Articles tagged under ‘Workplace Culture’

Articles 1 - 138 of 138

• Silenced voices — How workplace culture affects mental health and recovery

  A journalist's experience with harassment illustrates how toxic work environments create psychosocial barriers to well-being, and how effective intervention can transform outcomes.

  ---

• Safety by design — Lakeview Private Hospital’s integrated approach to injury management

  A strong safety culture and an early intervention program are showing strong results at Lakeview Private Hospital

  ---

• When it pays to care — How psychosocial support can change a police officer's journey

  When a police officer experiences trauma on duty, the path to recovery can take dramatically different turns depending on how psychosocial factors are identified and addressed.

  ---

• A recovery roadmap — Navigating cultural crossroads in Carlos's RTW: Part 2

  Using a navigation metaphor — including navigation tips for RTW professionals — we continue exploring a factory worker's journey to show how language barriers, cultural factors, passive coping strategies and unaddressed concerns can create detours on the road to recovery.

  ---

• A recovery roadmap — Navigating cultural crossroads in Carlos's RTW: Part 1

  Using a navigation metaphor — including navigation tips for RTW professionals — we explore a factory worker's journey to show how language barriers, cultural factors, passive coping strategies and unaddressed concerns can create detours on the road to recovery.

  ---

• A new tool to help workers make a health disclosure decision

  An evidence-based tool called DCIDE can help people think through a decision to share personal information at work.

  ---

• Happiness as a healing tool? — 5 strategies for supporting injured workers

  Did you know that by fostering happiness at work, RTW professionals and employers can support injured workers’ recovery?

  ---

• Why the right type of conflict can be good for workplaces

  We should spend more time not trying to eliminate conflict at work but creating the ‘right kinds of conflict’.

  ---

• The case for empathy — not just a buzzword in workers’ comp

  Empathy is not just a buzzword in workers' compensation. It’s a powerful tool that can transform our interactions with and lead to better outcomes for injured workers.

  ---

• Heading mental health injury claims off at the pass

  Tips for some proactive strategies organisations can use to address mental health concerns before they escalate and become a workers’ comp claim.

  ---

• Tipping points — are psychosocial hazards present in your workplace?

  Four groups of psychosocial hazards leaders need to look for, and what they can do practically to support their teams.

  ---

• Building a culture of 'and' — balancing cultures of care and legal compliance for workplaces to flourish

  Complying with laws ensures a baseline level of safety. But people and teams do, and feel, better in workplaces that foster cultures of care alongside mitigating risk.

  ---

• Speak up cultures — how leaders can build healthy and supportive work environments

  A Harvard Business Review article gives leaders some practical tips to create positive work environments, behaviours and interactions.

  ---

• Psychological safety in the workplace — Part 2: bridging the ‘safety gap’

  Research shows there's often a gap between the psychosocial support leaders say they’re providing and the hazards team members report they are experiencing. Why is this so? And what can we do to bridge that gap?

  ---

• Psychological safety in the workplace — Part 1: moving beyond risk assessment and compliance

  To create psychologically safe workplaces, leaders need to go beyond just assessing risk and focus on leveraging existing strengths to eliminate or reduce these risks.

  ---

• ‘We started with bananas’ — self-managing the culture of a small business

  One of the rewarding things about having a self-managed company can be empowering workers to reach their full potential and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive. A small business owner shows how she did it.

  ---

• The ‘Four Cs’ of supporting workers with long Covid symptoms return to work

  Thousands of workers with long Covid are, and will continue to be, exploring return to work. Dr Dominic Yong, a senior occupational physician with the Victorian Department of Health, provides tips about how we can best support their return to work.

  ---

• Get out the barometer — your organisation's psychosocial safety climate predicts RTW

  Senior management teams can be ‘psychosocial safety climate’ engineers.

  ---

• 'Above all, do no harm'. Towards a therapeutic approach to workers’ compensation.

  Is the concept of ‘Above all, do no harm’ relevant to our workers compensation schemes?

