Warning: This article contains content that may be distressing to some readers. For those who need immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Australians are reeling after two attacks in Sydney’s southern and eastern suburbs last week, which have claimed the lives of six people and injured several others.

“Our thoughts and condolences are with the families, friends and colleagues of the victims,” says AHRI’s CEO, Sarah McCann Bartlett. 

Dr Zena Burgess, CEO of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and organisational psychologist says the effects of the attacks may be far-reaching.

“For the friends and families of the victims and those who bore witness to the attacks, the mental health impacts could stick with them for life.”

“We also need to consider the impacts these tragedies could have on the broader community. Many people will be distressed by these events and will talk about them in the workplace. They might speculate about motives or share concerns regarding further attacks,” says Dr Burgess.

“It’s possible we could see increases in emotional distress, such as anger, sorrow, fear and confusion. And, for some people, old trauma could possibly be reactivated.”

This is why, following any traumatic event, it’s important for employers to have robust processes in place to reduce distress and respond to those whose trauma may be triggered.

Supporting employees following traumatic events 

Most organisations will incorporate a response to a dangerous or traumatic event in the workplace into their crisis management or business continuity plan. This should guide them during and immediately after the event.

However, these plans sometimes omit support for employees who may be affected by an incident that occurred outside the workplace. In this instance, it’s advisable to assess who in your organisation might be impacted.

“It’s very important that the reality [of the situation] is acknowledged and the way people feel is heard,” says Dr Cathy Kezelman AM, medical practitioner and President and Executive Director at Blue Knot Foundation, an organisation that supports people to recover from complex trauma.

“Employees’ response to situations like this will also be dependent on their own lived experiences, including whether they have prior histories of trauma. So there’s a holistic response to consider as well as an individual response.”

This trauma can be cumulative, she adds, noting that the past few years have exposed people to an array of distressing situations.

“On top of [the recent attacks], we have a community that has been shaken by things like COVID and the current global [geopolitical] situation. There’s a sense of this pervasive threat throughout the entire community, so each thing that happens needs to be understood in that context.”

“When you’ve experienced repeated trauma, or repeated traumatic stress, that response is often heightened. So people will tend to be hyper vigilant, easily startled, anxious or sometimes they’ll shut down.” – Dr Cathy Kezelman AM, President and Executive Director, Blue Knot Foundation.

Following an organisation’s immediate response, the employer would then decide whether a company-wide message outlining where employees can go for support would be useful, including details such as how to contact their employee assistance provider (EAP). It’s also important to assess who may need more intensive mental health support and help connect them with a mental health expert.

When discussing at a team level, HR professionals should encourage managers to talk to their teams with empathy and factual information. 

“We don’t want to sugarcoat any of the details or minimise any of the distress people are experiencing, but we also don’t want to perpetuate any misinformation or stereotypes that might be circulating in the news or on social media,” says Dr Burgess.

When addressing your teams, consider the following:

• Create space for dialogue and grief – While some traumatic incidents might call for a company meeting or an all-company email, you may also need to allow for deeper discussions to take place.Employees may benefit from peer-to-peer debriefs or one-on-one conversations with their managers to unpack their fears, concerns and complex feelings.
• Don’t try and fix things – “Ask people: ‘What do you need right now’ and then just see what that reveals,” says Dr Kezelman. “Don’t jump in and say, ‘Do X,Y,Z’ or ‘That happened to me too,’ and take over the story. Just be there in an accepting, compassionate and empathetic way. Don’t try and solve it; don’t prod people. Just gently encourage people to get support and offer the support you have available in your organisation.”
• Promote self-care behaviours – In the aftermath of a traumatic event, it’s important to prioritise recuperating behaviours for any employees who are directly impacted. Create opportunities to bring teams together and create moments of authentic connection. Showing employees that they’re not alone and creating a sense of unity within your organisation can help to build resilience.
• Understand your limits – In the initial wake of a tragedy, ensuring employees have access to mental health resources and safe spaces to discuss their feelings is an important first step, but sometimes longer-term support is required.
  
  “The impacts of a traumatic event often don’t surface in people for weeks, months or sometimes even years,” says Dr Burgess. “If you discover this, consider [referring employees to] a mental health expert who can design a long-term support plan.”

Signs to look out for

Following a traumatic event, Dr Kezelman says employers should be on the lookout for out-of-character behaviour in employees which could signal that they are experiencing trauma or distress.

