The Black Dog Institute has called for employers to implement organisation-level measures like "problem solving committees" to facilitate job control, and to allow for a "steady post-pandemic workplace transition". It warns that two decades of "seismic changes" have adversely affected workers' mental health.
The number of workers requiring mental health support more than tripled last year due to unprecedented work fatigue, increasing the pressure on supervisors and managers to prevent burnout in their teams, according to a clinical services specialist.
Workforce exhaustion has surged to the top of the list of "people-related risks" likely to impact businesses, with implications for workplace cultures and workers' comp costs, but many employers are not addressing the issue, a survey of nearly 1,500 risk managers and HR professionals has shown.
The struggle of workers to "decode" written communications, which are prolific in remote-work set-ups, is triggering a hunter-gatherer survival mechanism and perceptions of being bullied, a senior WHS researcher says.
In a major report on Australia's "forced experiment" - widespread working-from-home arrangements for the pandemic - the Productivity Commission has detailed employers' WHS duties to remote workers, examined the "right to disconnect" and called for an upcoming WHS review to address the issue.
Minimising "boundaryless working hours" allows employees to recover and remain healthy, according to a study of nearly 9,000 workers that provides pertinent advice for COVID-19-driven flexible and remote work arrangements.
The proliferation of telecommuting arrangements forced by the COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to health problems ranging from anxiety to back injuries and eye strain, but employers can prevent many of these conditions by identifying and addressing any "mismatch" between remote-work preference and frequency, a study has shown.
The pandemic era is providing employers with a golden opportunity to address the significant stress risks posed by open-plan office noises, Australian researchers say.
The vast majority of Australian workers are worried about the risk of COVID-19 infection as their workplaces reopen, demonstrating the need for clear communication on infection control from their employers, and other measures to allay their fears, a study has found.
