The architects of the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace are satisfied with the response to their working document.

Launched in January 2013, the standard has been downloaded over 11,000 times across Canada. The downloaders are very representative of the Canadian population, according to the profile produced by Statistics Canada.

“We have achieved our objective by establishing a reference framework to support companies with employees dealing with mental health problems. It tells companies what they can do in this area. It also helps employees who want to act outside the workplace. The standard thus bridges research and the business world. We want to encourage the development of innovative approaches,” Daniel Langlais, who coordinated the formulation of the standard at the Bureau de normalisation du Québec, confirmed at the Rassemblement pour la santé et le mieux-être. He played the same role for the “Healthy Enterprise” standard.

However, there has been no mention of third-party verification of the actions put in place by a company, as there is for the “Healthy Enterprise” standard.

Are there plans to introduce certification for the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace standard, which would grant it formal recognition?

Roger Bertrand, CEO of the Groupe entreprises en santé (formerly called GP2S), announced at the gathering that the Bureau de la normalisation du Québec was examining this question. “This recognition may happen, but not yet. For now, the standard should be considered as a reference base to improve business performance,” he says.