Resources

Aaron Hughes, Comcare

Resources (PDF, 788.9 KB) are available from this session.

Is it fair to say that well-being is the most essential ingredient for a productive society? After all, it does play a crucial role in the sustainability, social and economic well-being of our nation.

It's impossible to ignore the soaring personal, social and economic costs of mental ill-health. Whether directly or indirectly, all Australians are affected. It is a now, more than ever, a national imperative.  The future of individuals, businesses, and communities is now inherently tied to their ability to effectively support the well-being of their people.

The workplace has a broadly positive influence on well-being, it can be a vehicle for hope and change. The workplace can be a vehicle that turns discourse about well-being and mental ill-health into action. It can be a vehicle for:

• Increased social and economic participation that has many benefits for individuals and the community.
• Tackling social isolation or loneliness, especially where systemic or geographical isolation already exists.

However, this presentation occurs in the increasingly pressing context of the significant rise of mental health conditions as a proportion of overall injuries in the workplace. It is a context that means it has never been more important to move from discourse to action.

So, how can we keep people in good work? How can we find the long-term job detached viable employment? And what is Allianz doing to support sustainable recovery so that individuals, businesses and communities can benefit?

Resources (PDF, 4.0 MB) are available from this session.

The Nurses and Midwives: Towards a Safer Culture (NM TASC) project team within ACT Health addressed 22 priority actions that have targeted areas of safety concern in the public health system. The true magnitude of workplace violence for Nurses and Midwives is not fully known, however they are considered at high risk internationally. Broadly, the NM TASC project team across 2018-2021 developed multiple evidence-based initiatives that addressed key insights and risks present in ACT Public Health Services. Initiatives included a community awareness campaign based on market research, high-level governance documents for managing challenging behaviour, leadership support, an evidence-based model that focuses on staff and patient modifiers of behaviour and a clearer view on safe workplace design. All priority actions were further inter-linked with other projects focused on culture change and managing occupational violence. Through the principles of stewardship, consultation, and collaboration the NM TASC project has been able to highlight important measures for keeping Nurses and Midwives safer.

This presentation will focus on key learnings from the NM TASC project planning and implementation of evidence-based strategies at a system-wide level. Working towards a safer culture across multiple public health services requires considerable planning. There is little precedent for this whole of system approach for Nurses and Midwives that addresses a number of priority actions. There were several measures of evaluation that needed to be found, together with key stakeholders, measures were identified such as reduced reporting of physical assaults and increased reporting of verbal assaults to account for changes in reporting as staff became aware of strategies. Further measures were collected to assess education attendance for evidence-based initiatives and incidence of Code Grey and Code Black in the public health services.

Strategies to address priority actions targeted each level of the health system and the broader community as part of a wider culture shift. A community awareness campaign has been developed utilising market research that delivers the message of ‘Be Kind and Respectful to our Nurses and Midwives’. The initial campaign has 35,000+ online interactions since being launched in September 2020, with further videos to be released in November 2020.

Digital Health Transformation: Using technology to enhance employee wellbeing
Michelle Barratt, Arriba Group

Resources (PDF, 1.8 MB) are available from this session.

Working in the healthcare industry introduces a range of work health and safety hazards for staff such as burnout associated with working with people with complex needs. Rehab Management has over 200 health professional employees and to provide for our team we have commenced a digital revolution. We aim to support not only our most valued asset, our people, but also to apply our learnings and initiatives to deliver outcomes for clients and customers. Rehab Management has invested in a range of digital tools to improve staff wellbeing and safety, these include:

• Staff CheckIn – our twice weekly email survey ‘checking in’ on our people by asking them three questions around their health, how they are coping and whether they feel they are getting the support they need. Over 4,00 checkins have been sent with a 75% response rate. Any concerning survey feedback triggers a rapid response from the People and Culture team and the individual’s manager in view of identifying and addressing wellbeing issues early.
• CheckInToday – our employer focused support program is a mental wellbeing screening and coaching program which is aimed at early identification, and provision of the right services at the right time for employees with emerging wellbeing issues. The program has been delivered to 100’s of emergency service workers and over 80 workers in the WorkSafe Victoria segment. Thus far the intervention has shown a 30% improvement in mental wellbeing scores.
• Digital Suicide and Self Harm Risk Assessment forms – these are ‘smart’ suicide risk guidance tools that enable the clinician to easily follow clinical guidelines using a digital questionnaire, the form provides a suggested risk level and outlines key actions and timeframes. Where a risk is identified the form will also alert key internal senior psychologists and the relevant team manager to ensure prompt and effective support for the staff member who is managing the crisis. Looking to the future, we see the integration of digital innovation wellbeing tools as a critical step in ushering the work, health and safety industry to the next level.

