PART 6 : HOW TO RESPOND TO YOUR TEAM’S MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS

Workplace Prevention Strategies

Upstream Prevention Strategies

These are different strategies to consider for the workplace that can help prevent problems from happening in the first place:

  • Shift Workplace Culture
  • Make mental health and suicide prevention health and safety priorities. Leadership must model this, clearly communicate benefits and answer questions for concern. Regularly promote mental health practices and make resources known to employees.
  • Develop Life Skills
  • Offer training in stress management, communication skills, financial planning, goal setting, or other skills-based programs for employees.
  • Improve Mental Health & Addiction Knowledge
  • Deliver regular toolbox talks and awareness communication on mental health topics and how to improve wellness. Consistently link mental health with wellness and safety programs.
  • Promote Social Networks
  • Create a healthy community and foster genuine workplace support.
Midstream Prevention Strategies

Identify problems early and connect people to help:

  • Identify Workers at Risk
  • Detect early symptoms for depression, anxiety, substance abuse and anger. Integrating self-check tools into regular employee check-ups can help spot issues.
  • Provide On-site Support
  • Help your workers come up with an action plan for recovery, introduce on-site modifications to support them, and have regular check-ins to help support their efforts.
Downstream Prevention Strategies

Sometimes workers’ mental health problems only become apparent when things get really bad. But you can still help them manage their health:

  • Promote Workers’ Use of Mental Health Services
  • When workers are struggling, supervisors can take the lead in connecting employees to mental health services.
  • Know Who to Contact in a Crisis
  • In a crisis situation, call 911 if there is an immediate concern of a worker acting of their thoughts of suicide, or help the worker reach out to the BC Crisis Centre (1-800-SUICIDE: 1-800-784-2433) for crisis counselling.
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