Psychosocial Safety Climate and the Australian Workplace Barometer. Throwaway Workers

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1 Psychosocial Safety Climate and the Australian Workplace Barometer Throwaway Workers And the revenge of the occupational health psychologists SuperFriend Symposium Sydney 2012 Maureen Dollard Work & Stress Research Group, Centre for Applied Psychological Research, University of South Australia

2 My argument Psychological health at work is a serious occupational health and safety issue Organisational factors are a powerful influence on the health of the person at work A driving pressure is to improve productivity, and profitability- and accumulate capital and therefore Dispensible (throwaway) workers are ok We need resilient organisations for resilient people-psychosocial maureen.dollard@unisa.edu.au safety climate (c) key

3 Outline Cost of work stress Hierarchy of causes of worker health Psychosocial safety climate theory Results from Australia Workplace Barometer Resilient systems-resilient workers

4 Costs of Work stress Significant risk factor for both physical (cardiovascular disease (CVD)) (Blekic, et al., 2004) and psychological health (e.g., depression) (LaMontagne, Keegel, Vallance, Ostry & Wolfe, 2008). Stress-related illnesses are forecast to be the leading causes of the global disease burden by 2020 (Murray & Lopez, 1996). Related lost productivity costs to Australian employers around $14.8 billion p.a., or 1.78% of GDP (Ecnotech, 2008).

5 Organisation of Work Influences on individual health and safety External Context Economic, legal, political, technological, and demographic forces at the national and international level Economic developments (eg globalisation of economy) Regulatory, trade, and economic policies (eg deregulation) Technological innovations (eg information/ computer technology) Changing worker demographics and labour supply (eg ageing population) Organisational Context Management structures, supervisory practices, production methods, and human resource policies Organisational restructuring (eg downsizing) New quality & process management initiatives (eg high performance work systems) Alternative employment arrangements (eg contingent labour) Work/family/life programs and flexible work arrangements (eg telecommuting) Changes in benefits and compensation systems (eg gainsharing) Climate and culture Work Context Job characteristics Task attributes: temporal aspects, complexity, autonomy, physical and psychological demands Social-relational aspects of work Worker roles Career development Department of Health and Human Services (2002). The changing organisation of work and the safety and health of working people. (Publication No ) Cincinnati, USA; The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

6 Forecast emerging organisational, social and human work related risks Changing labour markets Unstable labour markets, precarious contracts Changing work organisations New forms of employment contracting practices Impact on work characteristics Job insecurity Globalisation Lean production, outsourcing Intensification of work, high work load, work pressure Long working hours Van den Bossche, S., Smulders, P., Houtman, I. Trends and risk groups in working conditions, TNO 2006 Changing workforce Ageing work force Poor work life balance Impact on individuals Older workers

7 What worker characteristics are required for these dispossessed environments? According to a managing director of an Australian call centre there are two types of people who make successful cold callers: extroverts and psychopaths extroverts because they thrive on interactions with others, and psychopaths because they are not emotionally hurt by constant rejection (Warne-Smith, 2006). Should we select for these characteristics? How are we to work in such environments? Warne-Smith, D. (2006). Confessions of a cold caller. The Weekend Australian Magazine, April 29-30,

8 External Organisational Job design Individual Layers of influence on worker health

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11 Policing Station Community Demands unemployment public housing nightclubs income levels Station Decision Making Station Resources Personnel Station Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2012

12 Low Personnel T1 High Personnel T1

13 High Personnel T1 Low Personnel T1

14 Current Context Australian Productivity Commission 2010 Review of OHS work-related stress and psychosocial hazards (e.g. work pressure, bullying and harassment) not given the same attention in OHS legislation and by OHS inspectors as physical hazards

15 Towards a new theory Psychosocial Safety Climate Theory

16 Psychosocial safety climate Theories matter not just because theories influence the institutional arrangements, norms, and language of organizational management, but also because theories focus both research and public policy attention (Pfeffer, 2010, pg. 40).