Death in the transport industry: the life insurance data view
Dr Ross Iles, Monash University

Resources (PDF, 704.1 KB) are available from this session.

This project had the following aims:

• To explore the feasibility of using life insurance claim data to understand non work-related death claims.
• To describe the major cause of death claims by Australian transport workers.
• To determine the number and rate of Australian transport worker death claims by age and cause of death (COD).

Methods:

Death benefit claims from male transport workers with a date of death between 1st January 2004 and 31st December 2017 were included. The COD descriptions transcribed from the death certificate  were unified and examined to identify the underlying COD, intermediate COD and the immediate COD. Descriptive analysis was performed to summarise the counts  of death benefit claims by COD and age. Death benefit claim rates were calculated using the TWUSUPER annual membership estimates.

Results:

Of the 3,386 death benefit claims during the period of 2004 to 2017, more than half were due to cardiovascular disease (26.7%) and cancers (23.6%). External cause of injury (16.7%) and suicide (11.3%) recorded the third and fourth leading COD benefit claims. The top three leading COD benefit claims varied by age  , with external cause of injury and suicide the two leading COD in workers under 40. Suicide was the second leading COD in workers less than 40 years old.

Conclusions:

Life insurance claim data has the potential to investigate non work-related health issues for a working population. Cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention should be priority occupational health activities for the transport industry, while mental health and suicide interventions are particularly important for younger workers.

Resources (PDF, 2.6 MB) are available from this session.

Comcare will provide an update on the regulator’s key priorities and discuss emerging WHS risks and Comcare's regulatory approach.

Resources (PDF, 1.9 MB) are available from this session.

The occupational burden of truck driving on the health and wellbeing of professional drivers is well established. Truck drivers have significantly elevated risk of workplace injuries like fractures and work-related fatalities, relative to other male dominated industries. However, transport accidents only account for 17% of the disability burden of work-related injury/illness, highlighting the knowledge gap of factors contributing to poor health in drivers.

The Driving Health study conducted the largest national survey investigating the personal, health and work factors that significantly impact the health and wellbeing of Australian professional truck drivers. The cross-sectional online survey incorporated validated measures such as the Kessler 6 psychological distress questionnaire, the Work Ability Index and Euroqol-5D measure of health-related quality-of-life to clearly describe factors contributing to poor health and driving outcomes.

The survey was completed by 1390 drivers, 97% male, representing drivers from broad age groups and professional experience. Both owner (13%) and employee (87%) drivers participated, including short- (61%) and long- (39%) haul drivers.  Obesity was identified in 54%, higher than the national average for men (33%). Over a third reported back problems (35%) and 26% high blood-pressure. Thirty percent reported having three or more specific diagnosed health conditions, which significantly increased poorer outcomes across all health and driving outcome measured. Mental health conditions (depression and anxiety) were diagnosed in 19% of drivers. Additionally, the proportion of younger drivers (<35yrs) (22%) suffering from severe psychological distress was nearly double that of the average Australian male (12%), with the odds of a younger driver having severe psychological distress 4.28 times (CI 3.13-5.87, p<0.001) that of older drivers (>60yrs). Nearly a third of drivers rated themselves as being in poor general health (30%), compared to the 16% average of Australian men. Over two thirds reported experiencing some level of chronic pain, which had persisted for more than a year.

These results provide a health profile of Australian professional drivers, and clearly identify the elevated health risks that drivers are facing. This data will aid in the development and evaluation of evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to improve the overall wellbeing of the Australian truck driver.

Mindarma is an award-winning holistic program teaching practice skills and strategies to help bolster psychological resilience and wellbeing. Mindarma has since been adopted as a core workplace mental health initiative by numerous organisations including Ambulance Victoria, New South Wales Ambulance, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Health, UNICEF, Reuters, Department of Communities and Justice NSW, WorkSafe ACT, TAFE Queensland, Business Victoria, Mercy Health Services, Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA, UNSW- LAW, Queensland Fire and Rescue, Queensland SES, Queensland RFS, NSW Health Pathology and the NSW Ministry of Health. Dr Joyce will provide an overview of the program and an update on how the evidence-based program is progressing within workplaces.

Early Intervention - positive outcomes in the public sector
Megan Buick, Comcare

Resources (PDF, 1.8 MB) are available from this session.

Strong evidence suggests that offering immediate support and treatment (‘early intervention’) to an employee who experiences an injury, illness or symptom that impacts on their ability to work can support the employee to recover and return to work in a timely manner. It also has other positive impacts such as improving safety culture and providing secondary prevention opportunities.

