Mental health WCB claims rise in province
REGINA As the number of mental health claims in the province continue to rise, Worksafe Saskatchewan is aiming to educate employers and their workers about safe, healthy workplaces.
“We’re looking to continue to break down the stigma (around mental health) in the workplace,” said Kevin Mooney, director of prevention with the Saskatchewan Workers Compensation Board.
The WCB has seen a 75-percent increase in accepted mental health claims over the last three years.
According to Mooney, the majority of the claims the WCB receives are still for physical injuries, but out of about 22,000 total claims from last year, he said mental health claims made up about a few hundred, which continues to rise from previous years.
As the stigma around mental health begins to break down, Mooney says people begin to feel more comfortable coming forward with mental health situations. But he said the increase in claims for psychological injuries represents “a need in the province.”
“I think it just tells us that we need to start being more proactive in this area,” he said.
To fulfil that need in the province, Worksafe has partnered with the University of Fredericton to provide workers and employers in Saskatchewan with access to courses in psychological health and wellness, at a fraction of the tuition cost.
“We’re hopeful that if people learn new techniques around building resiliency that we’ll be able to get more proactive in relation to mental health claims. And perhaps people will be able to get support before they have a need to file a claim,” Mooney said.
The courses include an “enhancing workplace resiliency” course, as well as two certificate programs. The first, called Managing Psychological Health Issues at Work, discusses ways that managers and supervisors can help employees with mental health issues or who are experiencing emotional distress.
“A supervisor is most likely to notice a change in one of their workers, whether it’s in showing up late, calling in sick more often, or maybe just a change in appearance and behaviour,” Mooney said. “So (the course) provides supervisors with skills to approach and deal proactively with those situations.”
The second, advanced certificate course is aimed at organizational leaders who are interested in putting health and safety management systems in place in the workplace.
Mooney, who has gone through the courses himself, says they’re very practical, covering things like tactical breathing and goal-setting in the resiliency course, for example, in addition to the theoretical portion.
The Worksafe website also offers courses developed by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, which also aim to help employers create psychologically healthy workplaces for employees.
Visit www.worksafesask.ca/ mentalhealth for more information, or to register for both the University of Fredericton and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety courses.