New NSC program aims to help employers improve worker well-being

Itasca, IL — The National Safety Council, in partnership with Youturn Health, has launched a program designed to provide a “complete picture” of worker resilience and overall well-being.

To meet employers’ growing need to provide a psychologically safe work environment that supports worker well-being, the council says employers need access to programs and resources that address topics such as stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, substance misuse and suicidal ideation.

“Now more than ever, organizations are looking for ways to create a supportive, psychologically safe environment for their employees,” said Jenny Burke, vice president of workplace wellbeing solutions at NSC. “This program gives employers a comprehensive strategy to create a workplace culture that shows they care deeply about employees and their families.”

The formal offering provides supervisor training on impairment in the workplace, as well as educational tools and resources for key stakeholders within an organization. Those tools and resources include Substance Use and Mental Health cost calculators, which help employers identify ways their workers and businesses are impacted by these issues. They also include an opioids at work employer toolkit with materials for human resources, safety professionals and managers to help operationalize workplace supports.

Workers will have access to a Youturn Health virtual program designed to help those – and their family members – struggling with stress, mental health, substance use and/or suicidal ideation. That support includes access to an online library of educational videos that provide insight about mental health and substance misuse, a care management platform that provides a secure way to communicate with health professionals while streamlining suicidal and substance use risk analysis, and peer coaches who can connect employees with appropriate community resources.

“Employers are in a unique position to help destigmatize topics like mental health and substance misuse among their employees by providing tools and support to address their struggles in a meaningful way,” Youturn Health CEO Hamilton Baiden said in a press release. “Besides it just being the right thing to do, employers incur substantial cost due to absenteeism, increased health care costs, and lost productivity relating to substance misuse and mental health. Our partnership and program will help address all of this.”