“People who’ve experienced trauma have a biological survival response – fight, flight and freeze. When you’ve experienced repeated trauma, or repeated traumatic stress, that response is often heightened. So people will tend to be hyper vigilant, easily startled, anxious or sometimes they’ll shut down.

“They might usually be a very conscientious worker who turns up on time and is reasonable in their interactions, but then they might become reactive or aggressive. It’s not that they’re behaving badly, it’s that their behaviour is telling us something.”

Dr Burgess says some changes to look out for include:

• A sudden drop in quality of work
• Becoming withdrawn from social situations 
• Sudden fatigue or low energy
• Difficulty making decisions
• Becoming uncharacteristically agitated or upset at work
• Changes to their appearance (e.g. looking dishevelled) 

“An increase in any of these behaviours could signal mental ill-health, so it’s important that managers are given the tools and resources they need to help identify risk areas.” 

Take a trauma-informed approach to HR

In the coming weeks and months, taking a trauma-informed approach to HR will be important, says Dr Burgess.

“A trauma-informed approach requires managers, leaders and HR professionals to remain aware of the many factors that could trigger an emotionally distressing situation for an employee, such as exposing them to distressing imagery or news, perpetuating stereotypes about mental ill-health or forcing them to come into the office if they’re feeling distressed about being out in public.

“It’s about doing everything within your control to minimise potential harm.”  

Dr Kezelman adds that employers need to understand that trauma will more than likely “overwhelm people’s capacity to cope”.

“Being trauma-informed also means being open, receptive and understanding that trauma is about feeling unsafe. So, [employers] can think about how to build a sense of psychical and emotional safety at work.

“Also, often people who’ve been traumatised have also been disempowered, so think about how  you work with people rather than impose things on them. How are people given choice in what happens to them?”

In a bigger-picture sense, it’s also important to make sure your culture is set up to enable a trauma-informed approach, she says.

“Is it a culture where people feel safe to say things like, ‘This is what I need’ or ‘I feel unsafe or scared?’ Or is it a culture where there might be fear of showing vulnerability or weakness?

“It’s all very good to sprout certain [values] and principles, but how do you marry that with the system of work? What is the culture of transparency? How well does the organisation communicate? How trustworthy is the organisation? Is feedback accepted well? And is it realised?'”

These are all important questions to consider because you can have all the right policies, but if what’s written in them isn’t lived out, you’re not operating in a trauma-informed way, she says.

AHRI members can log into AHRI:ASSIST to get a guideline on developing a trauma-informed HR Practice. You will find this resource in the health, safety and wellbeing resource page.

Ongoing mental health support

HR professionals can’t be expected to be mental health experts. It’s important to bring in the right expert support if employees are struggling in the wake of a traumatic event.

“Avoid putting pressure on leaders, HR and middle managers to ‘solve’ people’s distress around this tragedy,” says Dr Burgess. “For many, the impacts will be complex. As workplace leaders, your responsibility is to direct employees to adequate professional support.”

McCann Bartlett adds that it’s important for HR to take care of themselves.

“HR professionals are often lent on for support, but remember to take care of your own mental health too. Consider giving yourself a break from consuming distressing news content, for example, and lean on your HR community for support.”

AHRI has a range of free resources available to its members via AHRI:ASSIST. Log into your member portal for the following resources:

• Managing Grief and Loss in the workplace
• Having effective wellbeing conversations

The post How to support employees following a traumatic event appeared first on HRM online.

It’s estimated that between 57 and 75 per cent of Australians will experience a potentially traumatic experience in their lifetimes.

And while trauma often arises out of situations that occur outside of the workplace, such as instances of violence, neglect, loss or emotionally harmful experiences, work-related circumstances can also trigger residual or additional trauma. 

Sometimes it’s the nature of the work that can lead to a trauma response. Commonly cited examples of at-risk workers include frontline responders, such as emergency services, paramedics or defence force personnel. 

However, ‘second line’ responders can also be at risk. Professions such as social work case managers, psychotherapists/psychologists, insurance workers and even some HR professionals can experience vicarious trauma after being exposed to distressing situations.

The legal profession too can be rife with instances of vicarious trauma. In 2022, a High Court decision found that the Victorian Department of Public Prosecutions was liable for $435,000 in damages following the psychological injuries and trauma experienced by a solicitor who worked in its Specialist Sexual Offences Unit.

