Caring for the carers: occupational health and safety in homecare. Homecare workers care for vulnerable clients but their own vulnerability to health and safety risks is seldom examined. Pilot research revealed unrecognised hazards arising from the isolated and fragmented nature of the work. This project will systematically identify hazards and develop interventions to promote healthier and safer homecare work.
Helping retail employees deal with threatening situations at work: Coping with acute and chronic stressors. This research will develop best practice protocols in the retail sector for employee training in handling and responding to difficult customers and stressful and traumatic incidents. In addition, this research proposes to develop best practice protocols for employer responding and for assessment and treatment of employees in the retail sector. The national benefit will be a healthier, happ ....Helping retail employees deal with threatening situations at work: Coping with acute and chronic stressors. This research will develop best practice protocols in the retail sector for employee training in handling and responding to difficult customers and stressful and traumatic incidents. In addition, this research proposes to develop best practice protocols for employer responding and for assessment and treatment of employees in the retail sector. The national benefit will be a healthier, happier and more productive retail sector workforce. The results are likely to be applicable to other sectors of the Australian workforce and thus have broad national/community benefits.Read moreRead less
Occupational injury prevention in high temperature environments. This project aims to explore the contribution of heat as a risk factor in work-related illness and injury. Approximately 600 000 Australians experience a work-related illness or injury each year. Hot weather may directly or indirectly lead to accidents, but heat as a risk factor has not been systematically explored, and is particularly relevant in a warming climate. This project aims to improve safety and productivity in Australian ....Occupational injury prevention in high temperature environments. This project aims to explore the contribution of heat as a risk factor in work-related illness and injury. Approximately 600 000 Australians experience a work-related illness or injury each year. Hot weather may directly or indirectly lead to accidents, but heat as a risk factor has not been systematically explored, and is particularly relevant in a warming climate. This project aims to improve safety and productivity in Australian industry by generating new evidence and predictive models to inform injury prevention policy and guidance, and facilitating the development of practical, targeted resources. This project expects to add to the body of knowledge regarding workers’ health and safety and to be of benefit to industry and subpopulations at risk.Read moreRead less
From data to action: a new process for developing injury countermeasures. This project aims to understand how reporting systems can improve workplace safety. Workplace injury affects over 600 000 Australian workers per year at a cost of approximately $60 billion. Although the introduction of incident reporting systems has enabled organisations to better understand the causes of injuries, how to translate this knowledge into effective countermeasures remains ambiguous. Moreover, it is not clear w ....From data to action: a new process for developing injury countermeasures. This project aims to understand how reporting systems can improve workplace safety. Workplace injury affects over 600 000 Australian workers per year at a cost of approximately $60 billion. Although the introduction of incident reporting systems has enabled organisations to better understand the causes of injuries, how to translate this knowledge into effective countermeasures remains ambiguous. Moreover, it is not clear whether adopting incident reporting systems actually leads to a safety benefit. This research intends to tackle these critical knowledge gaps by developing, implementing, and testing a process for translating incident reporting system outputs into appropriate and effective injury countermeasures, and then evaluating the safety effects of adopting the new incident reporting and learning cycle.Read moreRead less
The relationship between cognitive capacity and driver competence following acquired brain injury: Implications for driver rehabilitation and training. This project develops a model of driver rehabilitation and training, based on speed of information processing variables, for people with acquired brain injuries (ABI). Current evaluations of fitness to drive lack sufficient theoretical and empirical foundations. Consequent problems include inappropriate decisions about fitness to drive, comprom ....The relationship between cognitive capacity and driver competence following acquired brain injury: Implications for driver rehabilitation and training. This project develops a model of driver rehabilitation and training, based on speed of information processing variables, for people with acquired brain injuries (ABI). Current evaluations of fitness to drive lack sufficient theoretical and empirical foundations. Consequent problems include inappropriate decisions about fitness to drive, compromised driver safety, and inadequate driver training. Accurate assessment of ABI processing deficits will generate driver-training programs tailored to individual needs. The project also addresses rehabilitation and training outcomes, particularly as they relate to reduced social services needs and enhanced quality of life. It provides a paradigm for evaluating rehabilitation outcomes in wider contexts.
