According to a bureau of statistics report, Mental illness seems more prevalent than many people realise with around 45% of Australians aged between 16 and 85 will experience a mental illness at some point in their life, while one in five Australian adults will experience a mental illness in any given year.
As Occupational Health Safety and Environment (OHSE) relates to anything in that sphere, which is basically everything that effects an individual at work and for a workplace to provide a healthy and safe environment for all workers which includes matters relating to psychosocial and mental health matters.
Just about everywhere you turn there are different statistics but the general consensus is that anxiety and stress seems to be increasing in the work-place and at home and in society - with the rise of toxicity and climate change it is no surprise.
But how can we a worker or mental health provider, practitioner, OHSE or HR professional, manager or supervisor or owner of a business help to truly support their employees in a manner that doesn't break the bank and that we can provide on an ongoing basis that works?
Providing a healthy and safe workplace benefits all workers and is actually the role of OHSE and every worker themselves to adhere to all policies and it makes sense as according to www.humanrights.gov.au and their website:
A total of 3.2 days per worker are lost each year through workplace stress
Stress-related workers’ compensation claims have doubled in recent years, costing over $10 billion each year
A survey of over 5000 workers indicated that 25% of workers took time off each year for stress-related reasons
In relation to psychological injury claims, work pressure accounts for around half of all claims and harassment and bullying for around a quarter of claims
Preliminary research shows that Australian businesses lose over $6.5 billion each year by failing to provide early intervention/treatment for employees with mental health conditions.
Providing a healthy and safe workplace benefits all workers, including those with mental illness but the statistics here are staggering as they also reported that:
A total of 3.2 days per worker are lost each year through workplace stress
Stress-related workers’ compensation claims have doubled in recent years, costing over $10 billion each year
A survey of over 5000 workers indicated that 25% of workers took time off each year for stress-related reasons
In relation to psychological injury claims, work pressure accounts for around half of all claims and harassment and bullying for around a quarter of claims
Preliminary research shows that Australian businesses lose over $6.5 billion each year by failing to provide early intervention/treatment for employees with mental health conditions.
According to www.worksafe.vic.gov.au;
There are a number of work-related factors within the control of employers that can impact on mental health and safety.
Work-related factors, also known as psychosocial hazards, are anything in the management or design of work that increases the risk of work-related stress, which can lead to physical injury, mental injury or even both at the same time.
Workers are likely to be exposed to a combination of work-related factors. Some of these may always be present, while others occur occasionally.
Common work-related factors are:
low job control
high and low job demands
poor support
poor organisational change management
poor organisational justice
low recognition and reward
low role clarity
poor workplace relationships
poor environmental conditions, such as:
o hazardous manual tasks
o poor air quality
o high noise levels
o extreme temperatures
o working near unsafe machinery
remote and isolated work
violent or traumatic events
Creating a mentally healthy workplace as an employer they are well placed to create a positive, supportive and inclusive workplace and to develop good systems of work for supporting mental health in the workplace. They go on to quote that;
For management this mean having a mentally healthy workplace where it requires leaders who:
demonstrate commitment to mental health in the workplace
manage workplace relationships respectfully
treat employees with fairness and respect at all times
demonstrate a zero-tolerance for bullying and discrimination
are accessible and willing to listen
communicate clearly and openly in a timely manner
provide feedback in a constructive way
ensure employees have safe workloads
clarify role expectations and reporting structures
provide reward and recognition for good work
A Good work design must enable employees to be engaged in work that is healthy, safe and productive and includes;
consulting with employees on matters that affect their mental health at work
designing jobs with safe workloads
ensuring safe work schedules through:
o providing suitable rest breaks
o designing shifts to minimise fatigue
o providing for appropriate fatigue recovery
o providing sufficient notice of schedule or shift changes
providing employees with appropriate control and flexibility over how they do their work
implementing policies and procedures for responding to workplace bullying, stress, and occupational violence
minimising isolated work and ensuring adequate support and communication where isolated work is necessary
Here, nothing is in isolation to anything else when it comes to communicating matters relating to OHSE and mental health initiates
What exactly are work related factors are things also known as psychosocial hazards, and anything in the design or management of work that can affect an employee's mental health.
If these work-related factors are not managed well, there is an increased risk of work-related stress and anxiety which can lead to physical injury, mental injury or even both at the same time.
Although companies are meant to provide and uphold all these measures, many are not following through and the effects of this are not often felt until an employee leaves employment or some years later.
The reality that many people work through their lunch break and do not get rest breaks is real but the effects are not often known by the individual themselves and can have repercussions on future health.
We strongly encourage when seeking ways to design an OHSE and wanting to address psychosocial hazards and mental health initiatives well in the workplace to offer Life and Executive coaching and hypnotherapy sessions to help to provide a more well-rounded range of services.
We have seen its benefits.