What is a psychologically healthy and safe workplace?
A workplace that promotes the positive aspects of work and worker wellbeing, proactively works to prevent harm to workers psychological health and supports recovery following a psychological injury. It is also a workplace that tries to learn from incidents or harm to minimise the risk of reinjury.
Why manage psychological health and safety?
1
Legal
Health and safety legislation requires Australian workplaces to do what is reasonably practicable to eliminate or minimise risks to worker physical and psychological health. This means workplaces are required to have a process in place to monitor the relevant psychosocial hazards that may cause psychological harm to workers.
2
Moral
Creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace is the right thing to do. An individual's mental health has an impact on their families, communities and workplace. Creating an environment that positively contributes to an individual's mental health has many cultural and societal rewards.
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3
Business
The benefits of creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace are well documented. For every $1 invested in workplace mental health initiatives there is a $2.30 return. The Productivity Commission estimates that for every $1 invested in the area there is a return of $4 in employee productivity.
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