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The dynamic interplay of physical and psychosocial safety in frontline healthcare workplaces in Australia and Malaysia. The healthcare industry is under immense pressure. Urgent attention is needed to reduce strains on workers and costs in healthcare. This project will meet these joint objectives through modelling and developing a system that integrates both physical and psychosocial facets to enhance the psychological and physical health of workers and quality care.
The significance of psychosocial safety climate, health and happiness for productivity at work. Despite national efforts, for a decade workers compensation claims for work stress have remained stable. This project proposes an innovative science driven multilevel process model, with organisational psychosocial safety climate as a lead indicator of productivity loss (for example, time loss), and a conditioner of paths linking job demands, job resources, work engagement, happiness, mental (for exam ....The significance of psychosocial safety climate, health and happiness for productivity at work. Despite national efforts, for a decade workers compensation claims for work stress have remained stable. This project proposes an innovative science driven multilevel process model, with organisational psychosocial safety climate as a lead indicator of productivity loss (for example, time loss), and a conditioner of paths linking job demands, job resources, work engagement, happiness, mental (for example, depression) and physical health to productivity. This four wave longitudinal study of 3000 Australian workers, also linking to objective workers compensation data, will provide fresh insights regarding workplace primary prevention. Read moreRead less
Sleeping with one ear open: the impact on sleep and waking function. The aim of the project is to assess the impact 'on-call' work has on sleep, stress, and next day performance. Two million Australians are on-call providing essential 24-hour services including emergency response. While sleep during on-call periods is disrupted when a call occurs, some research suggests that sleeping with one ear open waiting for a call may disrupt sleep even if no call occurs. If on-call sleep is less restorati ....Sleeping with one ear open: the impact on sleep and waking function. The aim of the project is to assess the impact 'on-call' work has on sleep, stress, and next day performance. Two million Australians are on-call providing essential 24-hour services including emergency response. While sleep during on-call periods is disrupted when a call occurs, some research suggests that sleeping with one ear open waiting for a call may disrupt sleep even if no call occurs. If on-call sleep is less restorative, then individuals are at risk of performance impairment and adverse health outcomes. This project aims to answer questions about the magnitude of sleep disruption when on-call, the mechanisms for any disruption, and impact on waking function.Read moreRead less
Working wounded or engaged? Australian work conditions and consequences through the lens of the Job Demands- Resources Model. Australian researchers will participate in high quality theory driven longitudinal research of crucial practical importance nationally and of theoretical importance internationally. Specifically the study will assist in understanding workplace health and productivity in terms of job conditions, demands and resources. It will underscore costly consequences of stressful j ....Working wounded or engaged? Australian work conditions and consequences through the lens of the Job Demands- Resources Model. Australian researchers will participate in high quality theory driven longitudinal research of crucial practical importance nationally and of theoretical importance internationally. Specifically the study will assist in understanding workplace health and productivity in terms of job conditions, demands and resources. It will underscore costly consequences of stressful jobs e.g. depression related workplace productivity loss in dollar terms. Australian governments, unions, and OHS organisations will have access to high quality evidence to: design and evaluate OHS interventions; inform prevention campaigns, policies and practice; benchmark progress at national levels; monitor changing trends; and develop national standards.Read moreRead less
Optimal Resourcing: A longitudinal study of work demands, resourcing, and psychological well-being in Australian frontline police officers. Expanding the Job Demands-Resources model of job stress to include upstream pressures on the organisational system, this research will provide important insights into the relationships between psychosocial risks (current resources and demands) and police wellbeing. Using 3 wave longitudinal designs, and 'objective' measures of demands and resources, the rese ....Optimal Resourcing: A longitudinal study of work demands, resourcing, and psychological well-being in Australian frontline police officers. Expanding the Job Demands-Resources model of job stress to include upstream pressures on the organisational system, this research will provide important insights into the relationships between psychosocial risks (current resources and demands) and police wellbeing. Using 3 wave longitudinal designs, and 'objective' measures of demands and resources, the research will extend the stress development literature by exploring exposure (cross-sectional, 1 year) and time lag (2 year) causal pathways. The findings will make a significant contribution to contemporary job demand/resource theories of occupational stress and assist in the development of policies to enhance the occupational health and safety of frontline police officers.Read moreRead less