Psychologically Safe Workplace Award: Purolator puts psychological health and safety first

From left to right: Kevin Calloo, John Ferguson, Roger Alouche, Ryland McLaren, Ann-Marie Smith, Shaquana Burton, Michelle Heath, Leo Scorca, Tony Manful, Lyndsay Baetz, Dr. Shaan Chugh. Front: Ashley Wood-Suszko. Credit: Purolator.

If you need proof of Purolator’s commitment to creating a psychologically safe workplace, look no further than the 37,000-plus hours of mental health training the company has delivered to all employees.

What do those hours add up to? For starters, over 700 leaders received The Working Mind for Managers training through the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and 187 employees across 101 locations received training in mental health first aid.

The company also boasts 95 members in its network of well-being champions – volunteers who passionately support their team’s health and well-being, and have access to virtual, on-demand training so they can upskill as needed.

Then there are the company’s routine wellness workshops to consider. Workshops cover topics such as mental health, burnout, resilience, and self-care, and are open to both employees and their families. Workshop recordings are posted online for those who can’t attend live, or who want to revisit key topics after the live sessions.

Throughout the year, Purolator also hosts campaigns to support mental health. In May 2024, the company’s health and safety teams partnered with well-being champions and mental health first aid responders to plan activities around Mental Health Awareness Week. The teams also worked together to develop and deploy posters and resource kits for every terminal across the country, focusing on the interconnectedness of mental health and physical safety. In October 2024, Purolator’s Healthy Workplace Month campaign challenged employees to participate in events tied to emotional well-being, inclusivity, sustainability, and healthy habits. The result? Employees completed more than 4,000 challenges that month.

Together, all these efforts are helping Purolator move the needle on key metrics. The company has seen a 57 per cent drop in urgent counselling since 2021, and a 40 per cent drop in the duration of mental health long-term disability since 2020. Purolator also reports a 16 per cent drop in mental health prescription claims since 2021.

As one anonymous employee noted about the company’s programs, “Purolator Health helped me take my health more seriously and gave us a space to talk about mental health without shame.”

While Purolator has made great strides in creating a psychologically safe workplace for its employees, the company aims to go further. This year, it will publish its full mental health strategy, freely sharing information to help other employers create psychologically safe workplaces too.