An exclusive work survey has revealed that one in two Australian workers in industries like manufacturing and mining have experienced bullying, harassment or inappropriate behaviour at work.
The survey, conducted for the Australian Workers’ Union, also found that just as many have faced unrealistic workloads, poor training, and exposure to traumatic events.
More than 1,200 workers across multiple industries around Australia participated in the study, with the largest respondents comprised of employees from manufacturing, mining, construction, and health and community service industries.
The study was conducted in the lead-up to World Mental Health Day on 10 October and comes as Australian state governments synchronise new laws that will hold employers accountable for psychological and psychosocial hazards in the workplace, AWU said in a media release.
Psychological injury is the fastest-growing workers’ compensation claim and is an increasing risk among workers, further exacerbated by poor management of psychological hazards. This type of injury is expected to form one in three claims by the end of the decade.
The most common causes of workplace mental health risks are work pressure and work overload, shift work and rostering, job insecurity, harassment and bullying, and exposure to workplace violence or traumatic events.
The survey results build on earlier work, which found 60 per cent of respondents were concerned about mental health and stress at work, with more than 23 per cent being extremely concerned.
Meanwhile, 30 per cent of respondents reported that they sustained a mental health injury at work in the last 12 months. Research on Victorian suicides in 2012 revealed that 17 per cent of suicides are work-related.
“To see in black and white one in two Australian workers have experienced being bullied, harassed or exposed to conflict or inappropriate behaviour in their workplace is disturbing,” said AWU National Secretary Paul Farrow.
“We know Australians spend on average 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime, that’s about 5,000 days, or 13 years in total, it’s a really big part of your life, so to see the level of unhappiness reflected in this survey is shocking,” Farrow noted.
