Health and wellbeing at work
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 7, 27 September 2024, page 20.
Workers are more productive, more engaged, absent less and less likely to experience workplace injuries when health and wellbeing is part of their daily working lives.
Work health and wellbeing focuses on improving work processes to benefit the health of workers and prevent chronic disease risks in the workplace. The work people do can positively or negatively affect their likelihood of developing an injury or illness.
When it comes to work health and wellbeing, risk factors include physical inactivity (including sedentary work), unhealthy eating, harmful alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, and poor mental health.
When addressing health and wellbeing in the workplace, the following factors have to be considered:
- Work organisation – the way work is done, including systems, policies, procedures, processes, physical and mental demands, work characteristics and the organisational context
- Physical environment – the plant, equipment, materials, vehicles, buildings, and structures where the work is performed
- Workers – the physical, emotional, and mental capacities and behaviours demonstrated.
The introduction of work health and wellbeing into existing work systems, policies and procedures can assist in making them sustainable and relevant to the workplace.
When creating a healthy workplace three core elements need to be taken into account.
- Plan – introduce work and wellbeing into the workplace systems and identify and assess the risks.
- Implement – manage risks by implementing appropriate interventions and monitor them to make sure they are effective.
- Evaluate – examine the impact of introducing work health and wellbeing into the workplace and make any necessary improvements to ensure sustainability.
It is important that workers and HSRs are involved in the development and implementation of work health and wellbeing. Workers can assist in making better decisions about the best approach to take.
This information was sourced from the July Health and Safety Representative Support Service Update. More information can also be found at https://worksafe.qld.gov.au.