Rethinking Workplace Impairment: Why Stress Belongs in the Safety Conversation

Elizabeth Eldridge
Nov 21
7 min read

When most people hear the term “fit for duty” they think of impairment related to drugs and alcohol. Maybe fatigue. Maybe physical limitations. But the reality of today’s workplaces is far more complex. Impairment isn’t just chemical, and it isn’t always visible. Stress, grief, burnout, anxiety, trauma, conflict and personal crises can leave someone just as distracted, exhausted and mentally checked out as any substance.

And from a safety standpoint, impairment is impairment. If your cognitive functioning is reduced, your risk increases. Full stop.

This is exactly why psychological health and safety can’t sit in a policy binder on a shelf. It belongs under the occupational health and safety umbrella, because mental, emotional and social wellbeing are inseparable from physical safety. You cannot keep people physically safe if their minds are overwhelmed.

What Does It Look Like in the Real World?

Glad you asked!

Jonathan works in operations and has always been a rock solid employee. Reliable. Committed. The person everyone trusts.

But right now, Jonathan is going through a painful divorce. He’s not sleeping, he’s juggling financial stress and parenting concerns, and he’s barely keeping his head above water.

Over the past week, his supervisor has noticed changes:

Jonathan is unusually quiet
He’s forgetting steps he usually knows inside out
He’s zoning out mid-task
His reaction time is slower
He looks physically and emotionally exhausted

The supervisor knows something is wrong. He also knows that Jonathan is not safe to do certain tasks today.

But here’s the problem: There is no breathalyzer for grief, no urine test for anxiety, no saliva swab for sleepless nights.

If this were a substance issue, there’d be a clear protocol. But stress impairment? There’s no “test.” And that leaves a lot of supervisors feeling stuck.

Many workplaces lean heavily on drug testing as their safety mechanism, but the truth is that a negative drug test doesn’t necessarily mean a worker is fit for duty. It means there are no substances present. It tells you nothing about cognitive overload, trauma or exhaustion.

When workplaces treat psychological health as separate from safety, people like Jonathan slip through the cracks. And that’s when incidents happen.

What the Law Actually Says

Canadian OHS legislation almost never names “stress” or “mental health” specifically. Instead, it uses broader language that does absolutely apply to situations like Jonathan’s.

Across Canada, OHS legislation establishes that:

Workers have the right to a safe and healthy work environment.
Employers have a legal duty to ensure that workplace conditions are safe and to take every reasonable precaution to protect worker health and safety.
Workers also have a duty to report hazards, including anything that could cause harm.
Workers have the right to refuse unsafe work if they believe there is a danger to themselves or others.

If a worker is so stressed, distracted or emotionally overwhelmed that they cannot work safely, that is a hazard. And hazards fall squarely under OHS.

This broader language is intentional. It ensures employers consider all forms of harm, including the ones you can’t measure on a test.

It’s worth noting that provinces like BC and NS have already begun integrating psychological injury and psychological safety directly into their OHS frameworks. Psychological health and safety belongs under OHS because psychological functioning drives physical safety.

When someone is mentally overloaded, everything we depend on for safe work starts to slip: focus, clear thinking, reaction time, problem solving, communication and even basic awareness of what’s going on around them.

You can have perfect equipment, proper PPE and the best procedures… but if your people are mentally overloaded, you’re still at risk. This is why psychological health and safety is not an “extra.” It’s a critical part of preventing physical harm.

Everyone Has a Role: The Duty to Report Hazards Applies to Psychological Impairment Too

Under Canadian OHS legislation, workers don’t just have the right to a safe work environment, they actually play an active role in helping create it.

Workers have a legal duty to report hazards, which includes anything that could cause harm to themselves or to others. That means if Jonathan’s coworkers notice he’s not himself — if he’s distracted, forgetful or visibly struggling — they aren’t supposed to look the other way.

They have an obligation to speak up.

Not to get him in trouble. Not to “rat him out.” But to keep him safe.

This is where workplace culture and psychological safety make all the difference. Because in a supportive, stigma-free environment, reporting a concern isn’t an act of policing. It’s an act of care.

So that’s where it gets complicated: legislation may require workers to report hazards, but legislation alone doesn’t make it feel possible for workers to do it in the real world.

To meet those obligations in a real, humane way, workplaces need:

Basic mental health awareness

Workers and supervisors need to know what to look for: changes in behaviour, demeanour or performance that could signal someone is not fit for duty. If nobody can recognize signs of cognitive or emotional impairment, hazards go unreported.

