Survey reveals increasing psychosocial harm at work

A NSW Government survey into Australian workers has revealed a high and increasing level of psychosocial harm in the workplace with more than two-thirds of respondents indicating they had experienced bullying at work in the past year.

Results of the Australian WHS Survey (Survey) show healthcare workers felt more exposed to hazards, including harassment and bullying, with results showing sexual harassment is more predominant in healthcare workplaces.

The Survey found 70 per cent of workers in small businesses experienced harassment and bullying in the last 12 months, while workers from large organisations were found to experience a higher level of burnout associated with job demands.

The Centre for Work Health and Safety (the Centre) has developed the Survey to provide a platform for workers from across the nation to share their first-hand experiences of WHS and contribute to a greater understanding of practices, barriers and enablers to WHS in workplaces.

The Survey engaged 1,017 Australian workers who provided their observations of current, new and emerging WHS issues, building a WHS profile of Australian workplaces.

The Centre also released its biannual WHS Radar report today, which adopts a contemporary method of information interrogation never before seen in WHS regulation.

The Radar synthesises the latest on WHS issues and trends collected from workers compensation and incident databases, a review of news and academic articles, consultation with the Australian WHS regulatory inspectors and experts, and the WHS Survey.

Cross referencing these insights highlights the current, local, and relevant insights will point to potential WHS issues that require the attention.

Following the inaugural report in April 2023, the WHS Radar will be released twice a year to provide regular and actionable insights about WHS in an Australian context.

The Centre for Work Health and Safety is translating research and intelligence into practical solutions, including the development of tools which drive behaviour change.

In October last year, SafeWork NSW launched a new digital Workplace Wellbeing Assessment Tool (WWAT), which improves understanding and management of workplace mental health by businesses.

The tool measures and monitors a workplace’s capability by identifying gaps and areas for improvement, and provides actions to reduce those risks.

SafeWork NSW Executive Director of Community Engagement, Andrew Gavrielatos said:

“If you are in business in NSW there is no excuse for cutting safety for the sake of productivity or profit.

“We are seeing continued economic pressures, such as inflation and supply chain disruption, challenging the attitudes and the priority business place on health, safety and worker wellbeing.

“This is where the Radar comes in to tell us not just what the WHS challenges workers and businesses are facing, but also how we might tackle these to make work safer.

“These insights will be shared with WHS regulators, businesses and researchers to support early identification of new practices, new risks and new solutions in Australian workplaces.”

View the Australian WHS Survey report or the WHS Radar report.

Access the Workplace Wellbeing Assessment Tool on the NSW Government website.