17 PSC Defined Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) refers to shared perceptions regarding policies, practices, and procedures for the protection of worker psychological health and safety A cause of the causes A leading indicator of workplace hazards and psychological health

18 Job Demands-Resources Model Extended Health Erosion Path? Demands Resources Psychological Health Engagement Extended Motivational Path

19 Psychosocial safety climate Extended Health Erosion Path Psychosocial safety climate Demands Resources Psychological Health Engagement Safety Outcomes Accidents Injuries Errors Quality of Service Quality of Care Extended Motivational Path Primary Prevention Secondary Intervention Tertiary Intervention

20 PSC Ingredients Management commitment 1. In my workplace senior management acts quickly to correct problems/issues that affect employees psychological health 2. Senior management acts decisively when a concern of an employees psychological status is raised 3. Senior management show support for stress prevention through involvement and commitment Priority 4. Psychological well-being of staff is a priority for this organization 5. Senior management clearly considers the psychological health of employees to be of great importance 6. Senior management considers employee psychological health to be as important as productivity Communication 7. There is good communication here about psychological safety issues which effect me 8. Information about workplace psychological well-being is always brought to my attention by my manager/supervisor 9. My contributions to resolving occupational health and safety concerns in the organization are listened to Participation and involvement 10. Participation and consultation in psychological health and safety occurs with employees, unions and health and safety representatives in my workplace 11. Employees are encouraged to become involved in psychological safety and health matters 12. In my organization, the prevention of stress involves all levels of the organization

21 School study School teachers, managers, supervisors, administration staff 18 schools PSC aggregated to school level significantly negatively related to sickness absence

22 Work Pressure Emotional Demands Psych Distress Emotional Exhaustion School PSC Learning Possibility Decision Influence Engagement Controls for Time 1 Dependent measures N = 262 Time1; N = 196, Time 2 18 schools

23 PSC as a leading indicator Spanish study, 54 organizations, 1204 employees low PSC organisational level higher levels of bullying higher organisational levels of anger and emotional exhaustion. Low PSC is a latent pathogen for hazardous behaviour. (Escartín, Dollard, & Zapf, in review)

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25 Psychosocial Safety Climate as a Lead Indicator of Demand, Control, Support and Psychological Health Remote Area Nurses Maureen F Dollard, Tessa Opie, Work & Stress Research Group, Centre for Applied Psychological Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia Sue Lenthall, John Wakerman, Centre for Remote Health a joint Centre of Flinders University & Charles Darwin University Sabina Knight Centre for Rural and Remote Health James Cook University Sandra Dunn, Charles Darwin University Greg Rickard, Northern Territory Department of Health and Families Martha MacLeod, University of Northern British Columbia

26 Psychosocial Safety Climate T1 Workload T2 Job control T2 Emotional exhaustion T2 Psychological distress T2 Supervisor support T2 Sample T1 (N = 202) Sample T2 (N = 163) Between-groups Effects Independent samples matched by work unit (N = 48) Time 1 Time 2 24 months Main effects and mediation model Dollard, Opie et al., 2012 in press, Work & Stress

27 Malaysian Workers Idris & Dollard, 2012, International Journal of Stress Management

28 PSC reduces impact of demands

29 PSC reduces impact negative experience A German study car dealer employees, and some 300 interactions with clients. high levels of PSC within the dealerships protected employees from the negative consequences of interactions with difficult customers (Zimmerman, Haun, Dormann, & Dollard, 2009).

