Law Times

PAGE 4 Lawyers divided on standards for workplace psychological health NEWS L BY JULIUS MELNITZER For Law Times tended to promote psycho- logical health and safety in the workplace and may require, among other things, employers to implement new policies, pro- cedures, hazard identification, incident investigation, and monitoring activities in ad- dition to all of the existing steps required to develop and for psychological health and safety in the workplace augurs a new regulatory workplace tsu- nami or is merely a voluntary guideline that has no practical future. "The CSA standard is in- awyers are divided on whether the Canadian Standards Association' new national standard s manage occupational health and safety systems," says Cheryl Edwards, lead of the occupa- tional health and safety and workers' compensation practice group at Heenan Blaikie LLP' Toronto office. But the s have the force of law and com- pliance will be voluntary unless the government incorporates it by reference into the relevant statutes or regulators seek to enforce it under the general duty clause in Ontario' standard doesn't pational Health and Safety Act that requires employers to take reasonable precautions for the protection of workers. According to some lawyers, that's unlikely to occur. s Occu- bour has its hands full and prob- ably doesn't have the resources "The Ontario Ministry of La- der the general duty clause or otherwise, managing partner at Toronto's of other live issues at the moment that I doubt that they'll make it a priority. they have so many the standard is an evolution in the clamour for greater protec- tion for workers. "Ten or 15 years ago, there For her part, Edwards says " to implement the standard un- " says Landon Young, Stringer LLP. "We'll make our clients aware it, but lowered the bar to en- titlement for stress by recognizing claims for ongoing stress and not just for single traumatic events." As well, Edwards was a movement for protection against workplace violence and Ontario raised the bar on [oc- cupational health and safety] standards to deal with it," she says. "Then harassment protec- tion provisions evolved and workers' compensation boards points to the growth in grievances and civil claims seeking awards for nasty, bullying or aggressive behaviour by co-workers as well as su- pervisors. "It' doesn't go nearly as far as the standard toward promoting psychologi- cal health and safety, but it is a national stan- dard that suggests very strongly that employers should do things be- yond the legislative re- quirements," she says. "It' s true that the law lution similar When it comes to IP in Canada, We're Well Read Ridout & Maybee LLP: Editors of the Canadian Patent Reporter it all starts somewhere www.ridoutmaybee.com tors mandated policies and risk assessments regarding work- place violence under the gen- eral duty clause well before leg- islation dealt specifically with the issue. "We could be headed in that Edwards also notes regula- " direction with this standard, which has a great deal of sup- port from the medical and men- tal-health community as well as the public interest groups that supported workplace violence legislation," she says. Indeed, when the draſt ver- November 5, 2012 • Law Times 'It's not hard to see an evolution similar to that which occurred with regard to workplace violence,' says Cheryl Edwards. occurred with regard to work- place violence. s not hard to see an evo- to that which unclear about the difference between usual or normal stress and something more serious," he says. "And sec- ondly, the objective it con- templates and the training it demands is far too costly and difficult for the majority of employers to implement." More particularly, the stan- dard contemplates a commit- ment to a systematic approach to managing psychological health and safety that includes setting objectives, developing a plan to meet them, and review- ing its efficacy at least every three years. "The standard also requires sion of the standard went out for feedback in November 2011, the association received more than 850 submissions and com- ments. Still, Edwards doesn't expect to see many changes in the final version. "We do not anticipate signifi- cant changes to the basic struc- ture and obligations," she says. If that' vague about psychological harm in the sense that it' s Untitled-1 1 12-01-23 9:05 AM With more than 1,400 pages of essential legal references, Ontario Lawyer's Phone Book is your best connection to legal services in Ontario. Subscribers can depend on the credibility, accuracy and currency of this directory year after year. More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario than any other source: postal codes Lists of: THIS SPECIAL OFFER EXPIRES DECEMBER 1, 2012 Federal and provincial judges Federal courts, including a section for federal government departments, boards and commissions EARLY BIRD MULTIPLE COPY DISCOUNTS On subscription or One time purchase Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com Ontario courts and services, including a section for provincial government ministries, boards and commissions Small claims courts Contact information that is current, up to date and easy to find: and stay flat "Blue pages" to highlight government listings Canadian Law List, a Thomson Reuters business Prices subject to change without notice, and to applicable taxes. Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation CANADIAN LAW LIST serves, the final version will remain as unworkable as the draſt. "Firstly, the standard is s the case, Young ob- organizations to define mini- mum [psychological health and safety] requirements and provide training and support to workers and management to enable them to meet these minimum requirements and inform managers that suc- cessful performance requires maintaining a psychologically healthy and safe work environ- ment," says Edwards. Other requirements include psychological hazard identifica- tion, assessment, elimination, and prevention; identification and investigation of incidents; and a commitment to ongoing improvements in the system. LT 12-09-26 9:22 AM

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