Between 2004 and 2014 psychological disorders associated with workplace environments accounted for 95 per cent of all mental disorders. Not only are psychological disorders recognised as a form of mental illness by the Australian worker’s compensation laws but due to the long layoff times experienced by workers suffering from workplace stress, they are also expensive to businesses and the broader Australian economy.

In 2012, Safe Work Australia joined the People at Work Project, who provide a free psychosocial risk assessment process for businesses. The assessment identifies workplace features that affect workers health and wellbeing, with an emphasis placed on risks to psychological health. Funded by the Australian Research Council and partner organisations, People at Work is a research collaboration between the Queensland University of Technology, Australian National University, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, WorkSafe Victoria, Comcare, WorkCover New South Wales and Beyondblue. The aim of People at Work is to provide ‘a nationally consistency non‐commercial psychosocial risk assessment tool and associated procedures’. More broadly the organisation provides a national database across states, sectors, industries, occupations and employment status, conducts an analysis of Australian trends in psychosocial risk factors, researches ways to reduce stress factors created in relationships between supervisors and employees and looks to identify and manage psychosocial health risks. The outcome of the project has been to significantly reduce conflict and stress in the workplace. So far, in the early phase of the project the most important findings have been the cognitive overload felt by employees and the poor level of engagement concerning organisational change.

In 2014 People at Work published a case study demonstrating how these issues manifest within the corporate division of an Australian public agency. Across the geographically broadly spread organisation, workplace absenteeism and high turnover had become problematic, as has work‐related injuries due to high demands and low resources. In response the organisation adopted the People at Work assessment tool, which included completing the People at Work survey, consulting on outcomes, taking action and undertaking a full review. The results were published on the staff intranet and embedded in the human resource systems to ensure the ongoing monitoring of psychological issues in the workplace.

QUESTION

Why would managers benefit from identifying mental stressors in their workplace? Would the People at Work approach work in a workplace environment you have experienced?