Potential barriers and facilitators to small businesses adopting a psychological health and safety management system

In recent years, the importance of identifying and managing psychological risk factors in the workplace has received increasing recognition due to significant evidence that suggests that workplace factors can adversely impact the onset and duration of mental health problems among workers. This has led to the development of the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (The National Standard). Some organizations, especially large ones, have implemented, or are starting to implement, the National Standard. Notwithstanding that, there is still a lack of understanding of the facilitators and barriers to the effective implementation of a psychological health and safety management system (PHSMS). Thus, the challenges and opportunities of how small organizations put the National Standard into practice needs further study. This paper aims to examine the relevant literature and perform a search to identify potential facilitators and barriers that may affect small businesses in the process of implementing a PHSMS. In addition, some recommendations have been provided to assist small business in overcoming these barriers.