Workplace Mental Health during COVID-19

Mental health conditions are common among the working-age Australian population and represent a significant cost both to organisations and to individuals. According to an ABS study around 45% of Australians between the ages of 16 and 85 experience a mental health condition at some point in their lifetime.  In a given 12-month period, 20 per cent of Australians will have experienced a mental health condition. Mental health conditions are seen in all industries in Australia

Work-related mental health conditions (also known as psychological injuries) have become a major concern in Australian workplaces due to the negative impact on employers and individual employees, and the costs associated with lost productivity, turnover of staff, absenteeism and the impact on other workers. For many people, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced and increased a range of psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Common Psychosocial Hazards arising from COVID-19:

• Exposure to physical hazards (fear of exposure to COVID-19 at work)
• Increased work demands
• Low support & isolated work
• Poor workplace relationships
• Increased emotional stress
• Poor organisational change management

Improving workplace mental health is in everyone's interests, and we all have a role to play. Both employers and employees have formal rights and responsibilities under work health and safety legislation.

Healthy workplaces promote mental health and wellbeing. They are positive and productive, and get the best out of everyone. Businesses that care about good mental health and wellbeing attract and keep top staff because they’re great places to work. As well as benefiting employees, a mentally healthy workplace is also better for your bottom line.

Legal Obligations

Safe Work Australia has published a national guidance called “Work-related psychological health and safety – a systematic approach to meeting your duties” to help employers and workers understand and meet their duties concerning psychological health and safety in the workplace. It’s essential reading for anyone who wants to build a healthy and safe workplace.
It is important to note that “Work-related psychological health and safety – a systematic approach to meeting your duties” has been developed with the involvement and approval of all of Australia’s occupational health and safety (OHS) or work health and safety (WHS) regulatory bodies.

Three Key Areas

The detailed guidance describes a systematic and practical approach to managing work-related psychological health and safety across three key areas:

1. Preventing Harm
   Identify, assess and eliminate or minimise work related hazards and risks. The guidance provides you with a comprehensive list of examples on how to do this, which includes consultation with workers, changes to the work environment or ensuring you have clear expectations around workplace bullying.
2. Intervening Early 
   Early identification and management of any risks can help minimise the potential severity of injuries and time lost from work. The earlier you identify a worker is experiencing stress, the better. You can then move to put appropriate supports in place. Depending on the circumstances, this could involve counselling, training or offering flexible and varied working arrangements.
3. Supporting Recovery
   Supporting recovery and return to work begins with strong management commitment and good planning to support the injured worker throughout the process. This should include individualised Recover At Work, Return To Work and Employee Assistance Program plans. You can support recovery by providing access to treatment and rehabilitation services. You should also address any remaining work-related psychological hazards and review the effectiveness of control measures.

How To Create A Healthy Workplace During COVID-19

Here are some ideas from Beyond Blue:

• Maintain regular communication with employees.
• Keep staff up to date about your business response to the coronavirus outbreak.
• Make sure that your staff is aware of the support that is available to them 
• If you are concerned about a work colleague, make sure to check-in, have a conversation with them and encourage them to get the support that they need.
• Be aware that individual circumstances vary and consider options to support each team member’s needs.
• Provide strong IT support and guidelines for remote working so employees can be fully productive.
• Be mindful of the disruption that potential school closures may cause to families.
• Agree on working hours that employees know they are not expected to work beyond.
• Touch base with each team member daily and have regular one-to-one meetings.
• Remind employees to work in ways that are kind to their mind and body.
• Maintain regular virtual team meetings.

We spend a lot of our lives at work and it plays a vital role in our emotional, social and physical wellbeing. Employers play an important role in helping support employees with mental health issues and those working with them. The Safe Work Guidance has changed how mental health is managed and, most importantly, prevented in Australian workplaces.