30 PSC reduces impact demand, 2343 Australian workers depression PSC moderated the demands and depression PSC moderated the impact of depression on work engagement and satisfaction. (Hall, Dollard, Winefield, Bakker, & Dormann (2012) International Journal of Stress Management

31 PSC in Aged Care Facilities Claims Costs 4 PSC Score Winwood & Dollard, 2012

32 Starting PSC affects Interventions

33 PSC developed in an intervention, helps job control do its job

34 Excludes Europe X 1-27 states, and International maureen.dollard@unisa.edu.au Social Survey (c) Program National Psychosocial Surveillance Systems 3 systems 2 systems 1 system

35 Australian Workplace Barometer project Maureen Dollard Anthony Winefield Work and Stress Research Group Centre for Applied Psychological Research, University of South Australia, Aust. Tony LaMontagne McCaughey Centre: VicHealth Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health & Community Wellbeing, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Australia Anne Taylor SA Health, Australia Arnold Bakker Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Cameron Mustard & Peter Smith Institute for Work and Health, Toronto Tessa Bailey, Sarven McLinton, Garry Hall, University of South Australia, ARC Discovery Grant DP , ARC Linkage Grant, SafeWork SA, and SafeWork Australia

36 AUSTRALIAN WORKPACE BAROMETER Launched February 2009 World-class national survey aimed to identify psychosocial factors that impact on people s wellbeing and effectiveness at work-identify at risk groups to conduct the first longitudinal general population-based test of the PSC model Data collected from all sectors (private, government, nongovernment organisations) and professions in the Australian workforce

37 Population based study Method Computer assisted telephone interviews. New South Wales, N = 1074 (repeat measures) Western Australia N = 1156 (repeat measures) South Australia N = 1298 (repeat measures) Australian Capital Territory, N = 225 Tasmania, N = 416 Northern Territory, N = 170

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40 PSC explained 9% of psychological health; 13% of variance in engagement. A 10% increase in PSC within organisations 4% decrease in demands, 5% decrease in bullying, 8% increase in resources, 3% reduction in psychological problems, 4% reduction in exhaustion, and 6 % increase in engagement.

41 National Standard Sarven McLinton

42 National Standard Sarven McLinton

43 PSC predicts violence, bullying, physical demands, MSDs and workers compensation Sworn at Humiliated Physically assaulted Bullying Management Commitment Violence/ Bullying T1 Workers Compensation T1 Management Priority Organisational Commmunication Organisational Participation Psychosocial Safety Climate T1 Physical Demands T1 Musculoskeletal Disorders T1 Neck/Back Pain Pain in arms/legs Workers Compensation T2 Muscle soreness Physical Effort Lift heavy Rapid/ continuous movement Body Awkward Arms Awkward AWB Data NSW, WA

44 Working Hours

45 International Comparison Weekly Working Hours Working Hours Turkey Mexico Chile Iceland Australia United Kingdom Greece United States Poland Austria Czech Republic Slovenia Switzerland Slovak Republic Estonia Hungary Spain Portugal Luxembourg Germany Italy France Ireland Finland Belgium Sweden Norway The Netherlands Denmark

46 % Employees 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% Benchmarking Long Working Hours Australian Bureau of Statistics 50+ hours International Labour Organisation 48+ hours 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% > National standard 38 hours National standard 38 hours 0% Australian average working hours per week

47 Work-Family Conflict 30 Work-Family Conflict Men Women Working Hours

48 Depression 7 Depression Men Women Working Hours

49 Depression costs Wes McTernan

50 Depression and costs to employer - Majority of the financial burden is caused by mild depression. - People with mild depression take 2 X as many sick days as people without depression. - People with severe depression take 5 X as many sick days. - Nearly 9% of depression caused by two work factorsjob strain, bullying

51 International data on PSC

52 Work psychosocial determinants of European country differences in health beyond absolute income and income inequality Dollard & Neser in review c)

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55 Healthy Conducive Production Model External resources, Expected, controllable Environment Neg-Entropy Controller Management Political will Resources Union relations Surplus Neg-Entropy Organisation Social Level Controller Collective/ Management Neg-Entropy Conducive production Strong PSC External demands Random, Unexpected, Uncontrollable Neg-Entropy Spiral Sub- coordination possible Strong PSC Neg-Entropy Dollard & Karasek, 2008

