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Occupational Health 2018 Journal of Nursing and Health Studies
ISSN: 2574-2825 Page 19
May 28-29, 2018
London, UK
4th Edition of International Conference on
Occupational Health and
Safety
Canadian workers’ compensation tribunal has set
substantive legal precedents for parity in approach to
psychological and physical injury placing a duty on employers
to ensure psychological and physical safety in the workplace.
Consequently, the National Standard for Psychological Health
and Safety in the Workplace (2013) advocates for healthy
workplaces through prevention, protection and promotion
strategies. While not a new concept, development towards a
healthy workplace spotlights again the expanding domain of
occupational health to protect workers against injury from
physical and psychological hazards. Hence, my research
focuses on ways in which organizational culture, social
climate and leadership style may influence the development
of healthy workplaces. My findings clearly show a relationship
between the various variables explored, leading to my revised
model for the healthy workplace that clearly points to the
separation of the distal environment (culture and leadership)
from the proximal environment (climate, occupational bond,
health practice) and indicates that the proximal environment
variables have a greater influence over workers’ perceptions
than the distal working environment. This structural revision
has important implications for both theory and practice. There
is some concrete evidence here suggesting that a top down
approach is not necessarily the best way to implement change
and support a healthy workplace. The findings are consistent
with current research indicating that co-workers are more
directly affecting behavior than supervisors or managers In
order to advance the healthy workplace management needs to
pay particular attention to proximal influences. Author looks
forward to discuss further the practical implications of this
research.
Biography
Gabrielle McHugh completed her BA in Psychology fromNational University
of Ireland in 1988; MA in Disability Management fromUniversity of Northern
British Columbia in 2005 and PhD at the same university in 2012. Her PhD
research focused on the ways in which organizational culture, social climate
and leadership style influence the healthy workplace. She completed a four-
year research fellowship at Bournemouth University, UK, before returning to
Canada as an independent Social Scientist whose research in the area of
healthy workplaces is endorsed by Excellence Canada. She is also affiliated
with Webster University.
Parity in approach to mental health and physical health in
the workplace – is all equal in the development of healthy
workplaces?
Gabrielle McHugh
1Webster University, Thailand
2The Next Step Consulting, Canada
Gabrielle McHugh, J Nurs Health Stud 2018, Volume 3
DOI: 10.21767/2574-2825-C2-005