Psychosocial safety takes centre stage in Safe Work Month

Held nationally each October, Safe Work Month and Queensland Mental Health Week are initiatives dedicated to promoting safe, healthy workplaces and supporting mental health and wellbeing for everyone, while also raising awareness and reducing stigma around mental illness.

The Office of Industrial Relations (OIR) held four events over the course of the month, kicking off with the Mental Health in the Agriculture industry webinar on Wednesday, 8 October.

This year, events focused on the importance of psychosocial safety within the workplace, being just as important as physical safety and measures being upheld to keep the workforce safe.

More than 400 people joined online, to hear practical advice from Dr Tim Driscoll from the Royal Flying Doctors Service. Dr Driscoll was also joined by Ruth Thompson from AgForce, and Jasmin Smith from the Queensland Farmers Federation, who participated in a panel discussion to answer questions directed from members of the online audience. You can watch this video of Mental Health in the Agriculture industry webinar.

(Mental Health in the Agriculture industry webinar panel members from left to right – Jasmin Smith, Dr Tim Driscoll and Ruth Thompson)

The key takeaways from the webinar were with so many people working remotely throughout Queensland, there is help available thanks to services such as the Royal Flying Doctors Service, and the availability of telehealth services.

The panel acknowledged the unique factors that people within the agriculture industry face such as long hours, seasonal stressors such as flood, drought and fire as well as often not being able to switch easily between home and work life.

The Queensland Mental Health Breakfast was hosted by Queensland Mental Health Ambassador Hayley Lewis on 9 October at Victoria Park in Brisbane.

Safety Advocate Bill Martin spoke to more over 260 attendees about the importance of safety leadership, looking after your mental health and reflecting on his role as an advocate.

Bill’s son, Tim, was fatality injured at 17 years old after he received an electric shock at work. Bill shared his determination to educate people who train electrical apprentices about the importance of proper guidance.

“My son was only 17 years old, and being supervised by a 19-year-old,” Bill said.

“Tim's supervisor was too inexperienced to have had someone's life in their hands - supervisors need training and experience to become good supervisors.

“I’ve had to work on my mental health for the past 20 years since it happened – it never leaves you. But there are some excellent supports out there and I encourage you to reach out if you need to.

“The Safety Advocates are all so passionate about spreading our messages about what can happen, and how workplaces and employers can prevent it.

Dr Darren Moreton from The Lift Project delivered a lively and engaging presentation about how the brain works, and offered some practical tips based on evidence-based strategies drawn from neuroscience, lifestyle medicine and positive psychology.

Belinda Straughan Winks from illume Partners also gave a keynote speech about organisational psychology and led a question and answer session taking questions from attendees.

More than 800 attendees were at the Work Well Conference held on 23 October at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Attendees spent the day hearing from an impressive lineup of industry leaders and experts including Dr Tessa Bailey who focused on psychosocial risk management, and the inspirational Theo Venter who detailed his story of survival after he was electrocuted during a workplace incident.

Around 30 booths with exhibitors also filled the convention space for attendees to check out during the day.

Finally, over 100 attendees registered for the regional Work Well Regional Breakfast held at the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre on 29 October. The audience heard from Dr Tessa Bailey and Theo Venter, who after the success of the Brisbane Work Well Conference were keen to share their insights. They were also joined by Pierre de Villiers who discussed the importance of frontline leadership for effective risk management in the workplace.