses:

· Mood disorders: depression, bipolar disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

· Schizophrenia: a chronic (lifelong) brain disease that impairs a person’s ability to differentiate between what is real and what is not

· Anxiety disorders: phobias and panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, post-traumatic stress

· Personality disorders: having certain kinds of “personality traits” that influence the way people experience the events and relationships in their lives; symptoms include: ongoing irritability, intolerance, suspiciousness and/or paranoia; chaotic thoughts and emotions; tumultuous relationships and difficulties getting along with others; poor impulse control

· Eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating

· Problem gambling

· Substance dependency: addiction changes the brain, disturbing the normal hierarchy of needs and desires

· Concurrent disorders and dual diagnosis: concurrent diagnosis refers to a condition where mental illness and a substance use problem with drugs, alcohol or gambling coexist

· Dementia: decline in a person’s mental function

How can the standard help?

The hope is that the standard will introduce mental health awareness and promotion to Canada’s workplaces, and lead them to greater success. The benefits of psychologically healthy employees are too great to ignore, and the risks of unhealthy employees, too dangerous.

The standard includes information on:

· The identification of psychological hazards in the workplace

· The assessment and control of the risks in the workplace associated with hazards that cannot be eliminated (e.g., stressors due to organizational change or reasonable job demands)

· The implementation of practices that support and promote psychological health and safety in the workplace

· The growth of a culture that promotes psychological health and safety in the workplace

· The implementation of systems of measurement and review to ensure sustainability of the overall approach

· The implementation of key components, including scenarios for organizations of all sizes, an audit tool, and other resources and references

Some businesses will use the standard to plan their psychological health and safety program and process. By using the information and audit tool in the guide, along with existing workplace data (i.e., rates of accidents, injury and illnesses, rate of absenteeism, how employees use your benefits plan, disability rates and costs, employee survey), organizations will learn where the gaps exist in psychological health and safety in their workplace. These resources will also help organizations assess their current efforts to manage and support psychological health and safety in the workplace, and what other measures they can implement to improve or fill a need.

The standard can also help in making the business case to obtain leadership buy-in (e.g., from owners, executives, management).

Mental Health is considered a disability. What are some things your company/organization has done to comply with this new standard?

If you are interested in learning more about Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) or how to make accessibility a natural part of your business through the application of Corporate Social Responsibility, please contact Sandra Broekhof @ 416-579-1035 or sandra_broekhof@sympatico.ca or visit www.accessibilitycompliance.ca

Learn the latest! — What you need to know about the new Workplace Mental Health Standard

The Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace – Prevention, promotion and guidance to staged implementation (the “Standard”) was released by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Bureau de Normalization du Québec and the Canadian Standards Association (“CSA”) on January 16, 2013.

Overview

The Standard provides employers with a framework to develop and sustain a psychologically healthy and safe workplace, through the identification and elimination of hazards in the workplace, the assessment and control of the risks in the workplace, the implementation of structures and practices to facilitate psychological health, and the fostering of a workplace culture that promotes psychological well-being.

Highlights of the Standard include:

· Implementing a Psychological Health and Safety Management System (PHSMS)

· Developing risk mitigation process

· Competence and training

· Protecting confidentiality and privacy rights

· Accountabilities for implementation

· Reporting and investigations process

· Monitoring and measurement

The Standard calls for a “psychological health and safety management system”, but provides few specifics. This is probably because accommodation of mental health disabilities is such an inherently fact specific undertaking that establishing “measurable objectives” will not assist in assessing a particular case.

The Standard next recommends that employers implement preventive and protective measures to address any identified hazards or risks. This should include providing resources to employees who have been suffering from mental health difficulties.

In light of this new Standard, employers should consider taking the following action:

· Review policies and programs and consider how mental health issues may be addressed

· Consider how past incidents and particular employees were dealt with and if your organization could have done better

· Assess the workplace for any mental health hazards (high stress, exposure to risks, high workload) and take appropriate action to mitigate these hazards

Mental Health is considered a disability. What are some things your company/organization has done to comply with this new standard?

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Accessible electronic information: small steps with a big outcome

In the steps to make Accessibility a natural part of your business, all you need to think about is small steps. Remember the age old saying --- it is the small things that count. In the field of electronic communication, consider these screen reader tips:

Email: When sending emails, use the BCC (blind carbon copy) section of your address to send bulk emails. Use just one name in the main address section. Otherwise, recipients who use a screen reader have to listen to all the names and addresses of everyone who is receiving your email.
Pictures: The cliché that pictures replace a thousand words is not useful for a person who is blind or has low vision or vision loss. Use open captioning features and describe what you are trying to say in the picture.
Plain language: If you are talking to a wide audience it is always to your benefit to use plain language rather than specialized or technical language or jargon.
Fonts: Use simple fonts like Arial and Verdana at a minimum of 12 points. Artistic fonts and italics can be difficult to read for people with a variety of disabilities.
Colour contrast: Electronic documents should offer strong colour contrast and avoid using watermarks in the background. Always avoid glare. These steps can help any audience, which can otherwise be aggravated by unclear text on a colourful background.
Creating PDF documents: Adobe has provided accessibility features since Version 7, and improved them with Version 9. Spread the word that programmers should pay attention to the accessibility features, learn them and use them regularly.
Websites: An international organization called the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides protocols and guidelines to ensure that web-based information is accessible to everyone. Make sure your programmers know how to build and maintain an accessible website. Make sure all of the people involved are aware of their obligations to offer accessible information.
A best practice approach is to prioritize existing web content to become accessible based on:

Usability factors, for example, questionnaires, feedback or applications
Information that is frequently visited, legal or vital

Encryption codes: Such codes are not accessible to people who are blind or have low vision or vision loss. Often the codes are so complicated that sighted users also have problems with accessibility. Offer an accessible non-biometric alternative method to verify you are dealing with an adult.
Accessible website portal: Use the upper left hand corner of your website to direct a screen reader to read aloud that there is an accessible section of your website. By placing the prompt in the upper left hand corner the screen reader will speak these words first to the end-user. Make this a temporary solution while you are preparing to provide a fully accessible website.
Free screen readers: There are free screen readers available. You can download one and learn how to use it. When providing accessible information, use the screen reader to identify problem areas.

What are some things your company/organization has done to make accessibility a natural part of your daily life>?

AODA compliance: the good, the bad and the ugly

Today’s post is all about hearing from you! Questions arise as to how organizations are dealing with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) compliance requirements in Ontario. Let us know where you stand on compliance and what hurdles you encountered or are still encountering. If it is a lack of funds, then which creative ideas have you chosen as alternatives? If the issue is not funding, but all the barriers you’ve identified that need a remedy, then share those thoughts too. If you have a good secret, let it out. The broader the discussion, the better the solutions we’ll come up with. The Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services also wants to hear from you, and may showcase your organization in a YouTube video.

Lately, people have asked, how is everyone else doing with the AODA? I hear so many different stories. Each organization and each large and small sized company has a different plan and different expectations.

In training staff, volunteers and decision-makers about the AODA, do you feel the organization is going through the motions of compliance, or do you see value in the training? Perhaps training began as something you just had to do, and attitudes changed when staff and volunteers understood the lessons. A good number of responses will give us a pulse on whether organizations are seeing a positive or negative change in attitude toward people with disabilities.

You can respond by leaving a comment below. I believe we can all learn something new from each other every day. Tell us about the good, the bad and the ugly you’ve encountered when meeting compliance with the AODA. We are all moving in this direction together.

Can you share some of your compliance stories?