{"id":3206,"date":"2018-10-24T08:55:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T22:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/2021\/09\/11\/creating-a-safe-and-healthy-workplace-for-all\/"},"modified":"2021-09-11T08:55:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T22:55:57","slug":"creating-a-safe-and-healthy-workplace-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/2018\/10\/24\/creating-a-safe-and-healthy-workplace-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Safe and Healthy Workplace For All"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Safe-healthy-workplace.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Developing a positive working environment where all employees are supported is key to looking after the mental wellbeing of your staff, and freeing them up to be their most productive selves.<\/p>\n<p>A safe and healthy workplace is one which is inclusive and caters for the needs of all workers. According to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a two-fold approach where the development of long-term policies is coupled with direct support services for workers is most effective.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a look at the elements of a positive workplace, how to minimise potential risks to the wellbeing of your workers and what types of policies are crucial.<\/p>\n<h3>characteristics of a safe and healthy workplace<\/h3>\n<p>By taking steps to improve the working environment, not only is the office a more pleasant place for everybody to be, but the risk of workers suffering from or exacerbating a pre-existing mental health condition is reduced.<\/p>\n<p>A safe and healthy workplace is one that offers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The opportunity for staff to take regular rest breaks.<\/li>\n<li>Minimal requirements to work overtime or have too high a workload, or at the very least adequate division of labour to minimise the impact of excessive workload on staff.<\/li>\n<li>Workplace mentoring and support programs.<\/li>\n<li>Flexible work hours where required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>COmmitment to a strategy for creating a healthy working environment<\/h3>\n<p>It is not simply enough to announce your intention to foster a supportive, healthy and safe workplace &#8211; instead, a proactive strategy needs to be designed and implemented.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, this is likely to include commitments from all areas of the business to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure that policies, mission statements and procedures are designed and published (and easily available to all staff)<\/li>\n<li>Implement the strategies and ensure that the commitment is not simple lip service &#8211; for example, ensuring that flexible arrangements are actually offered, not just promised.<\/li>\n<li>Consult with workers as to what they consider are essential elements of a safe and healthy workplace.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Minimising potential hazards and risks<\/h3>\n<p>When formulating strategies, it is important to consider whether there are any hazards or risks to the mental health of your staff that could derail the improvements being implemented.<\/p>\n<p>Risks to look out for include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Poor management, including lack of control and a failure to provide recognition or reward.<\/li>\n<li>Workplace conflict (whether between peers or in the chain of command).<\/li>\n<li>Bullying or harassment.<\/li>\n<li>Excessive workloads and stress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When staff are feeling overwhelmed because of difficulties with their work itself, the likelihood of having a healthy and safe workplace is far lower.<\/p>\n<h3>proactive measures to achieve a healthy workplace<\/h3>\n<p>One of the most important elements of creating a safe and healthy workplace is having adequate policies and procedures in place. In practice, this will mean policies relating to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A commitment to a safe and healthy working environment<\/li>\n<li>Confidentiality, mental health training and general mental health guidelines<\/li>\n<li>Anti-discrimination<\/li>\n<li>Harassment and bullying<\/li>\n<li>Reasonable adjustments to help workers who are struggling with mental health issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By having these policies in place, and ensuring that they are adhered to, all staff are able to be supported and an inclusive workplace is encouraged.<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Where to get assistance<\/h3>\n<p>If you are interested in improving your workplace, we can help you formulate the right policies and procedures. Talk to our team today.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wpss_copy\">Content retrieved from: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/_blog\/WISE_Blog\/post\/creating-a-safe-and-healthy-workplace-for-all\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.wiseworkplace.com.au\/_blog\/WISE_Blog\/post\/creating-a-safe-and-healthy-workplace-for-all\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Developing a positive working environment where all employees are supported is key to looking after the mental wellbeing of your staff, and freeing them up to be their most productive selves. A safe and healthy workplace is one which is inclusive and caters for the needs of all workers. According to the Australian Human [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[139,163,137,162,155,138,105],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiseworkplacetraining.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}