56 Conclusion Resilience at work requires a resilient system that influences/sustains individual resilience Psychosocial safety climate is an important component of a resilient organisational system Interventions should aim to build resilient systems, and build psychosocial safety climate Interventions at all levels including national, state Surveillance & StressCafe Communication up and down Participation and ownership Matching resources to demands All stakeholders involved especially union representation maureen.dollard@unisa.edu.au

57 Thank You Contact Work & Stress Research Group Centre for Applied Psychological Research School of Psychology University of South Australia

58 Published Papers on PSC Book Chapters Dollard, M.F. (2011). Psychosocial safety climate: A lead indicator of work conditions, workplace psychological health and engagement and precursor to intervention success. In Managing psychosocial risks in the workplace: The role of process issues. In Eds C. Biron, M. Karanika-Murray, & C. L. Cooper, Publisher: Routledge/Psychology Press. Opie, T., Lenthall, S., & Dollard, M.F. (2011). Occupational stress in the remote area nursing profession. In J.Langan-Fox and C. Cooper Handbook of Stress in the Occupations, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., U.K. Dollard, M.F., & Karasek, R. (2010). Building psychosocial safety climate: Evaluation of a socially coordinated PAR risk management stress prevention study. In J. Houdmont, & S. Leka (Eds). Contemporary occupational health psychology: Global perspectives on research and practice, (pp ). Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. Brooks, B., Staniford, A., Dollard, M.F., & Wiseman, R.J. (2010). Risk factors. Consequences, and management of aggression in health care environments. In J. Houdmont, & S. Leka (Eds). Contemporary occupational health psychology: Global perspectives on research and practice, (pp ). Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. Refereed Journal Articles Dollard, M.F., & McTernan, W. (2011). Psychosocial safety climate a multilevel theory of work stress in the health and community sector, Epidemiology and Psychiatric Services, 1-7, Cambridge University Press. (Editorial) Law, R., Dollard, M.F., Tuckey, M.R., & Dormann, C. (2011). Psychosocial safety climate as a lead indicator of workplace bullying and harassment, job resources, psychological health and employee engagement, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 43, Idris, M.A., Dollard, M.F., Coward, J., & Dormann, C. (2011, in press). Psychosocial safety climate: Conceptual distinctiveness and effect on job demands and worker psychological well-being. Safety Science. Idris, M.A & Dollard, M.F. (2011, in press). Psychosocial safety climate, work conditions, and emotions in the workplace: A Malaysian population-based work stress study. International Journal of Stress Management. Idris, M.A, Dollard, M.F & Winefield, A.H. (2011). Integrating psychosocial safety climate in the JD-R model: A study amongst Malaysian workers. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology. Vol Tuckey, M.R., Winwood, P., Dollard, M.F. (2011) Psychosocial culture and pathways to psychological injury within policing. Police Practice and Research, Review Bond, S. A., Tuckey, M. R., Dollard, M. F., (2010). Psychosocial safety climate, workplace bullying, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Organization Development Journal, 28, Hall, G.B., Dollard, M.F., & Coward, J. (2010). Psychosocial Safety Climate: Development of the PSC-12. International Journal of Stress Management, 4, Dollard, M.F., & Bakker, A. B Psychosocial safety climate as a precursor to conducive work environments, psychological health problems, and employee engagement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83, Refereed conference proceedings Zimmermann, B. K., Haun, S., Dormann, C., & Dollard, M. (2009). Stress and reciprocity in service interactions: Main and moderating effects of psychosocial safety climate. In P.H. Langford, N. J. Reynolds, & J. E. Kehoe (Eds.), Meeting the future: Promoting sustainable organisational growth, 8th Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference proceedings: Sydney: Australian Psychological Society.

59 Psychological Distress T2 Low PSC T1 Sample A High PSC T1 Sample A Emotional Demands T1 Emotional Demands T1 Figure 2a

60 Psychological Distress T2 Low PSC T1 Sample B High PSC T1 Sample B Emotional Demands T1 Emotional Demands T1 Figure 2a