There has been a 56 per cent increase in workers’ compensation claims for assaults and exposure to workplace violence since 2017-18, according to a recent Safe Work Australia report. It found that there were 53,139 accepted workers’ compensation claims for being assaulted and 12,721 accepted claims for exposure to workplace or occupational violence over the past 10 years.
Emergency service personnel and other professionals who are responsible for responding to incidents on high-speed roads experience higher fatality and incident rates, and also suffer from higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder compared to the general population.
Although most businesses strive to do the right thing by their employees and reduce psychosocial risks, the complexity of this task means most organisations are still struggling to comprehensively address workplace mental health challenges, according to the Black Dog Institute.
Despite economic headwinds, the HSE job market in Australia has remained remarkably resilient compared to other sectors, according to The Safe Step’s latest HSE Job Opportunities Index. While HSE job opportunities have softened, they remain 58 per cent higher than five years ago (well above pre-COVID levels). Queensland now holds the second-largest share of HSE job opportunities, at 27 per cent, driven by significant investments in infrastructure, energy projects, and resources.
There are four key factors which improve psychosocial safety: top management support for stress prevention; prioritising worker psychological health over productivity and profits; better communication systems about risks and prevention; and better consultation with workers and all levels of the organisation in resolving risks, according to the University of South Australia.
Australia Post recently urged dog owners to properly secure their dogs as it revealed that more than 55 posties have fallen victim to dog-related incidents every working week. Despite Australia Post’s pleas for more action from dog owners, more than 1420 dog-related incidents have occurred in Australia in the past six months. While no dog breed is more likely to attack than another, Australia Post said it is increasingly seeing smaller dogs that show aggressive behaviour.
The NSW Government recently launched a strategy that outlines how SafeWork will support employers to manage risks and comply with their duty to prevent psychological harm in NSW workplaces. The SafeWork NSW Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026 will be supported by $5.6 million in government funding over the next two years to deliver workplace mental health programs through the Black Dog Institute and Transitioning Well.
It is important not to pretend that there is zero risk of an adverse outcome when it comes to managing and minimising risk, unless there is actually no exposure to the hazard that creates a risk, according to an academic expert in OHS risk management.
Emergency service workers are twice as likely to experience mental health problems than the general population, in large part due to the high risk of trauma exposure at work, according to the Black Dog Institute.
One of the most significant barriers to psychosocial risk management is the competing interests of human resources and OHS around worker consultation, according to an expert in the area. For HR, the employee engagement or culture survey is the function’s primary way of understanding employee commitment and productivity drivers, and HR can be reluctant to add in new surveys to assess psychosocial risk, said Jason van Schie, managing director of psychological health and safety consultancy Flourish Dx.
