Creating Mentally Healthy Workplaces: WHS compliance or best practice - where’s the line?

Dr Kïrsten Way, Manager Employee Health, Safety and Wellbeing

We’ve come a long way

•  Explicitly acknowledged in scope of legislation

•  Better definitions

• National and international governmental recognition of the problem, media interest

•  Employer and Industry acknowledgement of hazards and risk

• WHS guidance now available

•  Investigation and enforcement by regulators

Recent cases

Work-Related

The current conversation

Mental Health

Psychosocial Hazards

Group-level vs Individual-level

Psychosocial Hazards WHAT ARE PSYCHOSOCIAL HAZARDS?

•  Work-related stress •  Workplace Bullying

•  Fatigue •  Work-related violence and

aggression

Stress Response

Psychological Injury/Illness

(depression, anxiety, burnout, emotional

distress, sleep disturbance, suicide)

Physical Illness (CVD, MSDs,

immune deficiency,

gastrointestinal disorders)

Poor Health Behaviours

(exercise, diet, alcohol

consumption and smoking)

Is there evidence of exposure to risk?

Is there evidence of failure to manage the risk?

Stage   Controls  -­‐  Bullying  

Before  the  Event  

•  Job  Design  and  Management  •  Commitment  •  Complaint  Handling  Procedures,    

•  Support  and  Coaching  •  Reward  respec=ul  behaviour  

• Policies  and  Procedures  • Instruc@on,  Training  &  Supervision  

• HR  Systems  • Regular  monitoring  

During  the  Event  

•  INTERVENE  EARLY  •  Quick  risk  assessment,  then  ins@tute  procedures  

• Encourage  people  to  act  • ENSURE  PROCEDURES  ARE  IMPLEMENTED  

A8er  the  Event  

•  Media@on  or  Inves@ga@on  as  appropriate  

•  Ensure  consequences  occur  •  Relevant  external  agencies?  

• Employee  assistance  services  

• Return  to  work/case  management  

• Organisa@onal  Development  

Two Examples

PRIMARY PREVENTION

PEOPLE AT WORK

Hazard identification

Risk assessment

Implement controls

SECONDARY INTERVENTION

Improves workplace outcomes by: ! Responding to early

indicators of absence, injury and illness

TERTIARY INTERVENTION

Injury treatment

Injury management

Rehabilitation & Return-to-Work

Complaints/Invest

PRIMARY INTERVENTION

Hazard identification

Risk assessment

Implement controls

TERTIARY INTERVENTION

Injury treatment

Injury management

Rehabilitation & Return-to-Work

Complaint work

SECONDARY INTERVENTION

RESOLVE AT WORK

Improves workplace outcomes by:

! Responding to early indicators of absence, injury and illness

! Identifying contributing workplace factors

! Integrating WHS, injury management and RTW

The Resolve Framework

1. Referral 2.  Initial contact 3.  Assessment 4.  Intervention and reporting 5. Case conference and reporting 6.  Implement and Review

Maintain at Work

At work (i.e. no absence recorded) 296 (51%)

Returned to Work* in full or part-time capacity

189 (32%)

Not maintained at work 27 (5%)

Unknown - Case not yet closed 75 (12%)

NOTE: 96% of cases referred whilst worker at work or less than 5 days absence were retained in full or part-time capacity compared to 66% referred after 4 weeks absence or more.

What are the challenges in compliance for psychosocial hazards?

1. Definitions in law versus general understanding of issues in the community

2. Scope confusions 3. Cumulative nature of the risk (for some

hazards) 4. Number of players in the regulatory

space 5. Limited avenues for personal redress 6. Broader issues of causation/interplay with

design and management of work 7.  “Helpers” being unhelpful

So where’s the line?

What is the evidence of exposure to risk? What is the evidence of failure to manage the risk? As WHS professionals - group-level is the key

Some final thoughts

• Regulators continue to respond to complaints and incidents

•  There is a strategic push to ensure psychosocial hazards are managed through primary prevention

Some final thoughts

• Raising mental health awareness is not enough

•  The EAP and resilience training trap • Resilience, engagement, wellness, and

other confusions •  Fatigue vs Violence vs Bullying vs Stress •  Focus on non-trivial issues

How do your activities relate to compliance and best practice?