Claims for psychological injury at work are increasing at a rate far outstripping physical injury claims in New South Wales, prompting a warning from the state’s safety watchdog for businesses to expect compliance checks and prosecution if practices don’t improve.
Physical injury claims rose 11% over the four years to mid-2023, while claims of psychological damage jumped 30% over the same period, according to the State Insurance Regulatory Authority.
SafeWork NSW has released its four-year plan to tackle mental harm, pledging to crack down on big businesses caught doing the wrong thing by failing to protect the wellbeing of staff under the state’s workplace laws.
Psychological injury hazards include bullying, harassment, exposure to traumatic events, work isolation and poor support.
According to the government, workplace mental ill-health is estimated to cost Australian businesses up to $39bn a year in lost productivity and participation. In 2021-22, mental health conditions accounted for 9.2% of serious workers’ compensation claims in Australia.
The NSW work health and safety minister, Sophie Cotsis, said it was a “fundamental right” of every worker to go home in a physically and mentally healthy state, and that it cost businesses and the state when a workplace was unsafe.
“The rate and severity of psychological injury at work continues to rise,” she said. “If workplaces remain unsafe, I strongly endorse SafeWork’s actions to bring about improvements.”
According to State Insurance Regulatory Authority data, the average cost and time off work for psychological injury claims was more than triple that of physical injuries. In 2022 28% of workers experienced a mental health condition, according to the SafeWork strategy.
Janet*, a finance sector worker, has suffered psychological injuries at her job in Sydney and feels burned out after two years in her role.
“You work your ass off to meet the goal and then they’ll just try to move the goalposts,” she said. “It’s like you’re running a marathon but the expectation is that you sprint the whole time. It’s not reasonable and it’s not maintainable.”
Janet’s experience is not unusual, with families often affected by the psychological injuries of workers, according to SafeWork. The agency also reported that psychosocial hazards can lead to physical harm, including musculoskeletal disorders.
Janet experiences tension headaches, muscle pain, depression and anxiety.
“I ended up having to go on stress leave because it was just taking so much of a mental toll,” she said. “I had no energy for anything after work, no energy for my family.”
Janet said she felt that the “decision makers” in her workplace did not have the resources or skills to create a safe work environment.
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The government has pledged $5.6m for workplace mental health training programs for small and medium businesses over the next two years to support the strategy.
SafeWork NSW’s acting deputy secretary, Trent Curtin, warned big businesses to expect compliance checks and a hit to their bottom line if they failed to improve practices.
“SafeWork NSW … may prosecute workplaces who repeatedly do not comply or where they have seriously breached WHS laws,” he said.
The digital infrastructure company Waveconn has put its staff through workplace mental health training provided by the government and presented by the Black Dog Institute and Transitioning Well.
Josh Maxwell, Waveconn’s workplace health and safety manager, said the training helped the company’s older workforce “transition from how things used to be done years ago”.
“It gave them some skills to understand their own capabilities,” he said.
* Name changed for privacy