If you lead a professional workforce, whether that looks traditionally (suited-up) corporate, or less so, with your team in t-shirts and on Slack, you could be forgiven for assuming that work health and safety laws are not a priority.
Except they are.
Gone are the days when this was only of concern to those operating heavy machinery or scaling scaffolding for a living. Over the last 10 years, the law has changed to accept and reflect shifting societal values and employee expectations of a modern workforce. “Health”, as defined under Australian WHS laws, includes both physical and psychological health. Under these laws, anyone conducting a business or undertaking must do what is reasonably practicable to ensure the health (including psychological health) and safety of their workers .*
A major trigger for psychological injury at work is workplace grievances, including bullying and harassment. It’s therefore essential that organisations establish and maintain modern systems to manage this risk.
Historically, businesses have seen law as a burden, a profit-draining juggle of compliance and risk. In a new era, where the links between a happy, positive workforce and successful business are impossible to ignore, complying with WHS laws and introducing safe systems of work trigger massive cultural upside. Whilst breaches in this area carry more risk than ever before, getting it right brings enormous performance upsides.
We help our clients realise the value of effectively managing workplace incidents and complaints, every step of the way. Finally, a cost of doing business which pays you back.
*Keep and eye out for some practical compliance tips in a future post.