  ---

• Regulation toolkit: compliance as a way to influence RTW

  Workers get the bad press, but other scheme participants behave in ways that are unethical. This article looks how regulators can constructively influence our work injury scheme through their compliance and enforcement role.

  ---

• Regulation toolkit: encouragement, engagement and upskilling as a way to influence RTW

  Regulators can constructively influence our work injury scheme through encouragement, engagement and skilling up the industry.

  ---

• RTW: from research to practice. The ‘know-do gap’ through a complex systems lens

  In our ongoing quest to find ways to translate research into practice in our work injury schemes, we ask ‘What we can learn from complexity thinking?

  ---

• RTW: from policy to practice. Is your organisation ready for change?

  Implementing evidence-based interventions to improve how we care for workers is not easy. Are there things we can do in our organisations to create the conditions that support ‘organisational readiness for change?

  ---

• RTW: from policy to practice. How to make change happen

  The 'It Pays to Care' report calls for change in our work injury schemes, but recognises that change is hard, even when we know what we need to do. One model that looks at ‘organisational readiness for change’ may help us.

  ---

• ‘WorkWell: Preventing mental injury and promoting mental health’

  There are 11 work-related factors that employers must identify and manage to prevent mental injury and promote safe and mentally healthy workplaces.

  ---

• Webinar recording: No Time for Health - New ways to overcome the challenges of engaging with small business around mental health and wellbeing

  An important conversation about the challenges of engaging with small business owners and how we can begin to bridge the gap with this unique group to protect and promote their mental health and wellbeing.

  ---

• Thrive at work - Resources and guides

  We speak with Professor of Practice Karina Jorritsma, one of the lead researchers at Thrive at Work, about how to manage and prevent mental ill-health at work, and promote employee thriving.

  ---

• Unreliable, dangerous, incompetent?

  Awareness of workplace injury stigma is low amongst Australian employers but the costs may be high, according to a report commissioned by Safe Work Australia.

  ---

• Let go of toxic workplace 'emotional labour' in 2019

  Deep acting at work could be a protective factor for employees in challenging situations, but it can also take a toll and lead to burnout.

  ---

• Work injury and good work

  What is "human-centred" design and how might it reduce work injuries and ease return to work?

  ---

• Webinar recording: An update on the Health Benefits of Good Work (HBGW) Campaign

  And initiatives of the Australian HBGW Signatory Steering Group.

  ---

• Webinar recording: Employers - The biggest influencers in RTW

  Dr Wyatt discusses the lessons for employers from Return to Work Survey findings

  ---

• Can you ‘teach’ workers to be more emotionally resilient?

  You may know someone like this at work: optimistic and resilient, they appear to bounce through challenges drawing on an internal strength that helps them work through problems they encounter at work.

  ---

• Bus Wellness Guides 3: Ideas and Resources

  ---

• Bus Wellness Guide 2: A guide for managers

  Managers and supervisors can have an enormous impact on employee health, wellness and safety. They monitor how well policies promote performance and productivity.

  ---

• Bus Wellness Guide 1: advice for operators and leaders

  ---

• Speaking Up 4: When injured workers need to speak up

  Effective communication is particularly important when an injured worker is returning to work after injury.

  ---

• Speaking Up 2: Employers enabling open communication

  Many employees tend to be wary of communicating openly in the workplace, so what can employers do to help them to open up?

  ---

• Webinar recording: Cultivating happiness at work to improve RTW

  The Happiness at Work Program, a 30-day program devised to improve personal happiness and positively impact workplace productivity.

  ---

• What employers are doing to develop a flexible workplace in 2016

  Diversity and Work-Life Specialist, SeventeenHundred

  ---

• Wellness: a whole of industry approach

  While the health and wellness concerns of the bus industry are similar to other industries across the transport area, their methodology may provide a useful template to the wider workplace community.

  ---

• Surgeons: what can other organisations learn from the report?

  The Royal Australian College of Surgeons recently released a report into discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment in the practice of surgery. What lessons have been learnt and how are they applicable to other businesses?

