Your PHS Roadmap: A Layered Guide to Workplace Psychological Health & Safety
Implementing Psychological Health and Safety (PHS) doesn't mean starting over. Your organization likely has a foundation you can build upon. Integrating PHS training is key to refining your existing policies, protocols, and procedures, but the immediate priority is understanding how your personnel fit into the PHS system's layered approach.
A successful PHS protocol starts with team-wide awareness. Without it, integration simply won't work. The entire team must take ownership, much like they do with WHMIS. PHS requires budgeting and strategic placement of your personnel within the system to ensure maximum return on a PHS investment.
PHS: Which Path Will You Take?
The PHS path will look different for large and small companies. While large companies often have the budget, they must overcome the significant hurdle of communicating the protocol across a vast team. Smaller companies might face tighter budgets, but they benefit from a close-knit team that makes PHS communication simpler.
While these differences might dictate your path, the goal remains the same: a comprehensive system. The Opening Minds framework supports this goal by offering specialized training paths customized for the varying roles and needs for every business. First, let’s assess all options to understand the choices available for your team.
Leaders Lead the Way: PHS Building Team Success E-Course
For any PHS strategy to succeed, leaders must be fully engaged. With so much to consider—from policies and processes to training and team support—it can feel overwhelming. That's why the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) offers a highly focused, 90-minute, self-paced e-course for People Leaders.
While this course isn't mandatory, it's specifically designed to help people leaders quickly grasp their role and necessary involvement, making sense of the entire PHS implementation process.
Policy, and Health & Safety Teams: Introduction & Integrating PHS in the Workplace
Designed for those who shape and manage organizational policy, this specialized training is critical for HR, People & Culture, OHS, Wellness teams, and Executive leaders looking to take charge of policy creation and oversight.
It's similar to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), but Integration of PHS training specifically addresses the nuances of mental health problems, crisis, and risks.
This two-day, online, facilitator-led course introduces the Opening Minds PHS Integration Framework—a roadmap for embedding psychological health and safety into your key areas of work. While not mandatory, leaders are strongly encouraged to also take the prerequisite Introduction to PHS program.
PHS training helps participants prepare for a formal PHS assessment, which measures and evaluates the PHS integration throughout the organization. Ultimately, the assessment generates clear recommendations that inform resource allocation and drive strategic improvements in your PHS system.
Introduction to PHS: For the People
After leaders establish the PHS foundation, it's essential to get all personnel involved. Just as with WHMIS and other OHS initiatives , PHS is a shared responsibility, requiring active participation from every team member. The Introduction to PHS is a 4-hour, online, facilitator-led program equipping employees to understand their role in shared PHS responsibility.
Reinforcing Your PHS Protocols
Implementing a PHS revamp—which is fundamentally a major organizational change—requires keeping staff engaged, informed, and competent. It's important that employees not only grasp the purpose and benefit of PHS but also feel fully capable of contributing to the transformation.
Businesses need to help ensure competency by providing skill-based training (e.g., Mental Health First Aid, or The Working Mind). These practical skills equip employees to execute their day-to-day PHS responsibilities effectively. But like PHS, training is most effective when matched to specific roles.
This layered approach balances depth and reach—providing both credentialed responders and a culture of mental health literacy across the organization.
Mental Health First Aid Certification: Credentialed MHFA Responders
Businesses should aim for one certified MHFA responder per 25 employees. This ensures that each team or department has someone formally trained to respond to a mental health crisis. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an accredited, world-renowned certification program that teaches people to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health problems and crises.
The goal of MHFA is simple: to equip people with the skills to offer initial, immediate support to someone in need until professional help is available. This two-day, online training closes the gap between noticing a problem and securing appropriate care, actively promoting mental well-being in the community and workplaces.
Mental Health First Aid Essentials: Awareness for Teams & General Public
MHFA Essentials focuses on core knowledge and practical skills in Mental Health First Aid. This offering includes a streamlined one-day virtual course. Because the program requires no formal assessment, Essentials provides a strong, time-efficient foundation in MHFA principles, making it an ideal choice for teams, communities, and individuals seeking accessible training.
The Working Mind: Employees & Managers
A training that aims to shift how employees and managers think, feel, and act about mental health. The Working Mind’s (TWM) core goal is to reduce stigma and create a supportive work environment. It places a major emphasis on self-care and work-life balance for all participants, while the managers' stream includes a dedicated module on how to effectively support their teams through organizational change.
TWM is an online, highly customizable training solution built to meet an organization's specific needs. It comes in two streams: one designed for managers and another for employees. Additionally, TWM can be tailored to be industry-specific for private groups, ensuring the content is directly relevant to the unique challenges of any sector.
Assessing Your PHS System
PHS requires ongoing assessment because it's not a static goal; systems must evolve as the organization changes. Regular evaluation allows workplaces to identify and address gaps, ensuring the initiative is continuously perfected over time.
You’ll Need a Licensed Assessor
The PHS assessment program is unique to Opening Minds; therefore, all assessments must be conducted in collaboration with them. Due to this exclusivity, the Opening Minds PHS Assessor training requires a successful application that highlights the persons knowledge of OHS and PHS laws and systems.
Candidates require rigorous. They must also become credentialed facilitators in both PHS: Introduction & Integration and Mental Health First Aid which have their own requirements that necessitates individual application for each type of training.
Types of PHS Assessors
There are two ways to assess your PHS, through an internal or external assessor (third party, and independent). Like anything else, they both have their pros and drawbacks. Hiring an Internal Assessor can be costly and involves meeting specific requirements, such as yearly training quotas. We recommend this approach only if the trainer has the capacity to fulfill the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Facilitator Agreement.
While the hourly or per-assessment rate for an external assessor may appear higher, organizations avoid the long-term fixed costs and administrative overhead of employing a dedicated internal assessor. External assessors are responsible for maintaining their own credentials and meeting all requirements (such as yearly quotas), freeing your organization from the cost and burden of ensuring compliance with various Facilitator Agreements.
Internal Assessors
Internal Assessors are restricted to conducting Opening Minds PHS assessments only for their current employer or organization. They are not authorized to complete Accredited PHS Recognition Status Assessments within their own agency. Should an Assessor wish to conduct assessments externally, they must undergo a formal status change, which requires additional training provided by Opening Minds.
External Assessments: Third Party and Independent
Two types of external assessors exist, possessing different licensing authorities.
Third Party External Assessors are employed by an association, such as a ‘Safe Work’ organization. They conduct assessments for member organizations that lack internal staff assessors. They cannot conduct Opening Minds Psychological Health and Safety assessments for other organizations outside of their member organizations.
An Independent External Assessor, conversely, is a consultant or contractor who is licensed directly by Opening Minds. Assessors of this type can autonomously select assessments relevant to their industry and charge rates in line with MHCC recommendations. Furthermore, Independent Assessors are uniquely authorized to complete Accredited PHS Recognition Status Assessments for organizations seeking formal PHS accreditation.
