Psychological Health and Safety Policy

Policy Statement

The City of Toronto recognizes the importance of psychological health and safety in the workplace. The City will promote a positive working environment where management and employees collaborate to achieve the City’s goals while promoting the physical and mental health of all employees.

The City is further committed to promoting mental health and psychological well-being and to actions that prevent harm to worker psychological health through appropriate policies, programs and services.

Application

This policy applies to all City of Toronto employees in workplaces. The policy focuses on organizational risk factors that impact employees’ health, safety and wellness in the workplace and does not focus on individual risk factors.

Definitions

Psychological/Mental Health

A state of well-being in which the individual realizes their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and contribute to their community.

Psychological safety

The absence of harm and/or threat of harm to mental well-being that an employee may experience.

Psychosocial hazards

A psychosocial hazard refers to any factor in the workplace that can negatively influence an individual’s psychological health and well-being. Psychosocial hazards can cause harm by creating unhealthy stress (e.g. frequency, duration and intensity). If left uncontrolled, they can negatively impact employees’ mental health outlook (e.g. languishing) and create mental harm, injuries and illness (e.g. burnout).

Objectives

The City recognizes that workplace factors can contribute to psychological health. While it is understood that a certain amount of stress is inherent in work, the City aspires to a work environment where continuous improvement in work practices and processes address psychological safety and support mental health.

Strategies

The City will achieve its objective of continuously improving psychological safety and supporting mental health in City workplaces by building on its current actions and strengths in each of the following areas psychosocial hazard control, psychological health problems and psychosocial risk assessment:

Psychosocial Hazard Control

Psychosocial hazards can be managed using concept of “Recognize, Assess, Control and Evaluate” (RACE), which is a systematic approach to managing hazards in the workplace.

The Hierarchy of Controls framework can be applied to psychosocial hazards to help prioritize interventions to foster psychologically healthy and safe work environments.

Psychological Health Problems

Actions to prevent the onset or reduce the severity of psychological health problems in the workplace, such as improvements in:

Primary prevention, the goal of which is to reduce employee exposures. Changes are made to conditions that may contribute to psychological health problems (e.g. considering the psychological characteristics of work tasks and individual workers to ensure good job-person fit, supporting work-life balance)
Secondary prevention, the goal of which is to reduce negative health outcomes. Psychological health problems are identified and addressed while at an early stage (e.g. providing self-care tools, providing supervisor/manager training, providing early intervention through Employee Assistance Program and Employee Health & Wellness prior to long-term absence)
Tertiary prevention, the goal of which is to reduce absence from work. To reduce the distress and dysfunction associated with an identified mental disorder (e.g. providing support to stay at work, exploring accommodation options, supporting access to psychological treatment)

Psychosocial Risk Assessment

Actions to promote and enhance the general psychological health of the workforce by addressing psychosocial risk factors in the workplace, including:

Psychological support
Organizational culture
Clear leadership and expectations
Civility and respect
Psychological job demands
Growth and development
Recognition and reward
Involvement and influence
Workload management
Engagement
Work/life balance
Psychological protection from violence, bullying and harassment
Protection of physical safety

Each division is expected to:

Communicate this policy to management, workers and Joint Health and Safety Committees/Health and Safety Representatives
Educate all employees through training and awareness programs on psychosocial risk factors
Assess particular issues or risk factors of greatest relevance to mental health and psychological safety within the division by conducting Psychosocial Risk Assessments (consulting with employees and Joint Health and Safety Committees/Health and Safety Representatives in this process)
Determine which improvements are needed within workplaces
Identify opportunities for change and/or current strengths on which to build and record the findings
Undertake promotion/prevention actions to initiate change and/or build on strengths
Evaluate the effectiveness of actions undertaken
Re-assess regularly with the goal of continuously improving mental health, wellness and psychological safety

Recommended Actions for Managers and Supervisors:

Communicate the policy and related information to employees
Engage Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSC)/ Health and Safety Representatives to conduct Psychosocial Risk Assessments and implement controls
Address psychosocial hazards in the workplace
Foster psychologically healthy and safe workplaces

Recommended Actions for Employees:

Review the policy and related information
Participate in conducting Psychosocial Risk Assessments
Recognize and report psychosocial hazards to your manager/supervisor
Foster psychologically healthy and safe workplaces

Note: Definitions in this document are taken from the CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013 National Standard of Canada

Psychological health and safety in the workplace – Prevention, promotion, and guidance to staged implementation.

Endorsed by OHSCC

September 24,2025

Approved by

City Manager

Date Approved

June 6, 2014

Reviewed by OHSCC