Providing a safe and healthy work environment can benefit employees’ mental health and wellbeing. It can provide a sense of belonging, purpose, structure, a sense of identity, increased feelings of self-worth and opportunities for personal and professional development.

However, there may be some circumstances where work has a negative impact on a person’s mental health and wellbeing, especially when psychosocial hazards are present.

A psychosocial hazard is anything that has the potential to cause psychological harm (for example, harm to someone's mental health). Workplace psychosocial hazards include:

·       Bullying and harassment

·       fatigue

·       traumatic events or material

·       job demands

·       low job control

·       low or inadequate support

·       lack of role clarity

·       poor organisational change management

·       poor organisational justice

·       remote or isolated work – even working from home

·       poor physical environment

·       violence and aggression

·       conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions

Stress can be caused by psychosocial hazards. This can have both psychological and physical consequences. Stress is not inherently harmful. However, it can be harmful if workers are stressed frequently and for an extended period of time, or if the level of stress is high.

Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleep disorders are examples of psychological harm.

Musculoskeletal injuries, chronic disease, and fatigue-related injuries are examples of physical harm.

Legal duties and work-related psychosocial issues

The Occupational Health and Safety Act of 2004 (OHS Act) requires employers to provide and maintain a safe and healthy working environment to the greatest extent reasonably practicable. This includes providing and maintaining safe work environments and consulting with employees and HSRs on issues that directly affect or are likely to affect their health or safety, such as hazards and risks associated with work-related stress.

Employees are also required by the OHS Act to take reasonable precautions for their own health and safety, as well as the health and safety of others in the workplace, and to cooperate with their employer.

Training on psychological health and safety

We provide training on psychosocial and psychological safety in the workplace; our training aims to increase understanding, improve responses and create mentally healthy workplaces. We can work with you to create a tailored workshop to suit the needs of your leadership team or deliver the Mental Health Frist Aid course on-site to your team.

We also work with a workplace bullying expert and our EAP counsellor Frances Caile to support individuals in the workplace on psychosocial injury prevention and management.

Contact us today at Wellbeing Campus.