'These findings provide more evidence that 'healthy' workplaces matter'
Organisations with a high psychological safety climate (PSC) report fewer days lost and lower costs following workplace injury and illness, according to new research.
The research from the University of South Australia (UniSA) sought to determine if "working time loss and expenditure following compensable injury can be predicted" by an organisation's PSC.
It found that organisations with high PSC only reported 68 days off due to workplace injury or illness, while those with poor PSC recorded 177 days, up 160%.
Firms with high PSCs also incurred lower costs of $32,939 for the injury or illness, according to the report.
On the other hand, those with poor PSCs recorded an average cost of $67,260 for the injury or illness, up 104%.
"An unsafe workplace not only impacts workers' well-being and health but results in a huge cost to employers and society due to the large expenditure on worker compensation," the report concluded.
Healthy psychological climate important
Maureen Dollard, UniSA ARC Laureate Fellow and author or the report, said the research underscores the importance of a healthy psychological climate in workplaces.
"These findings provide more evidence that 'healthy' workplaces matter. They are not only important to our psychological health and to prevent injury to workers, but PSC is just as important following injury or illness," Dollard said in a statement.
"Building an organisation with strong PSC will help to reduce time lost and also cut costs through better injury prevention and management."
Other factors predicting quicker return to work include how satisfying and rewarding the job is, how supportive the supervisor is, whether skills were potentially adaptable, and how much autonomy they had in their role, according to Dollard.
The findings come as an estimated 563,000 people, or 4.2% of Australia's workforce, had an injury or illness related to work during 2017-18, the report said. Among them, 60% were cases where employees had to take time off work, costing about 1.6% of Australia's GDP.