  ---

• Critical Ideas for the Psychologically Healthy Workplace

  In this webinar on Conflict, Emotion, Incidents, & Behaviour, Pierre Nadeau, Respectful Workplace Specialist at Proactive ReSolutions, explores the key ideas to help you to deal with problematic situations in the workplace.

  ---

• Health and Wellness in the Workplace: how to promote it

  Every business wants to increase productivity and make money. Many businesses are, however, unaware of the benefits to their 'bottom line' finances, of investing in staff well-being.

  ---

• When you suspect an employee

  Joe Unreliable and Jane Dodge have lodged claims for workers' compensation. How should you respond?

  ---

• Role Summary: Co-workers

  An injured individual who feels supported and confident with work colleagues has a better return to work outcome. This is a fact.

  ---

• Fanol Isai: RTW in Aged Care

  Fanol Isai from Catholic Homes won the “Return to Work Coordinator Excellence” WorkSafe Victoria award in 2014.

  ---

• RTW and the workplace: Reciprocity rules Part 2

  Results from the national Return to Work Survey show the strength and consistency of workplace influence on employee RTW

  ---

• RTW and the workplace: Reciprocity rules

  Results from the national Return to Work Survey show the strength and consistency of workplace influence on employee RTW behaviour

  ---

• A new approach to workplace bullying

  We speak to Dr Doron Samuell, an expert on workplace bullying, about office disputes, gender and tackling poor behaviour.

  ---

• Recorded webinar: Bullying, interpersonal conflict and psychological injuries - Dr Doron Samuell

  Whilst psychological injury claims are less common that physical workplace injuries, they represent almost a quarter of the expense that all insurers are incurring as a result of these conditions

  ---

• Bullied by bullying claims

  A rise in frivolous or even malicious bullying claims may undermine the plight of true victims.

  ---

• Who gets bullied by whom - and where?

  An insight into common personality traits shared by victims of bullying, as well as characteristics of bullies, can help organisations prevent workplace harassment. But understanding organisational culture is important too...

  ---

• Follow the leader

  Regulatory bodies set the standard for other organisations in their industry. In relation to workplace bullying, however, that standard may best be described as “do as I say, not as I do.”

  ---

• 6 steps to a bully-free workplace

  Workplace bullying can seem difficult to tackle. A sensitive approach is needed, combined with organisation-wide preventative efforts to stamp out bullying in the long-term.

  ---

• Laying down the law

  Several legal options exist for victims of bullying, each with different outcomes. How effective is the legal system at coping with bullying?

  ---

• Everyone plays a role in workplace bullying

  Bullying is more than individual conflict. Factors like policies, leadership and workplace culture can all lead to workplace bullying.

  ---

• Fighting back: dealing with workplace bullies

  Taking a long-term preventative approach to bullying is cheaper and more effective than reacting to individual cases

  ---

• An introduction to workplace bullying

  What is workplace bullying? How common is bullying? What forms does bullying take? How does bullying affect the victim and the organisation?

  ---

• Team Building...literally - Part 2

  If an organisation has a workers' compensation function that needs to be managed in-house, how can you build the right team?

  ---

• Team Building...literally - Part 1

  If an organisation has a workers' compensation function that needs to be managed in-house, how can you build the right team?

  ---

• Bridge the gap

  The 'bridge' between a proactive Health and Safety focus and Workers Compensation claims is often managed ineffectively.

  ---

• Do me a favour, fix return to work

  People respond to positive acts with positive deeds of their own. Increased positive experiences could boost return to work rates.

  ---

• Who's going to save worker's compensation?

  Improving return to work rates means re-thinking leadership in the return to work system

  ---

• Putting a price on trust

  Building social capital costs little but the potential benefits are priceless.

  ---

• Broken trust cripples the compensation system

  Workers' compensation is plagued by low trust levels - increasing goodwill in the system could boost return to work rates.

  ---

• Recorded Webinar: Improving RTW Culture in the Workplace

  This webinar will explore the initiatives that ISS Facility Services' National Injury Assist Team have undertaken since their creation in October 2010 to help improve the RTW culture throughout their organisation.

