Coinciding with World Mental Health Day and National Safe Work Month’s mental health week, SafeWork NSW has encouraged NSW businesses to explore the State Government’s new digital Workplace Wellbeing Assessment Tool (WWAT).

The WWAT is timely given the recent amendments to the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (NSW) to provide for an express duty on persons conducting a business or undertaking to manage psychosocial hazards.

Head of SafeWork NSW, Natasha Mann, said that currently, 80% of NSW workplaces take a reactive or ad-hoc approach to mental health at work.

Businesses should instead be taking a proactive approach.

“This is not just about the mental health of your workers, this is about making the best workplace environment in your workplace both mentally and physically,” Ms Mann said.

“A mentally healthy workplace provides many benefits back into the business, including increased staff engagement and productivity. But despite the benefits, many people in NSW are not aware of the role workplaces play in preventing mental health issues and supporting recovery.”

The WWAR is designed to improve business understanding and management of workplace mental health. It enables a business to consult with its workers to find out how well it promotes, manages and supports mental health in the workplace. It will compare the business’ level of capability to other businesses in NSW in the same industry and business size.

Ms Mann said, “The free self-assessment tool helps set up a survey [that] businesses can use to confidentially survey their staff, with the results informing businesses how to plan and respond to risks, and create workplaces where mental health thrives.

“The tool measures and monitors a workplace’s capability by identifying gaps and areas for improvement. It also provides actions for the business to take to reduce risks and allows them to compare themselves with others across the state.

“As a free resource, it’s a great investment for any small business to make in looking after the mental health of their workers.”

You can access the WWAT here.