Pre Reading Exercise Please Read Through This Booklet and Answer Questions Before the Conference Sessions Begin
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Risks to Psych Health HSR Conference Pre Reading Exercise Please read through this booklet and answer questions before the conference sessions begin. This material is taken from a Safe Work Australia publication, “Work-related psychological health and safety - A systematic approach to meeting your duties”. The national guidance material is directed to employers (and PCBUs – ‘persons conducting a business or undertaking’) as they have duties under the OHS/WHS Acts to provide and maintain a working environment that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health. This includes a working environment that is free from psychosocial hazards and risks (so far as is reasonably practicable). When the document refers to ‘you’ or ‘your’, as in the introduction to a systemic approach to ‘“ensure your workers’ psychological health and safety” (p4), this is addressed to the employer. Keep this in mind: the guidance is for what the employer needs to do, not what you, as the HSR, or other workers need to do. Creative Commons This copyright work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit creativecommons.org/licenses In essence, you are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work for noncommercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to Safe Work Australia and abide by the other licence terms. 2 Contents The systematic approach to preventing harm and supporting recovery 4 Preventingharm 6 Causes of psychological injury – psychosocial hazards 10 Managing risks to psychological health and safety 13 How to identify psychosocial hazards 17 H ow to assessriskstoHow 18 How to control risks 20 How to review your control measures 26 What is the role of health promotion? 26 3 The systematic approach to preventing harm and supporting recovery The systematic approach is illustrated in Figure Using a thorough and systematic approach can 1. This means using the elements discussed in have significant business benefits including: the ‘Preventing harm’, ‘Intervening early’, and ‘Supporting recovery’ phases to methodically • decreasing business disruption and costs from and comprehensively ensure your workers’ work-related psychological injury psychological health and safety. • improving worker motivation, engagement and job satisfaction so increasing productivity, reducing By using this approach it can help you meet your absenteeism and turnover, and ultimately helping legal duties to implement controls that eliminate your organisation achieve its business goals, and or minimise the risk of psychological injuries • enhancing your reputation as an employer of being caused by work but also over time improve choice. your organisation’s approach to preventing psychological injury and supporting recovery. Take a look at vent ha this diagram Pre rm Good work design and safe systems of work. Risk management. Monitoring and review. Training information and y supervision. I r n e Leadership and management t e v commitment. r o v c Consultation, cooperation e e n r and coordination. e t r e o a p r l p y u S P g r n om ei o lb te el ge d w neral health an Figure 1. Systematic approach to psychological health and safety 4 What do you think is meant by ‘systematic’? Why would a ‘systematic’ approach be important? The guidance lists ‘significant business benefits’. Why? Would there be benefits to workers? If so, can you list them? 5 work-related psychosocial hazards and risks Prevent harm that may exacerbate the existing work-related psychological injury or cause a new injury, and This element focuses on your duties under WHS laws. To do this you must systematically and • must review the effectiveness of the control comprehensively: measures to ensure further harm or new injury does not occur. • identify work-related hazards and risks • assess risks (where the degree of risk and suitable controls are not already known) Inner circle • implement effective control measures to eliminate Includes important actions that should be hazards or minimise risks. The main focus on occurring throughout the three stages and on an the good design and effective management of ongoing basis: work, creating safe systems of work and ensuring appropriate communication and behaviour, and • ensuring there is good work design and safe systems of work • consult effectively with your workers, their representatives and others where required. • ensuring you are effectively controlling hazards and risks and monitoring and reviewing controls • ensuring your workers have the training, Intervene early information and supervision to do their job safely and well This element includes some aspects required under both WHS and workers’ compensation laws • consulting with your workers and their health and some which are considered best practice. and safety representatives and consulting, co- Early identification and management of any risks operating and co-ordinating on any health and can help minimise the potential severity of injuries safety risks with all relevant people and time lost from work. These aspects will be • ensuring you, your leaders and management discussed later in this Guide but include that you: commit to WHS, including things required under • must review control measures and, where WHS law and demonstrating due diligence. they are not effective, take action. The review might be prompted by routine monitoring or These actions will assist you ensure psychological by your workers raising concerns about their health and safety risks and RTW in your organisation psychological health and safety. is being adequately managed. • should These can be supported by optional activities to - support workers showing early signs of promote good general physical and mental health. work-related stress and modify their work You are not required to implement workplace health duties to suit their circumstances, and promotion and wellness programs under either WHS or workers’ compensation laws. However, - provide early assistance for individuals implementing appropriate well run programs is who have an increased risk of injury. considered best practice. This could include facilitating access to appropriate mental health services. Fostering a people-oriented organisational culture through supportive management can aid in the prevention, early identification and management Support recovery of mental health conditions in the workplace. This element relates to your duties under workers’ compensation laws. Legislative requirements vary across Australia but there are common elements in each jurisdiction including that you: • should provide early assistance and support to access treatment and rehabilitation services, generally from the time a claim is lodged • must support timely and sustainable recovery at work (RAW) or return to work (RTW) through effective consultation, addressing any remaining 6 Prevent harm. Focusses on PCBU duties under WHS laws. How do these correspond to employer duties under the Victorian OHS Act? To what extent do you think your employer complies? Intervene early. Why is it important to ‘intervene early’? Which of the actions here are directly related to OHS (as opposed to Workers’ compensation)? Support recovery. Note the last point: “must review the effectiveness of control measures to ensure further harm or new injury does not occur”. Do you know whether your employer ‘closes’ the loop after someone suffers a psychological injury at your workplace? Inner Circle. The guidance says these actions “should be occurring throughout the three stages and on an ongoing basis”. Do you think any of these is more important than the others? What do you think a ‘people-oriented organisational structure’ means? 7 Preventing harm What work health and Other legislative safety laws apply? frameworks The purpose of the WHS laws is to eliminate or WHS and workers’ compensation laws do not minimise risks to the health and safety of workers. operate in isolation and other laws may also be ‘Health’ is defined as meaning psychological as well relevant. as physical health. The WHS laws set out specific duties to manage risks to psychological health and Criminal laws - where incidents of bullying involve safety which are noted below. It is important to an assault or other criminal behaviour, the criminal remember a person may have more than one duty laws will apply. and more than one person can have the same duty. Anti-Discrimination laws - each Australian A PCBU has the primary duty to ensure, so far as is jurisdiction regulates against the discrimination reasonably practicable, workers and other people of certain groups including sex discrimination. are not exposed to psychological health and safety Under anti-discrimination laws, organisations are risks arising from the business or undertaking. also required to make reasonable adjustments by making changes to allow workers with mental This duty requires you to ‘manage’ risks to disorders to perform the inherent requirements of psychological health and safety arising from the their job. business or undertaking by eliminating exposure to psychosocial hazards so far as is reasonably Fair Work Act 2009 and some jurisdictional practicable. If it is not reasonably practicable to industrial laws contain measures to address eliminate them, you must then minimise those risks bullying at work. A worker who is subject to bullying so far as is reasonably practicable. at work can apply to the Fair Work Commission for an order to prevent the worker from being bullied An officer of a PCBU, has a duty to exercise due at work by an individual or group of individuals. diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with their Under the Fair Work Act 2009 an employer must duties under the WHS laws. This includes taking not take any adverse action against an employee reasonable steps to gain an understanding of the or prospective employee because of their disability psychosocial hazards and risks associated with the (such as for accessing sick leave). State and operations of the business or undertaking, and to territory industrial laws have similar protections ensure the business or undertaking has and uses against discrimination in employment.