  ---

• The importance of a positive culture

  An internal culture that fosters dialogue and discussion produces longer term benefits

  ---

• Mental health buy-in

  Financial commitment is just the beginning

  ---

• Emotional resilience: 2

  This second of a two-part series investigates identifying pessimistic thinking in employees, and improving optimism and emotional resilience in the workplace.

  ---

• Emotional resilience: 1

  This first of a two-part series investigates the negative health and work effects of pessimism, and how fostering emotional resilience improves wellness and business outcomes.

  ---

• Costs of 'job strain' related depression

  What is job strain? How is it linked to depression? And what are the associated costs? New Australian research has the answers...

  ---

• HR and RTW

  HR and RTW are together as often as peas and carrots. Is it a match made in heaven or an organisational disaster?

  ---

• How trustworthy is trust?

  Trust is a key predictor of organisational success, says the Great Places to Work Institute. What matters is not only how much others trust you, but how trusting YOU are.

  ---

• Missing the signs

  Organisations who offer "good work" have fewer stress and musculoskeletal claims. Managerial competence helps determine whether work is "good". Are Australian organisations missing the signs?

  ---

• Philosopher King

  An Italian entrepreneur has turned the Umbrian village of Solomeo into both a fashion factory, and an extraordinary experiment in workplace health and wellbeing.

  ---

• Can we cooperate for workplace health and wellbeing?

  And can the UK show us how it's done?

  ---

• What disease kills the most people between the ages of 0 and 45?

  And why is this knowledge useful to workplaces?

  ---

• Workplace stress: we can work it out

  Causes of stress, and why it will never disappear if we don't encourage the right behaviours.

  ---

• Family, colleagues great support after bad car crash

  After being badly injured in a car crash, family and colleagues rallied around to help Peter back to work.

  ---

• Looking for a late new year's resolution?

  Forget vowing to give up chocolate, how about resolving to better look after employees in the workplace.

  ---

• Bullying and harassment

  Workplace bullies are often workplace big fish. Combating the problem requires a top down approach.

  ---

• What do you bring to work?

  Not your roll or leftover pasta - but what attitude or outlook do you bring? Find out why it's a question worth asking.

  ---

• What's work got to do...got to do with it?

  Returning to work is even harder if the work itself feels meaningless. What makes a job meaningful?

  ---

• How is exposure to trauma affecting you and your employees?

  There is a way of minimising the adverse effects trauma workers are exposed to - start by acknowledging "vicarious trauma".

  ---

• All bad news or incentive to improve?

  The financial crisis provides employers opportunity to support employees to better health - but there are pitfalls to avoid.

  ---

• Are you happy with your working relationships?

  Workers' Comp has a high staff turnaround, so a working relationship still great after 11 years is worth attention.

  ---

• OHS and Return-To-Work

  On developing a good relationship with OHS Managers.

  ---

• What creates positive workplace culture?

  When we look at the reader statistics for Return To Work Matters it is obvious that Workplace Culture rates highly as a topic.

  ---

• Social capital: is it what we're missing?

  The Return to Work Monitor paints a worrying picture: despite increased funding, resources and policy changes, less workers are returning to employment. The lack of social capital in return to work systems could be the reason why.

  ---

• Employee engagement

  This month we focus on employee/ claimant engagement.

  ---

• Surviving and thriving with difficult co-workers: The sniper

  Hiding in plain sight, the officer sniper takes you down in public. How can you confront the sniper safely?

  ---

• Surviving and thriving with difficult co-workers: An introduction

  The first of a series of articles on how to effectively deal with difficult co-workers.

  ---

• Surviving and thriving with difficult co-workers: The know-it-all

  Not all know-it-alls are created equal, some actually do know what they're talking about! We look at the different approaches you need to take to each.

  ---

• Survivng and thriving with difficult co-workers: The bully

  In this instalment of 'surviving and thriving' we look at the office bully, and how victims can best manage the situation while more decisive action is sought.

  ---

• Surviving and thriving with difficult co-workers: The yes person

  In this edition of 'surviving and thriving' we look at the problem worker who hides in plain sight, the Yes Person.

