Dr. Samra made the keynote presentation at the Alberta Health Services’ Mental Health in the Workplace symposium. Her presentation was “Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace: Evidence-Informed, Practical Employer Approaches and Resources.”<\/p>\n
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Mental health claims are the fastest growing category of disability in the workplace, soon to rival the costs of cardiovascular disease. Depression, anxiety and burnout are the three most common sources of mental distress leading to these claims. Mental health problems account for about half of employee absences due to illness each year in Canada. That\u2019s 35 million days lost annually. Perhaps one of the most alarming statistics point to a staggering $31 billion lost in productivity each year due to mental illness in Canada.\u00a0 What remains promising, however, is that today\u2019s business leaders, occupational health and safety and human resource professionals and policy makers sit in an unprecedented position to affect workplace culture so that health and safety trends like these do not increasingly and unmanageably continue.<\/p>\n
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