Mitigating psychosocial risks through work design

A two-year research project that examined psychosocial risks in the aged care sector has just been completed by Curtin University.

The Centre for Transformative Work Design was Safe Work Australia’s research grant recipient, and it undertook research that aimed to eliminate or minimise the psychosocial risks that are associated with increased job demands in the aged care sector.

The research project was conducted across four residential care facilities run by a large Australian not-for-profit aged care provider. The subsequent report concluded that a work redesign process can identify effective and cost-efficient ways an organisation may reduce job demands. It also found that the key to success is to tailor a work redesign to the specific needs of the organisation and its employees.

According to Safe Work Australia, good work design improves work health and safety, human performance, job satisfaction and business success. The most effective design process begins at the earliest planning stage, because this provides the greatest chance to ‘design-out’ hazards while also working to ‘design-in’ efficiencies and effective risk control measures.

The research report is now available on the Safe Work Australia data website: Our Data. Your Stories.

Image credit: iStock.com/Jacob Wackerhausen