  ---

• Surviving and thriving with difficult co-workers: The complainer

  In this edition of 'surviving and thriving' we look at 'the complainer'.

  ---

• Litigation in workers' compensation disputes: how we can avoid it

  In the second part of our two-part series on the limitations of litigation in workers' compensation disuputes, we look at what employers can do to avoid it.

  ---

• Saying 'I do' to employee engagement: part 2

  We look at the practical measures organisations can take to encourage employees to work with them, not for them

  ---

• Fuel for your fire: Burnout prevention eTool

  Following on from our 3-part series on job burnout, 'Maintain the flame', we provide a fully editable burnout prevention eTool.

  ---

• Are you having a laugh?

  The benefits of humour in the workplace.

  ---

• 'Me' not 'we': dealing with narcissism in the workplace

  We look at the impact of narcissism at work, methods of identification and effective ways to deal with it.

  ---

• Saying 'I do' to employee engagement: part 1

  In Part 1 of this 2-part series we explore the characteristics and benefits of engaged employees

  ---

• Maintain the flame: Part 3 - Employers and job burnout

  What can employers do to help prevent and respond to burnout?

  ---

• Maintain the flame: Part 2 - Employees and job burnout

  We look at how RTW Coordinators can help prevent, manage, and assist recovery from burnout

  ---

• Maintain the flame: Job burnout part 1

  In part 1 of a 3-part series, we look at the symptoms, causes and effects of job burnout

  ---

• Good, better, best

  What do good health, better financial returns and the "Best Places to Work" have in common?

  ---

• They're the voice, try and understand it

  Improving your workplace with employee surveys.

  ---

• Maintaining a mentally healthy workplace - 2

  Ingrid Ozols - founder and Director of the Mental Health at Work initiative - explains the importance of reading the signs of mental illness.

  ---

• Maintaining a mentally healthy workplace - 1

  Ingrid Ozols - founder and Director of the Mental Health at Work initiative - explains the importance of reading the signs of mental illness.

  ---

• Partner support

  This case study looks at how involving and supporting the partner of an injured worker assists the RTW process.

  ---

• Retaining a top team

  How prepared are you for the fight to retain your best talent? Staff retention systems that position your company as a great place to work should be part of your arsenal.

  ---

• Trust: Dos and Don'ts

  You know organisational trust has tangible benefits. Now for the hard yards: how can you foster trust in your workplace and in your injury management system?

  ---

• Are workplace activities harmful?

  Despite growing perceptions that workplace activities cause and complicate injuries, the evidence suggests the opposite.

  ---

• Discrimination, harassment and RTW

  How can employers avoid real (or perceived) discrimination and harassment during the RTW process?

  ---

• How to win change and influence people

  A change is as good as a holiday, right? Time to implement change where it's needed.

  ---

• Come on get happy!

  Want a better workplace? Get happier. Here are some pointers on how.

  ---

• Overloaded employees underperform

  Why it's worth noticing when employees feel overloaded - and what you can do about it.

  ---

• Conflict Cookie #4: Making the most of conflict

  Conflict driving you crazy? Use it to drive innovation...

  ---

• What are the ingredients for success in RTW?

  Getting the right mix is never easy but hearing how other people have succeeded in return to work helps. A WorkSafe officer offers her advice.

  ---

• Dos and Don'ts for workplace health during a downturn or recession

  A short guide to surviving a downturn in business for busy RTW and OHS professionals.

  ---

• Six Workers' comp pearls of wisdom: a tough gig creates good advice

  Workers' comp is a tough gig - tougher still when you're looking after a company covering almost all of Queensland. What helps? Read on to find out.

  ---

• Conflict Cookie #3: Managing conflict

  It's a waste to sweep cookie crumbs under the carpet, and the same goes for conflict. Don't ignore workplace conflict: manage it.

  ---

• CONFLICT COOKIE #2 Recognising conflict

  Recognising conflict BEFORE you trip over it is essential for managing successful return to work.

  ---

• Top ten easy steps for improving workplace culture

  Good workplace culture fosters loyal employees who want to remain at their workplace.

