An Australian Bureau of Statistics national survey conducted in June this year into the household impact of Covid-19 reveals that one in five Australians are reporting high or very high levels of psychological distress linked to the Covid 19 pandemic. This was more predominant in Victoria with the timing of the survey coinciding with the Victorian outbreak.
The current focus on mental health & wellbeing is certainly at a heightened level, and the timeliness of the release of ISO 45003 International Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace is highly beneficial. With the full extent of the pandemic’s impact on mental health and wellbeing still to be understood, ISO 45003 utilises a familiar ISO framework to provide clear support and advice for businesses and other organisations for managing psychosocial risk from within an OHSMS framework.
ISO 45003 provides guidance on the management of psychosocial risk, with the introductory sections stating that it “…is intended to be used together with ISO 45001”, linking to ISO 45001’s aim to promote and protect worker’s physical and mental health. The new Standard includes details on how to recognise psychosocial hazards and offers examples of effective actions that can be taken to manage these.
It takes a more human-centered approach to determining what should to be considered as a health and safety risk, identifying the conditions, circumstances and workplace demands that could potentially impair psychological health and wellbeing, and how to improve the working environment. The Standard provides guidance in relation to the early identification and assessment of risk factors such as those relating to how the work is organised (considering roles and expectations, job autonomy, job demands, workload & scheduling, and remote & isolated work) and the social factors within an organisation (such as leadership & supervision, organisational / workplace culture, interpersonal relationships, recognition, work/life balance and bullying & harassment).
Organisations that take an ISO compliance or alignment approach to their Management Systems may wish to consult ISO 45003 and incorporate its requirements and guidance with respect to managing psychological health and safety risks as part of a broader OHSMS. We consider that whilst mental health and wellbeing is of the utmost importance, long-term management of this aspect of safety needs to be within a structured framework of continual improvement to be effective.
Please contact QRMC for more information.
