Alan Fergusson is Global Employee Benefits Practice Leader at the Worldwide Broker Network (WBN).
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Stress and mental health at work are all relative and can come in all different shapes and sizes. One person’s unremarkable part of their job can be another person’s anxiety-inducing nightmare.
A recent High Court ruling in Victoria, Australia, showed just how costly it could be for businesses to ignore psychological risk. The case involved a lawyer, Zagi Kozarov, and her employer, the Office of Public Prosecutions' specialist sex offender unit. The job exposed Kozarov to traumatic material daily, and it started impacting her mental health. Despite conveying to her employer that she was struggling and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), her employer did nothing to help alleviate her distress. Because of her employer’s negligence, the judge awarded a settlement to Kozarov of just under half a million Australian dollars.
In terms of work-related psychological risk, this case is right at the high-risk end of the spectrum—one might argue these cases don’t apply to the majority of industries. Employers know mental health problems are on the rise, and they have a duty of care to create an environment where people feel safe and supported. The U.N. reported nearly one billion people worldwide were suffering from a mental disorder in 2022.
But ISO 45003 has a real potential to change things.
Put Psychological Risks On Par With Slips, Trips And Falls
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released ISO 45003 in June 2021. It gives businesses a formalized framework they can use to accurately assess how they’re managing psychological risks in the workplace. Experts in 75 countries came together to create the framework, meaning the principles within it are universal—just about any business, anywhere, can apply the document to their company's health and safety policy.
Businesses can manage psychological injuries just like they handle physical ones—as a health and safety matter. They can signal to employees that they see both types of injuries equally and are doing what they can to reduce the likelihood of them happening.
Boost Your Employer Brand And Avoid Costly Lawsuits
Making ISO 45003 part of company policy could do wonders for a business’s employer brand. It can help to normalize psychological injuries, giving people more confidence to open up if they’re struggling. By having that open and inclusive culture, businesses can find it easier to focus on what support structures aren’t working hard enough and how they can be improved.
Companies that use ISO 45003 can also approach psychological risk with better precision. Whereas before businesses had a vague sense of where to focus their resources, now they can leverage a formal checklist that guides them more definitively. Not only could it help safeguard their employees, but it also helps protect the business from the legal, reputational and financial damage that can come from cases like Kozarov’s.
Stay On Track With A Psychological Hazard Checklist
The checklist works through all of the factors that can have a negative impact on employees if they’re not managed properly. This includes:
• Workload: How much work do employees have and how much time have they set aside to complete it?
• Autonomy: What level of freedom and empowerment do employees have in their roles? For example, do they have flexibility around where and when they choose to work?
• Role clarity: Are employees clear on their role, what’s expected of them and how it relates to the wider business?
• Support: Are employees given enough help from the team to complete their tasks?
• Reward and recognition: How does the manager communicate an employee’s goals and acknowledge their achievements?
• Change consultation: Are employees kept up to speed on changes and how they might be affected?
• Organizational justice: Are you creating an environment that’s fair and treats everyone equally?
Make Psychological Risk A Shared Venture
A core principle behind good practice in ISO 45003 is the idea of shared responsibility. So, while the employer needs to invest time and resources in the right structure and solutions—embedding good mental health standards in the culture, management training, employee benefits, DE&I, communications and more—the employee also needs to play their part, too.
There are many ways employers can deliver its principles. It could be through a conventional employee assistance program (EAP), specialized mental health apps around cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or services available within health, disability and life policies. Employers should properly assess what’s out there and find the best options for their business and people.
I believe it’s time for businesses the world over to really consider putting ISO 45003 into practice—and that it's a win-win for everyone. It keeps employers on track and dialed in to making their workplaces psychologically safer places to be. It could, in turn, ensure employees are much happier and healthier in their roles and give them several more reasons to stick around for the long term.
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