Responding is Bruno Samuel, director of marketing and strategic accounts, Americas, BSI, Herndon, VA.

Employers have faced many challenges in the past few years, including public employee issues. Prioritizing people’s psychological well-being with a new global standard can help support the people working at your company.

ISO 45003 is the first global standard that gives practical guidance on managing psychological health in the workplace. It focuses on psychological health and safety within an occupational health and safety management framework. This standard provides direction on tackling various factors that can influence a person’s psychological well-being at work, such as insufficient communication, high levels of stress, uninspiring management and organizational culture.

Other benefits of ISO 45003:

• Strengthens recruitment, diversity, engagement and retention
• Reduces absence from the workplace caused by stress, burnout, anxiety and depression
• Increases performance, innovation and productivity
• Diminishes costs and improve compliance

It also offers support in identifying psychosocial hazards concerning workers, including those from working from home, and suggests actions and resources to manage them while enhancing employee well-being.

How does this standard contribute to workplace well-being?

Occupational health and safety management provides the first international definition of workplace well-being: fulfillment of the physical, mental, social, and cognitive needs and expectations of an employee related to their work. However, ISO 45003 doesn’t guide what workplace well-being programs need to include. It focuses on promoting well-being by managing psychosocial risk.

The term “psychosocial risks” describes potentially negative impacts on psychological health and safety in the workplace. It describes the factors within the workplace and the work we do that can negatively affect an employee’s psychological and physical health.

Psychosocial risks can arise from work-related factors such as assignments, deadlines, isolation, type of work and work-life balance. Contributing social factors include culture, working relationships, bullying, harassment, fairness and career development. Other hazards that can give rise to psychological harm include high noise levels, thermal discomfort, pain from musculoskeletal disorders, fear of violence and aggression, or even witnessing an incident.

The most successful organizations recognize that a healthy workplace is a happy and productive one. Governments are starting to recognize that employers and managers have a leading role in preventing ill health while also promoting good health. People recognize how important their health is; older workers need to stay fit and healthy to keep working and enjoy their later years; younger generations are more informed on health, and they expect their employers to actively provide healthy workplaces, not ones that merely give them a check.

The occupational health and safety management standard aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It sends a powerful message to shareholders and stakeholders – including employees – that organizations truly prioritize people.

Editor's note: This article represents the independent views of the author and should not be considered a National Safety Council endorsement.