PHSMS 1/6 – What are the Costs

What is PHSMS: Psychological health and safety management systems.  These are a company’s psychological health policies, procedures, and practices that are part of a safe workplace.  A PHSMS isn’t about assessing a worker’s mental health, it’s about considering the impact of workplace processes, policies, and interactions on the psychological health and safety of all workers.

30% of disability claims are from mental health problems and mental illnesses.  Not addressing psychological health and safety in the workplace is a significant cost as it is one of the top causes for disability claims. Mental health conditions are the leading cause of disability, absence, and presenteeism.  The costs for you to set up a system (or incrementing your current safety system) can be quantified in both time and money spent.  However, there are many direct and indirect costs associated with poor psychological health and some of these are very hard to quantify but must be identified and evaluated:

Absenteeism

Lost productivity

Disability claims

Injuries and illness

Grievances/complaints

Turnover

Legal implications

There are a large number of new tools to help assess your current status.  One great starting point is the detailed guidebook found at https://www.csagroup.org/documents/codes-and-standards/publications/SPE-Z1003-Guidebook.pdf

There is also a great related free site at (https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/topic/menu-free-resources/topics-free-resources).  By starting at assessments, you will determine burn-out levels, assess leadership, and access an audit tool as well as a number of other self assessment tools

Conclusion:  Addressing PMSMS can be very complicated however, it all starts with an open and honest assessment of where your organization is at currently, the costs you are now incurring, and then determining where you want to be and assessing the costs related to that transition.  Research, understand, plan, interact, and Document. Effective assessments help organizations identify strengths and areas for improvement.  Assessment, as a starting point, will improve your self-awareness, social awareness, self-management and relationship management. Ultimately, this is taking your safety system to the next level and directly addressing some of the 30% of your disability claims costs.

The arena of PHSMS Mental Health requires detailed tracking of policies procedures and practices along with critical documentation.  One solution is to use Workhub’s simple, all-inclusive $4 per user per month health and safety management software.  Our customer support team is always available to help and its always free to book a demo at www.Workhub.com.