Comcare designed a trial to test the effectiveness of a structured early intervention service in partnership with three government departments, over a six-month period and measure its impact. Through a nurse triage service, underpinned by a clinical framework, employees were provided with clinical advice to manage their injury or illness. If advised, employees could access up to four appointments each with a general practitioner, physiotherapist or psychologist at no cost to support their treatment and recovery. Participation in the pilot did not preclude an employee’s right to lodge a worker’s compensation claim at any time.

This presentation will report on the outcomes of this pilot, which measured the impact on:

• the duration of actual, or emerging symptoms of, injury or illness that affected an employee’s ability to work,
• the likelihood of development of a chronic and/or secondary condition,
• recovery at and return to work,
• a positive and responsive safety culture,
• opportunities to identify, report and address health issues affecting employees,
• actuarial and cost benefit analysis.

The presentation will describe lessons learned during implementation of the pilot, and showcase tools and resources for employers developed from the knowledge translation plan.

Innovation to sustain RTW & recovery outcomes following psychological injury
Amelia Flores, Resilia

Resilia is the product of 20 years of research into workplace psychological injury by Australia’s leader in the field of workplace mental health, the Centre for Corporate Health. Having assessed over 10,000 psychological injury claims, Resilia has an evidence-based background to inform all psychological consulting services. Resilia is a national workplace rehabilitation provider specialising in psychological injury.

To achieve strong recovery outcomes in both compensable and non-compensable schemes, Resilia developed The Resilience Box®. A one-on-one comprehensive psychological wellbeing program, specifically designed to strengthen personal resilience for employees experiencing poor mental health or psychological injury. The program has been developed from the latest worldwide evidence-based research in positive psychology, neuropsychology, cognitive and strengths-based psychology to achieve meaningful and lasting self-directed behaviour change. This educational/coaching program targets personal underlying contributing factors that lead to psychological injury and assists participants in recovering from existing psychological injury, and mitigating future relapses.

A statistical analysis of our outcome data on measures of emotional resilience, wellbeing and psychological symptomology conducted in 2019- 2020 showed significant improvement across all areas tested for all program participants through pre and post program inventories. The domains tested include:

Wechsler Emotional Resilience Scale

Results demonstrate statistically significant improvement in positive behaviour change for participants. When used within a compensation population, it ultimately results in improved RTW and health recovery outcomes thereby achieving significant cost savings and improved quality of life for participants. Post-program data demonstrates evidence of improved wellbeing which has been translated to improved work capacity. Specifically, post-program scores for the DASS show a 60% improvement in self-reported symptoms, and a 65% improvement in the WEMWBS. Furthermore, 100% of participants either obtained a medical upgrade during their participation in the program or maintained full working hours.

Resilia welcomes the opportunity to co-present a case study of The Resilience Box® methodology used within an emergency services population of psychological injury claims to showcase the content and methodology, including its centralised digital wellbeing support platform, and how The Resilience Box has been used to support frontline workers with recovery and wellbeing outcomes.

COVID-19 and the changing landscape of rehabilitation services
Drew Schultz, IPAR

Resources (PDF, 644.4 KB) are available from this session.

The impact of Covid-19 on people and workplaces across Australia and the world was sudden and allowed little time for preparation. Within hours, the Prime Minister was advising a vast number of Australians to work from home. The most immediate implication for workplace rehabilitation providers was that the workplace was now the employee’s home. This meant that meeting face-to-face became a limited option (if available at all), as well as the ability to conduct a face-to-face review of the workplace and duties.

Even though many employees were setting up their new workplaces, referrals for workplace ergonomic reviews fell dramatically within the initial months of working from home. In time, as employers realised that this new way of working was going to continue for the foreseeable future, referrals for virtual ergonomic assessments of the home/work environment became the norm.  Workplace rehabilitation providers quickly adapted to using videoconferencing platforms, but this raised a number of issues around security, privacy and contractual requirements.

As we progress to a ‘Covid normal’ time, arrangements for the utilisation of workplace rehabilitation providers and how they can be best utilised to support employee health, recovery and a safe and sustainable return to work must be established. It is acknowledged that there are many unknown factors at play, which may have significant impacts on people, workplaces and the Comcare scheme in the longer term if not well managed. This includes issues around social isolation, inconsistent access to and capability of technology, limited management oversight, presenteeism, productivity and more.

Learnings from the perspective of a workplace rehabilitation provider delivering services during the initial phases of covid-related restrictions will be shared and discussed, along with how these experiences are informing and being adapted for future service delivery.