Psych Health and Safety Podcast

In this episode Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Cameron Stevens, safety technologist and Director of Pocketknife Group. Cam discusses the benefits to an organisation of having their safety function involved in technology application. He shares his observations about current pre-employment screenings and the significant opportunity to explore psychosocial factors using realistic job previews to provide better recruitment outcomes for both employers and employees. We explore the interaction between psychosocial factors and critical risk control and discuss how well this interaction is currently being managed by organisations engaged in critical risk work. NB: The arms of a T-Rex are about 3ft long. Joelle's arms are significantly shorter than those of a T-Rex, as are those of most humans.

In this episode, UK hosts Hayley and Peter chat with repeat guest Louise Hosking, who is joining us from a brand new role as Executive Director of Environmental Health with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Louise speaks to the importance of environmental health in improving human health, and the relationship between mental health and public health.

With most Australian states now having specific regulations for managing psychosocial risks in place, regulators will be responsible for inspecting duty holders to ensure they have safe systems of work in place to prevent psychological injury. So what is required? Join Australian hosts Jason and Joelle as they share what to expect when a psychosocial inspector visits your workplace, and how to be prepared with information to demonstrate you are compliant with WHS regulations. Download the cheat sheet here: https://psychosocialriskassessment.com/download-the-psychological-health-safety-cheat-sheet/

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Donna Lawrence, Clinical Psychologist and Head of Wellbeing, Safety and Injury Management at St John WA. Donna shares the bespoke approach St John WA takes in maintaining its own Employee Assistance Provider network of Psychologists, (including the work involved in establishing and maintaining the network!) and then we discuss how St John encourages employees to make a workers compensation claim when it becomes apparent that this is the more appropriate recovery pathway than EAP. This is a practical and fascinating exploration of an organisation doing psychological support and injury response a bit differently.

In this episode, UK hosts Peter and Hayley chat with guest Amy McKeown, Strategist and Consultant in Organisational Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing. Amy offers advice on the importance of clarity of our terminology. What is an organisation actually targeting when developing a "wellbeing strategy"? What do we mean as a society when we talk about "mental health"? She explores the conflation between mental health, mental ill-health, and mental illness and how this informs policy both at a company level and a societal level.

In this episode Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Rachel Clements, Co-Founder of the Centre for Corporate Health. We chat about an emerging trend in the psych health and safety space - wellbeing washing. Rachel explains what this looks like in different organisations and why some organisations may not realise that their approach is poor. She offers advice for organisations to move away from wellbeing washing and ensure that their approach is robust.

In this episode we chat with Lynnell Beeck-West, Staff Wellbeing Program Manager at the East Metropolitan Health Service in Western Australia. Lynnell describes the approach she has taken to develop a psychosocial risk management process within the Health Service, sharing practical information about the organisational drivers, the process involved in scoping the work, how a pilot group was selected, and how actions were identified.

In this episode, UK hosts Peter and Hayley chat with Lee Chambers, Founder of Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing. Lee discusses the relationship between inclusion and wellbeing, both as organisational activities and as individual outcomes, and the wellbeing impacts on individuals experiencing exclusion in the workplace. He shares his views on the breadth of skills required for a Wellbeing Officer role, and the importance of utilising a range of communications strategies to ensure messages are heard throughout the workforce. https://leechambers.org/

In this episode we chat with Nicola Hemmings, Doctoral Candidate at Birkbeck University of London. She tells us about the doctoral projects she's undertaken so far - Mission to Mars (helping to address burnout in entrepreneurs), and a maturity model of HR-owned mental health strategies. We chat about her next project, exploring mental health support for small and medium enterprises in the UK. https://setsquared-bristol.co.uk/news/nicola-hemmings-guest-blog-founder-burnout-from-surviving-to-thriving/

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Dr Kim Hamrosi, CEO of the Corporate Mental Health Alliance. Kim describes how the Alliance was founded, its membership, aims, and activities. She talks about how Alliance members share and learn from each other, and shares how the topics and discussions have evolved and matured from "fruit bowls and yoga" to psychosocial risk and work design. https://cmhaa.org.au/ https://haveyoursay.mentalhealthcommission.gov.au/blueprint-for-mentally-healthy-workplaces