People Risks – Having meaningful discussions, one conversation at a time

Risk Management Forum 2014Jennie Trinder

What is stress...

But really…

• "The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work."

• Stress is not an illness – it is a state. However, if stress becomes too excessive and prolonged, mental and physical illness may develop.

What isn’t stress……..

Staff being asked to:•Do the role for which they were employed•Complete tasks in a timely manner

The legal and moral case> Legal obligations under the Work Health and

Safety Act 2011 – complying will minimising costs and liability.

> We have a legal obligation to ensure that people are not at risk of further injury or illness.

> It’s the right thing to do – create a safe environment where you can work and learn.

What psychosocial stress costs us…

• In Australia, the total cost of workers compensation claims for stress and related conditions is estimated at over $200M/annum

• At Griffith we have had successful common law claims for post traumatic stress disorder

• Our employee assistance provider in 2013 reported 41% of staff presented for workplace concerns – the majority being workplace conflict and operational demands. This was up from 32% the previous year.

What are the costs…

Direct Costs Indirect Costs

Medical and like expenses Absenteeism

Increased workers compensation premiums Presenteeism

Legal and related costs (fines) Reduced morale

Poor work performance, efficiency and productivity

Replacement of staff and retraining costs

Loss of corporate knowledge

Factors of stress….

• Background and culture; • Skills and experience; • Personality; • Personal circumstances; • Individual characteristics; • Health status; • Ethnicity, gender, age or disability; and • Other demands both in and outside work.

Signs and symptoms of stress…

• Physical - Appears tense, appears tired, complaining of physical ailments such as headaches and nausea , shaking, sweating, unexplained weight change.

• Cognitive - Difficulty making decisions, poor memory, attention and concentration, negative thoughts/pessimism (e.g., I am useless, why bother, nothing is going to change, what is wrong with me?, what will they think of me?)

• Emotional – Frustrated, irritable/short fuse, anxious, fearful/scared, teary/upset, worthless, guilty.

• Behavioural - Absenteeism and lateness, social withdrawal/isolation, increased mistakes, accidents and injuries, increased use of drugs/alcohol/cigarettes, lowered productivity, deterioration of workplace relationships (e.g., conflict), reduced motivation/interest, avoidance, hyper-vigilance.

Most common reasons for workplace stress…

Job DemandsJob Demands•Role overload•Role ambiguity•Role conflict•Cognitive demands•Emotional demands•Group task conflict•Group relationship conflict

Job ResourcesJob Resources•Job control•Supervisor support•Co-worker support•Praise and recognition•Procedural justice•Change consultation

Management Standards for work related stress…

The Management Standards cover six key areas of work design that, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health and well-being, lower productivity and increased sickness absence - cover the primary sources of stress at work. These are:•Demands – this includes issues such as workload, work patterns and the work environment.•Control – how much say the person has in the way they do their work.•Support – this includes the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues.•Relationships – this includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.•Role – whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles.•Change – how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.

What you should be doing…not

What you should be doing…Demands•Provide employees with adequate and achievable demands in relation to the agreed hours of work;•Ensure people's skills and abilities are matched to the job demands;•Jobs are designed to be within the capabilities of employees; and•Address employees' concerns about their work environment

Control•Where possible, employees have control over their pace of work; •Encourage employees to use their skills and initiative to do their work;•Where possible, encourage employees to develop new skills to help them undertake new and challenging pieces of work;•Encourage employees to develop their skills;•Allow employees have a say over when breaks can be taken; and•Consult employees over their work patterns.

What you should be doing…Support•Point out to employees the organisations policies and procedures to adequately support them;•Actively enable and encourage your managers and supervisors to support their staff;•Actively enable and encourage employees to support their colleagues;•Promote to employees what support is available and how and when to access it;•Ensure employees know how to access the required resources to do their job; and•Provide employees with regular and constructive feedback

Relationships•Positive behaviours are promoted at work to avoid conflict and ensure consistency and fairness;•Encourage employees to share information relevant to their work;•Everyone is aware of the agreed policies and procedures to prevent or resolve unacceptable behaviour;•Enable and encourage managers to deal with unacceptable behaviour immediately; and•Actively encourage employees to report unacceptable behaviour.

What you should be doing…Role•Ensure, as far as possible, the different requirements placed upon employees are compatible;•Provide information to enable employees to understand their role and responsibilities;•Ensures that, as far as possible, the requirements placed upon employees are clear; and•Enable employees to raise concerns about any uncertainties or conflicts they have in their role and responsibilities.

Change•Provide employees with timely information to enable them to understand the reasons for proposed changes;•Ensure adequate employee consultation on changes and provides opportunities for employees to influence proposals;•Communicate with employees any probable impact of any changes to their jobs. If necessary, employees are given training to support any changes in their jobs; •Communicate with employees any timetables for changes; and•Access is provided to employees to relevant support during changes

Ask yourself….honestly.

> Activity – How effective are you at preventing and reducing stress in your staff?

Ladder of inference..

Your responsibilities…in summary How to get it right

> Have a conversation with your staff – simple but hard.> Know yourself and be honest – use your questionnaire to

identify areas for development> Observe your staff, look out for the signs of stress> Model the behaviour you expect – lead by example.

> Health and Safety Team – safety@griffith.edu.au> Health and Safety Executive - http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress> Comcare - http://www.comcare.gov.au> Work Health and Safety Queensland -

http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/workers/healthy-workers

Where can you go for support and further information…