A culture free from stigma

If people fear judgement, gossip or backlash, they won’t feel comfortable speaking up when they notice a coworker struggling. A supportive culture makes it safe to check in, ask questions and raise concerns in a way that protects everyone’s wellbeing.

Clear, safe reporting channels

Workers need to know who to talk to and how. Is it their supervisor? HR? A joint health and safety committee? Without clear paths, the duty to report becomes meaningless.

Skills and confidence to have supportive conversations

Workers aren’t therapists and they’re not expected to solve someone’s problems, but they do need to feel confident saying things like, “Hey, I’ve noticed you seem overwhelmed today. Want to take a break or talk to a supervisor?” That confidence doesn’t show up magically. It comes from training, practice and trust.

Leadership that responds with empathy, not punishment

If reports are met with frustration, punishment or blame, people stop reporting. When reports lead to support and meaningful help, people keep speaking up.

Peer Observation Is a Safety Tool… Not a Breach of Trust

In Jonathan’s case, his coworkers likely see the same changes his supervisor sees. Maybe they’ve noticed mistakes. Maybe they’ve had a conversation with him and feel something is off.

From a legislative perspective, they have a duty to bring that forward. From a human perspective, stepping in could prevent an injury, long-term psychological harm and/or a worsening mental health crisis. When the culture is right, coworkers don’t feel like they’re “reporting” someone. They feel like they’re protecting them.

In a perfect world the majority of “fit for duty” conversations would come from the worker themselves. Self awareness is one of the most effective safety tools. When people feel psychologically safe enough to say, “I’m not myself today and it’s not safe for me to be on this task,” risks get managed early and proactively.

But mental health concerns don’t always announce themselves. They rarely appear as a sudden, obvious shift. Instead, they creep in slowly — a bit more fatigue here, a little more distraction there, a shorter attention span, missed breaks, restless nights, irritability or confusion. By the time someone realises how much they’re struggling, others may have noticed the signs long before. This is why coworkers and peers are so important in modern safety systems. Their role is to step in when they see changes the person might not be fully aware of. When the workplace culture is healthy and supportive, speaking up becomes an act of care, not criticism. It keeps Jonathan safe, protects the team and fulfils the shared responsibility that OHS legislation expects from all of us.

Legislation Creates Responsibility; Culture Makes It Real

Remember this: Laws set the expectation, but culture determines the outcome.

You can have the strongest OHS policy in the world, but if:

workers don’t know what signs to look for
supervisors don’t know how to respond
mental health stigma is alive and well
people fear repercussions
reporting pathways are unclear
conversations feel awkward

…then psychological hazards stay hidden, and workers like Jonathan get overlooked.

A psychologically safe workplace culture brings the legislation to life. It empowers everyone to step in early, speak up and keep one another safe.

A psychologically healthy and safe workplace creates conditions where:

supervisors feel confident checking in early
employees feel safe saying, “I’m not okay today”
mental health conversations are normal
support comes before punishment
temporary modified duties are used proactively
substance use issues are treated as health issues
workers know they won’t be judged for being human

When your culture encourages honesty, you hear about problems before they turn into incidents. People self identify, coworkers speak up, and leaders intervene earlier. That’s the true protective mechanism.

Empathy is a safety tool. Psychological safety is PPE for the mind.

What Employers Can Do Right Now

Here are meaningful ways employers can support both psychological and physical safety:

Train supervisors to establish basic mental health literacy
Build clear processes for identifying non-substance impairment
Normalise check-ins and supportive conversations
Create pathways for temporary modified duties
Integrate psychological hazards into your OHS program
Promote EFAP and internal supports consistently
Emphasise support over discipline in early stages
Adopt the National Standard as a guiding framework

These steps go much further than any testing regime because they address root causes, not just detectable substances.

The Bottom Line

Being fit for duty isn’t just about what’s in someone’s bloodstream. It’s also about what’s weighing on their minds, what’s going on in their lives. A workplace can’t claim to be safe if it ignores the psychological conditions that directly impact cognitive functioning and physical safety. Mental and emotional wellbeing are part of OHS because people don’t leave their lives at the door when they show up for work.

Support first. Empathy always. When we protect the whole person, we protect the whole workplace.

Elizabeth Eldridge is a Psychological Health & Safety Consultant based in southern New Brunswick, Canada. In addition to keynote speaking and corporate training on mental health in the workplace, she supports organizations across the country on the adoption of Canada's best practice guidelines on psychological health and safety management. She is the Founder & President of Arpeggio Health Services which provides standardized education programs like Mental Health First Aid, The Working Mind, QPR Suicide Prevention and more.