{"id":66512,"date":"2021-11-30T12:02:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T12:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainanddevelop.ca\/workplace-wellness-improving-safety-and-retention\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T07:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:47:00","slug":"workplace-wellness-improve-safety-and-retention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trainanddevelop.ca\/fr\/blog\/workplace-wellness-improve-safety-and-retention\/","title":{"rendered":"Workplace Wellness \u2013 Improving Safety and Retention"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"safety \u00a0By Chontell Flight<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Certified Health & Safety Consultant<\/p>\n

Everyone has days that seem governed by \u2018Murphy\u2019s law<\/a>\u2019, where everything that can go wrong, does. Your toast is burnt, someone cut you off in traffic, and your back doesn\u2019t like the way you slept last night. These things can contribute to a distracted mindset throughout your day, although generally we know it\u2019s best not to dwell on the little things. But have you ever given any thought about how emotions, stress, physical, and mental health issues may affect those you work with, or even worse \u2013 create new hazards?<\/p>\n

Suppose that the person you are working with today is experiencing personal stress and intense emotions due to a parent recently having a heart attack. Perhaps this stress contributes to distracted performance at work, the person may be less likely to spot risk and may be less communicative with team members while performing their tasks.<\/p>\n

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A happy worker conducting factory inspections<\/span><\/center><\/div>\n
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The world health organization recognizes mental health (also called \u2018psychological health\u2019) as \u2018a state of well-being in which the individual realizes their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to contribute to their community\u2019.<\/p>\n

These are prevalent issues in our workforce. According to the 2020 report published by Statistics Canada, 30% of short and long-term disability claims are related to mental health illness. One in five Canadians are experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or post traumatic stress disorder. Much like other risk mitigation, a supportive workplace can reduce onset, severity, impact and the duration of mental illness. Actually, the cost of low productivity due to mental health related-illness\u2019 cost Canadian businesses approximately $6 billion annually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Humans aren\u2019t machines that can run endlessly without breaking down. In fact, machines can\u2019t even do this! At some point machines require down-time for maintenance, repair, reprogramming or improvement. After all, you wouldn\u2019t get far if you endlessly drove a vehicle without oil changes and other regular maintenance. The human body has basic needs too, including physical and mental rest. When our energy is spent, we are at higher risk of performing poorly, and are more likely to have incidents occur due to sluggish reaction times, lack of attention to detail, or poor decision making.<\/p>\n

Illness vs. Wellness<\/h2>\n

Like a kaleidoscope, workplace wellness<\/a> may look different through many lenses. An unwell workplace may include: progressively absent or tardy staff, increased complacency<\/a>, reduced job satisfaction, stressed workers, and poor corporate culture which overall contribute to increased risk. Left untreated, mental health issues may lead to heart problems, back pain, cancers, aggression\/conflicts, difficulty making decisions, reckless behavior, substance abuse, reduced adaptability, impaired learning and memory, increased injuries\/illness, digestive problems, infections and increased passivity.<\/p>\n

This is simply another workplace risk that we should formally assess: we need to identify what poor mental health may look like and factors contributing to a low-quality job environment, quantify its risk, identify and enact controls mitigating those risks, to efficiently decrease overall risk. If we can manage the risks associated with workplace illness, and promote health and wellness \u2013 why wouldn\u2019t we?
\nI encourage companies to provide supports around mental health awareness, psychological wellness, and physical fitness as these pillars reflect more positive outcomes for mental and physical well being. It fosters healthier happier employees, resulting in a more positive corporate culture, improved personnel retention, loyalty and dedication.<\/p>\n

Action & Support<\/h2>\n

There are a myriad of things employers, and employees can do to positively support health and wellness for themselves and others. Some ways to start improving wellness at your workplace may include\u2026<\/p>\n

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Utilizing strategies to improve workplace wellness can help improve worker happiness and retention, just like this happy worker!<\/span><\/center><\/div>\n
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Employers<\/h4>\n

Promote improvements in physical and mental well being by improving job processes, having reasonable job expectations and ensuring good communication, as well as\u2026<\/p>\n