  ---

• Good RTW ain't easy - but boy is it worth it

  Work can't stop when results improve. In this interview with an Injury Management specialist, we learn that creating the right RTW culture needs to be a continuous process - or else everyone pays.

  ---

• Conflict Cookie #1: What kinds of conflict happen in the workplace?

  Remember how your mum taught you to turn lemons into lemonade? In this series of bite-sized articles, we make cookies out of conflict!

  ---

• You don't have to bend over backwards to benefit from workplace flexibility

  Employers don't have to bend over backwards to reduce absenteeism and improve productivity. Just get flexible!

  ---

• Test: retaining your best employees

  Take this test to see if you or your employees are feeling how they ought to in the workplace. The test highlights the key factors in both retaining star staff-members and promoting early RTW.

  ---

• The negative potential of performance bonuses

  In the second part of RTW Matters' interview with Occupational Therapist Kate Roylance, she discusses the counter-productive nature of many performance rewards.

  ---

• No need for negative nellies

  Words may not break bones like sticks and stones, but they can still do a lot of damage.

  ---

• How one company turned 13 workers' compensation claims into two

  Seventy work-sites to manage, different styles of management, a tough work culture, misconceptions about what's involved. Annette Photios had her work cut out when she stepped into her role.

  ---

• The Stress Series Part 3 - Prevention programs in the workplace

  Employers can take action to beat the problem of stress before it even arises. This article looks at the benefits of stress prevention programs.

  ---

• Tuna farmers turning the tide in return to work management.

  An investment in occupational health, safety and welfare has paid dividends for a South Australian tuna farm.

  ---

• An act of kindness (and a thorough understanding of comp costs) can facilitate a successful rtw process

  For surgically treated employees

  ---

• The communication situation

  In an interview with communication consultant Sharon McGann we learn why communication is so important and how to do it better.

  ---

• Towards a better workplace

  Opening up lines of communication is essential in the return to work process.

  ---

• Getting happier, working better

  Studies have now proven that positive psychology has a big impact. In the workplace it can keep employees happier and more motivated to return to work after an illness or injury.

Archived Articles 1 - 19 of 19

• The case for leadership in RTW

  Positive leadership changes the behaviour of individuals and teams, increasing trust, motivation, resilience, and organisational loyalty. You don't need a big title to have an impact.

  ---

• Taking Action to Improve Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

  In a webinar for CIRPD, Dr Merv Gilbert, Adjunct Professor with the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction, pointed out that Freud believed love and work to be the cornerstones of our humanity.

  ---

• Opinion: Management impact too large to ignore

  The recent political leadership tussle reminds us that how people are managed affects their wellbeing and has an enormous impact on productivity.

  ---

• Brodie's Law

  A tragic harassment case in Victoria has highlighted the need for HR professionals to remain vigilant on the matter of workplace bullying.

  ---

• Paying for it

  Opinion: David Jones, a cafe by the sea and s_x__l harassment in the workplace

  ---

• Gillard going it alone on partnership culture?

  Minister Julia Gillard has announced a new partnership approach to industrial relations. Can she expect an uphill struggle - and what's the message here for RTW coordinators?

  ---

• The possible consequences of excessive workloads

  Did Rudd's 70 hour weeks drive Grech to OzCar?

  ---

• What happens when you mix fatigue and poor culture?

  A workplace culture emergency. Just ask Ambulance Victoria.

  ---

• Angry ambos run on empty

  Victorian paramedics are fatigued and striking for the first time in 36 years. What's gone wrong in their workplace and how can it be fixed?

  ---

• Why we worry about workplace culture

  A tragic and shameful story from WA should get us all thinking about the norms in our workplaces.

  ---

• Hiring workers with disability

  One solution to the national skills shortage remains overlooked

  ---

• Achieve with Ease: Emotional Intelligence in return to work

  Celia Prosser, owner and director of Achieve with Ease, explains how her experience as a Return to Work Co-ordinator helps her resolve workplace conflict.

