Later this afternoon, Carlo Caponecchia will be on a conference panel about ISO45003, a document he assisted in creating, but he has been involved in psychosocial hazard research for much longer than just one international Standard. I value his perspectives which are reflected in his responses to my questions below....
This week saw the release of an inquiry into the workplace culture of the New South Wales police force. The findings were damning, but even though all Australian jurisdictions have police forces, the report received little attention beyond NSW, perhaps because we have heard it before. Coincidentally, this report was published one week after Carlo …
Psychological health in the emergency services has come to the fore recently as governments pay more attention to using occupational health and safety (OHS) to push employers to prevent psychosocial hazards. In the emergency services, psychosocial hazards such as trauma cannot all be prevented; the best that can be achieved is lowering these risks as …
Workplace bullying, harassment and other psychosocial risks are no longer fringe issues – they are central to how we think about safety, fairness and dignity at work. One forum that has been shaping this conversation for more than two decades is the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment (IAWBH) and its much‑anticipated biannual conference. … Continue reading “Solving Psychosocial Harm at Work: The Upcoming Global IAWBH Conference in Canberra”
Psychosocial hazards are gaining attention online, but the pace of change remains sloth-like. Two recent online events provide good, basic occupational health and safety (OHS) and organisational psychology information and some insight into the slow pace....
The Australian Institute of Health and Safety has been dropping new chapters of its Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Body of Knowledge for many years. The latest revised chapter is titled “Hazard as a Concept“. This process is a good way of keeping some OHS information fresh, but it could be fresher and have a …
On mental health, a clinical psychologist, Dr Sanah Ahsan wrote in The Guardian recently that: “…. I’ve seen first hand how we are failing people by locating their problems within them as some kind of mental disorder or psychological issue, and thereby depoliticising their distress.” The Guardian, 6 September 2022 This perspective, enlightened for psychologists, is …
