Now live – ISO 45003 - Occupational health, and safety management – Psychological health and safety at work – Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks
The long-awaited ISO 45003 is now published and live, giving the workplace guidance on managing employee’s mental health, wellbeing and safety risks within an occupational health and safety management system. It is the first global standard giving practical guidance on managing psychological health in the workplace it covers things like:
Identifying conditions, circumstances and workplace demands that could impair the psychological health and wellbeing in workers.
Identifying what changes need to be made to improve the working environment.
Identifying and controlling work related hazards and manage psychological risk within an occupational health and safety management system.
Here is a link to a short video about the scheme: World's first standard for psychological health and safety at work - YouTube
The publication of the standard is perfect timing with the pandemic altering many people’s attitudes to looking after themselves. Stressors such as fear, uncertainty, isolation, and increased/decreased workload have brought to light the importance of looking after psychological health within the workplace. Many have been working from home and the prospect of returning to their workplace brings on more feelings of worry or anxiety. Mental health and wellbeing have been an issue within the workplace for a long time with stress, burnout, depression, and anxiety costing the UK economy billions yearly and resulting in high figures of long-term sickness absences therefore disrupting the productivity of many businesses.
Many businesses feel they do not have the resources to deal with mental health issues at work and have often glossed over issues or made it apparent there was no conversation to be had, with a “man up” attitude. Each person will be different, but every person’s wellbeing matters and there is a growing understanding of how any organisation, no matter the size, will be facing mental health and wellbeing issues imminently and into the future.
To ensure long term success businesses will need to get to the root cause of negative mental health and wellbeing within their workplace. They need to recognise that there is a need for risk assessment, process, and to be offering support. A healthy and happy workforce will always be more productive and efficient ultimately contributing to the success of the business.
Wellity Global was born from a desire to promote the commitment of those demonstrating the best practice in the industry. The team has developed the Wellity certification scheme to help organisations to comply with the ISO 45003. The standard can be used as a solid framework for the accreditation of organisations demonstrating excellence in their approach to employee wellbeing and a proven level of quality assurance at three levels:
Organisation
Process
Individual
Our standard has been designed for organisations wishing to demonstrate their compliance with the relevant regulations to protect their employee’s wellbeing and put practices into place to promote the conversation! The Wellity standard is awarded at bronze, silver, and gold levels!
Visit our website today to book a free 45-minute wellbeing consultation!