  ---

• Return to Work Matters Strategic Summer Reading Package

  Three volumes of RTWMatters Greatest Hits to get you pointed in the right direction

  ---

• Caught in the spotlight: Pacific Film and Television Corporation, stress claims and "reasonable management action"

  What happens when WorkCover decides that workplace bullying - which your doctor tells you is responsible for your skyrocketing blood pressure and increasing reactive arthritis flare-ups - is actually "reasonable management action"?

  ---

• Nice move, N.I.C.E.

  The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is moving in a positive direction, with new guidelines to help employees on long-term sickness absence return to work.

  ---

• Employee engagement vs. employee enragement

  Employee engagement expert James Adonis speaks about his study of 2,400 employee, and how to retain employees and create a positive workplace environment.

  ---

• UK's what, who and why of vocational rehab

  A look at the UK College of Occupational Therapists' new paper, "Vocational rehabilitation: what is it, who can deliver it and who pays?"

  ---

• Workplace culture: what's everyone talking about?

  What do we mean by "workplace culture"? How to make sure it's "good" and what does "good" culture actually mean?

  ---

• Work life balance - much more than a feel good balance - Dr Lindsay McMillan

  The Boston College Centre for Work and Family has revealed that 70% of managers felt that productivity had been improved in those workplaces which had a good life balance.

Research 1 - 43 of 43

• Have my back as I get back to work — What kind of support do workers with chronic pain need to RTW?

  Support is vital for people with chronic pain who are returning to work. But what does ‘support’ really mean in this context?

  ---

• From site to safety net — How construction workers are saving lives

  The success of the Mates in Construction program offers valuable lessons for addressing mental health and preventing suicide in other male-dominated industries.

  ---

• An (a)gender for change — how workplace injustice harms female police officers' health

  A study reveals how deeply embedded unfairness in police organisations threatens both the well-being and advancement of female officers.

  ---

• ‘I’m pulling through because of you’ — how co-workers’ and supervisors’ support helps RTW

  A study highlights the importance of support from co-workers and direct supervisors in successful RTW after injury.

  ---

• Not just a military problem — how concerned should we be about work-related moral injury?

  An under-recognised workplace injury — moral injury and post-traumatic embitterment disorder — is causing significant distress among workers across many different jobs.

  ---

• Healthy workplaces create healthy bottom lines

  When workers feel their employer truly cares about protecting their mental health everyone is richer for it.

  ---

• Help me if you can, I’m feeling down — addressing mental health at work

  Interventions for mental health issues must address the individual, organisational and systemic factors that support people to seek help.

  ---

• Culture not trauma — a new approach to identifying and preventing mental harm in first responders: Part 2

  A study highlights the importance of addressing ‘moral injury’, organisational practices and psychosocial safety to promote the well-being of first responders and prevent psychological harm.

  ---

• ‘This is so unfair’. Preventing perceptions of injustice after a work injury.

  A sense of injustice is common among injured workers and can prolong their suffering. What causes it? And how can we prevent it?

  ---

• Culture not trauma — a new approach to identifying and preventing mental harm in first responders (Part 1)

  A study suggests it’s time for a rethink on what causes distress in first responders and how to prevent and treat it.

  ---

• What sustains RTW success for workers with mental and musculoskeletal conditions?

  Supervisors, senior managers and workplace culture play an important role in how well workers do when they return to work after being on sick leave.

  ---

• ‘You look much prettier when you smile’ — emerging psychosocial risks in the hospitality industry

  A study identifies some new psychosocial risks in hospitality jobs and proposes a way to assess them.

  ---

• Be a caring climate engineer — a roadmap for cultivating healthier and more successful workplaces

  Evidence shows that a caring environment can have a powerful impact on workers’ mental health outcomes.

  ---

• Workplace bullying and sick leave — a 2-way street

  Bullying increases the risk of workers getting sick and taking time off from work, both in the short term and the long term.

  ---

• Return to work is not colour blind — examining racial inequality in RTW processes

  A study reveals that workers of colour are less likely to return to work after illness or injury.

  ---

• Spark joy to stay safe at work

  Leaders’ behaviours can influence employees — and also prevent workplace injuries — through ‘emotional contagion’. Here’s how.

