Psych Health and Safety Podcast

In this episode we chat with Daniela Masters, Head of Global Health and Wellbeing Programs at Generali Employee Benefits. Daniela brings a unique perspective having insight into a number of multinational organisations, and describes some of the challenges in achieving collaboration between HR and OSH functions within multinational organisations given their size and structural complexity. We discuss the shared responsibility model for employee mental health, and Daniela describes the issue of self-stigma, where individuals are supportive of others seeking mental health help but feel unable or unwilling to do so themselves. We then talk about mental health indicators, and Daniela shares with us some interesting and unexpected data sources.

In this episode we chat with Dr Richard Claydon, Chief Cognitive Officer at EQ Lab. Richard introduces the concept of impression management as a workplace psychosocial hazard. Richard describes how the increasing complexity of work combined with more regular work from home creates a constant drive for impression management, which can lead to burn out, depression, anxiety, and a range of other adverse health outcomes. Richard then goes on to describe different strategies and approaches that organisations and individuals can implement to reduce the drivers for impression management, improve productivity, and develop leaders who are effective rather than leaders who are "performers" (in the theatrical sense of the word).

In this episode we chat with Bob Stenhouse, Principal Director of Veritas Solutions. Bob shares his experiences of being an undercover operative with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, including posing as a contracted hitman, and what it was like to be a whistleblower before there were legal protections in place. We then talk about how best to conduct an investigation into workplace psychosocial hazards. Bob emphasises the need for a trauma-informed approach to such investigations, in particular for claims of assault, harassment, and bullying.

In this crossover episode with the Melius Performance Podcast, co-host Jason van Schie chats with Dr Ian Dunican about a broad range of workplace mental health matters. Jason speaks to concerns from the perspective of the employer and the employee, describes the shared responsibility model for workplace mental health, debunks misconceptions, and challenges misapplication of some of the more popular wellbeing approaches.

In this episode we chat with Sandra Lam, Organisational Psychologist and Founder and Managing Director of FIFO Focus, helping Fly in Fly out (FIFO) workers to maintain good mental health and employers to design their organisation and work to enable psychological wellbeing. Sandra shares her observations of how psychological health and safety is managed in the FIFO world, what employers could do differently, and the changes she has seen in Western Australia following the Parliamentary Inquiry into FIFO mental health and subsequent publication of the DMIRS Code of Practice. She also has some great advice for early-career Organisational Psychologists, and other professionals with an interest in workplace psych health and safety.

In this episode we chat with Diya Dey, the second Organisational Psychologist to feature this week. Diya has a wealth of experience working with State Government in the field of health, safety and wellbeing. In this episode, Diya explains what vicarious trauma is, how it develops, which professions are more at risk, and the different career stages where vicarious trauma risk tends to increase. Diya then takes us through what a systems-based approach to vicarious trauma risk management looks like, acknowledging the shared responsibility model where both the employer and the employee each contributes to risk reduction. She shares some practical interventions that employers can use to reduce employee exposure to vicarious trauma risk, and discusses how higher risk professions can build a culture of professional development that includes strategies known to reduce individual risk.

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