Psychosocial Hazards at the Workplace-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Psychosocial hazards at the workplace. Answer: Introduction This briefing note will be discussing about the psychosocial hazards taking place at work place, the health impact of exposure to the identified hazards, the potential outcomes of the risk assessment hazards and the various measures for controlling the risks. Work is beneficial to mental well state and personal well being of a person. It provides a sense of identity in a person. 7500 Australians had been suffering from work related psychological disorders equating to around 6% of the workers compensation claims. About $480 millions of Australian workers are paid compensation for the work related mental disorders ("Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care", 2018). Most common types of psychosocial hazards noticed are alcohol in the work place, driver fatigue, customer aggression, work related mental disorders, remote or isolated work. Issue Alcohol in the workplace- about 15 % of the work place injuries in Australia have been attributed by the drug and substance abuse. And the economic cost due to alcohol use in Australia can be estimated about $4.5 billion a year contributing to the largest proportion to cost ("Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care", 2018). Work place bullying- Workers in Australia had been facing with psychological distress due to work place bullying. Reports showing 154% higher loss in performance at work. 12% more sick days per month have been obtained by the employers ("What is Work-Related Stress? - OHS Reps", 2018). Customer aggression-Customer aggression towards an employee can create a frightening, intimidating situation. Adverse effects Adverse physical effects such as liver cirrhosis, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, poor mental health, loss of job due to dismissal from the workplace and violence are the possible adverse effects of the alcohol consumption at the workplace (D'aleo et al., 2007). Bullying at work place can cause stress anxiety and sleep disturbances, mental issues such as depression, reduced quality of life, increased absenteeism and degraded work performance (Law et al., 2011). If customer aggression is not managed properly then it can cost directly to the employees such as recruitment costs, costs due to new employment training, declined staff and client satisfaction (D'aleo et al., 2007). Methods for assessing psychosocial hazards at the workplace The Australian Drug foundation has developed an effective workplace alcohol policy. In 2006, the ACTU executive has endorsed the alcohol and the other drugs at workplace policy ("Home - ADF - Alcohol Drug Foundation", 2018). The policy focused on the factors in the workplace that can attribute to the use of alcohols, early interventions, a confidential reporting procedures, support and counseling services for the people vulnerable to drugs and alcohol, training education to the managers, employees and the supervisors. There is no single act dedicated for the workplace bullying in Australia. The national model of Work health and safety Act or model work health and safety regulations have included those strategies to set up workplace bullying. In 2011 the parliament of Victoria had made amendments in the Victorian Crime act, 1958 by the crime amendment bill, 2011, concerned with nurse bullying. The occupational safety and the health act 1984 place duties on the employers and the employees to maintain codes of practice ("What is Work-Related Stress? - OHS Reps", 2018). NOHS have taken up strategies related to workplace such as fragmented work to ease out stress at the workplace. Scheduling of work such as shift timings, employment status, physical work environment, degree of control over work (Chan-Mok et al., 2014). The national health and safety commission of Australia (NOHS) have provided strategies for reducing fatigue among the employees. Fragmentation of work, dissemination of the workload, reasonable shift timings, provision of food and water, designing of the ergonomics to increase employee comfort. Outcomes and controlling methods Preferred order of the control measures for eliminating the risk of harm. Elimination- removal of the hazardous work practices such as alcohol and substance abuse, reduction of the excessive workload to reduce employee fatigue. Substitution- Work load should be disseminated in order to reduce the work load, provision of telephonic interaction with the customer prior to the meeting to prevent customer aggression. Engineering control- Alcohol detecting devices should be used to keep an eye on the employees, provision of cameras to identify any episodes of bullying. Administrative control- The HR managers can train the employees regarding the rules and the regulations regarding alcohol abuse, bullying, and work pressure. Personal protective equipments- PPE such as personal alarms can be use in case of bullying. Developing a healthy life style other than falling prey to alcohols and drug abuse, self appointment with experts if suffering with psychological stress. A PCBU has the main duty under the work health and safety act (WHS) to manage the risk associated with workload at the workplace ("Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice 2011", 2018). This includes flexible work arrangements giving the maximum degree of freedom, provision of support system to the budding or the new employees, rewarding the efforts of the workers, engaging the workers in the decision making, roistering appropriate shift timing for the employees. Conclusion Pressure at workplace and workload cannot be reduced in the corporate sectors but the health of the employees cannot be compromised in any way. Detection of the factors that trigger the hazards and applying policies such as alcohol reduction policies and policies against bullying and fatigue at workplace can help in reducing the psychosocial hazards at workplace. In spite of the several measures already taken, there are several gaps that have to be filled for reducing the psychosocial hazards at the workplace. Recommendations It is essential to identify the workplace factors that trigger the alcohol consumption at the workplace. The management staffs should be supported and trained for dealing alcohol related issues, raise awareness in the workplace regarding the risk associated with alcohol consumption at work place, application of stringent norms and penalties regarding alcohol consumption at the workplace (D'aleo et al., 2007). The anti-bullying laws have to be stricter while dealing with bullying. There should be easy access to the communication channels such the reporting of bullying becomes easier. Employees have to be trained properly to respond to incidents of aggression, bullying and incivility (Law et al., 2011). Identification of threats related to customer aggression, evaluation of the threats, setting of acceptable levels of risk References Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2018). Safetyandquality.gov.au. Retrieved 11 February 2018, from https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/ Chan-Mok, J. O., Caponecchia, C., Winder, C. (2014). The concept of workplace bullying: Implications from Australian workplace health and safety law. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 21(3), 442-456. D'aleo, N., Stebbins, P., Lowe, R., Lees, D., Ham, D. (2007). Managing workplace stress: psychosocial hazard risk profiles in public and private sector Australia. The Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling, 13(2), 68-87. Home - ADF - Alcohol Drug Foundation. (2018). ADF - Alcohol Drug Foundation. Retrieved 11 February 2018, from https://adf.org.au/ Law, R., Dollard, M. F., Tuckey, M. R., Dormann, C. (2011). Psychosocial safety climate as a lead indicator of workplace bullying and harassment, job resources, psychological health and employee engagement. Accident Analysis Prevention, 43(5), 1782-1793. What is Work-Related Stress? - OHS Reps. (2018). Ohsrep.org.au. Retrieved 11 February 2018, from https://www.ohsrep.org.au/hazards/stress/what-is-work-related-stress Work Health and Safety Codes of Practice 2011. (2018). Legislation.gov.au. Retrieved 11 February 2018, from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2011L02804