  ---

• Workplace conflict — a big risk factor for sick leave

  A new study found that conflicts in the workplace — particularly with supervisors — are an important risk factor for sick leave among workers. The good news is, we can do something about it.

  ---

• Are there RTW differences for workers with psychological and musculoskeletal injuries?

  How different are the RTW experiences of workers with work-related psychological injuries and those with musculoskeletal injuries? And what can make these experiences more equal?

  ---

• Work — the problem, or the solution to common mental health issues?

  Depression, anxiety, stress-related disorders. Work can be the problem or the solution if you are dealing with these, or other, common mental health issues. What are the factors that make the difference?

  ---

• What hurts worse, trauma or workplace insensitivity?

  For ambulance workers, mental health issues result not just from exposure to traumatic events, but from more mundane workplace stressors including the way managers respond to their distress.

  ---

• Digging up trouble

  Macho workplace cultures and frictional compensation systems yield financial and emotional stress for miners with back injuries.

  ---

• Mean streets take toll on taxi drivers

  High levels of mental exertion depression are rife amongst taxi drivers, but greater workplace support and civility might help ease the strain.

  ---

• RTW-land has a social capital

  Teams built on trust and cooperation - i.e. teams with high social capital - have less long term sick leave than teams in which suspicion and unfairness are the norm.

  ---

• Supervisor training wasted without support from the top?

  Before your organisation invests in supervisor training, ask whether the organisational culture reinforces or contradicts the lessons you think supervisors need to learn.

  ---

• Where are the mental health nuts and bolts?

  Mental health capabilities, culture, policies and procedures are lacking compared to leadership and workplace connectedness, according to Superfriend.

  ---

• Research short: Flexible hours improves wellbeing

  A University of Wollongong survey shows employees with access to flexible working hours are in better shape than those working to a rigid roster.

  ---

• Research short: Sick of work

  A Swedish study has highlighted the link between lacklustre organisational environments workplace and employee absenteeism.

  ---

• Want less sick leave?

  The evidence says you should improve workplace culture, clearly define roles and put better support mechanisms in place for workers who perform emotionally demanding labour.

  ---

• Research Short: Do managers suffer from more stress?

  A Danish study debunks the myth that managers are often more stressed than employees.

  ---

• Research short: Cancer and work

  Who is more pessimistic about the impact of cancer on working life: cancer survivors or employers? How does this affect return to work prospects?

  ---

• Job control, job demand and workplace health

  Changes in psychosocial aspects of work affect employee health and wellbeing

  ---

• Hospitable RTW

  Employer reactions can determine RTW outcomes: making workers welcome matters

  ---

• Want to reduce sick leave? Be a good leader!

  Good organisational leadership reduces sick leave and disability

  ---

• She'll be right: Under-reporting injury in the workplace

  According to one study, only 52% of work related injury and illness gets reported

  ---

• Does zest for work influence return to work?

  Job satisfaction and engagement both influence work attendance.

  ---

• When to take extended sick leave. A complex decision for workers with spine-related pain

  This study identified a range of factors that influence when workers with neck and low-back (spine-related) pain take extended sick leave.

  ---

• Satisfied? Not really, boss

  Management and supervisors overestimate the level of satisfaction workers have in their jobs.

  ---

• Learn to return

  A number of simple initiatives can have a positive impact on timely return to work and decrease costs.

  ---

• Balance at work, balance at home

  Workplace flexibility is associated with better employee health

  ---

• Who's the boss? Health and control in the workplace

  If a sense of workplace control is linked to good health, how can it be fostered?

  ---

• Countering job dissatisfaction in immigrant workers

  What can employers do to tackle the problem of job dissatisfaction?

  ---

• Which work factors determine job satisfaction?

  Job satisfaction improves mental health. Task variety, colleagues, and general working conditions improve overall job satisfaction.

  ---

• Workplace injuries, absenteeism and turnover among nurses are influenced by role stresses

  Workplace intervention programs to reduce injuries, absenteeism and turnover among nurses should be designed to address the key factors of role ambiguity and role conflict, and improve workplace cohesion.