Last year the Victorian Government made a commitment to introduce regulations to address Psychological Health. As a result, WorkSafe Victoria has prepared OH&S Amendment Regulations to help provide clearer guidance to employers on how to further protect their workers.
In short, these proposed regulations aim to strengthen OH&S framework and formally recognise that hazards that pose a risk to psychological health can be just as harmful to workers as physical hazards.
So if you’d like to get a better idea of how the proposed regulations were compiled, we recommend taking a look at the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) which contains:
According to the RIS, some of the most common reasons for mental injury are:
Consequently, compensation claims for injuries like these have risen by an average of 22% year on year since 2017.
Meanwhile, the RIS also states that mental injuries are caused in the workplace for the following reasons:
Members of the public now have an opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations and RIS until the 31st March 2022. All submissions made by the public will be reviewed, and amendments to the regulations will be made as required.
Have your say and contribute to workplace mental health regulations in Victoria! You can view the Proposed OHS Amendment (Psychological Health) Regulations and make your comment here.
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