Speaking to HRM at the time of the case, Will Snow, Partner at Finlayson, said: “Physical risk factors have been quite well understood to date, like working in confined spaces, lifting techniques and working from heights. An increasing trend now, from jurisdictions and also from guidance from safety regulators, is to manage psychosocial risks with the same rigour and process.”

Expectations around managing psychological injury at work have since been laid out for employers as part of the Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards, released earlier this year. However, HR leaders can go a step further in creating psychosocially safe workplaces by practising trauma-informed HR.

What is trauma-informed HR

A trauma-informed HR practice isn’t about putting the onus on HR professionals to manage or resolve trauma identified in employees – that’s the job of professionally trained mental health experts.

It’s about knowing how to identify behaviours that could indicate someone is experiencing an emotionally distressing situation and understanding how to put preventative measures in place to prevent the work environment from exacerbating or sparking trauma.

“What HR may see in [employees experiencing trauma] is changes in behaviour such as memory, attention and difficulty regulating emotions, which can lead to lost productivity and decreased team cohesion,” says Dr Phoebe Lau, clinical psychologist and Director of The Inner Collective.

Dr Lau refers the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) three E’s model to explain how trauma eventuates:

Event: These could be one-off or continual events that cause significant emotional, psychological or physical harm.

“It’s important to note that emotional and psychological harm may be perceived as life-threatening,” says Dr Lau.

Experience: An individual’s experience of the event plays an important role in determining whether the event was traumatic. For example, SAMHSA uses the example of children removed from an abusive household and two siblings having completely different emotional and psychological responses.

“This is dependent on a number of factors including past trauma, automatic physiological responses, and how meaning is made post event,” says Dr Lau.

Effects: The effects of trauma can be varied. Some may experience it instantly and others can have a delayed onset. And people’s trauma could potentially resurface multiple times throughout their lifetime.

“SAMHSA’s trauma-informed approach recognises the obvious, but easily forgotten, impact that personal and professional events and experiences can have on both individuals and groups. It also recognises the cumulative impact of these, sometimes over decades, dependent on the context,” says Deb Travers-Wolf, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Consultant at I LEAD Consulting.

Putting trauma-informed HR into practice

Katriina Tahka, CEO of A Human Agency, says a trauma-informed HR is particularly important when dealing with workplace grievances.

For example, your organisation’s sexual harassment procedures could potentially re-trigger those who’ve previously experienced sexual assault in the past, or you could inadvertently do more psychological damage to victims if your investigation processes require people to recount their experience to multiple people or make an official report before they’re ready, for example.

“I’ve been asked to investigate complaints of workplace sexual harassment where it is known that the complainant has a pre-existing trauma,” says Tahka. 

“In order to be able to conduct an appropriate investigation, it was imperative to consider how a typical best-practice process would need to be modified to create a safe, neutral space for the [employee] to discuss their complaint while minimising the potential to re-traumatise them in the retelling of the new events or in any perception that [their] version of events was being questioned.”

Travers-Wolf says workplace safety incidents like bullying, harassment and discrimination often require “rigorous and protracted investigations and remediations” which have significant potential to delay recovery and may continue the cycle of trauma.”

In this instance, a trauma-informed approach could look like working in collaboration with the victim to design an investigation that helps them to feel protected, believed and safe, she says.

For example, they might prefer to provide evidence or information from the safety of their home via a phone or video call, instead of in-person. Or perhaps they’ll want to work remotely while the investigation is taking place, to avoid coming into contact with the alleged offender.

“If an individual does not find the workplace to be physically, psychologically or emotionally safe, a trauma-informed approach is not going to work.” – Dr Phoebe Lau, clinical psychologist and Director of The Inner Collective

When investigating a bullying or harassment claim, you need to consider both the practical and emotional preparation that’s needed, says Travers-Wolf.

“For example, explaining the process and, even more importantly, its intention will promote trust. Authentically offering some choice in where and when the discussion/s occur enhances both cooperation and engagement,” she says.

“Asking how you can support those involved and being aware of emotions, body language and tone of voice, can reduce the chance of moving from a conversation into an interrogation. It’s a good idea to acknowledge these can be uncomfortable conversations, so being comfortable with silence and [an expression of] emotion is important.

“We need to recognise the role of HR as a culture enabler and understand that organisations with a fundamentally human approach experience the highest wellbeing and belonging, and therefore higher performance.”

Other instances where a trauma-informed approach would be beneficial include:

Specific leave policies and processes: “For example, policies associated with applying for parental leave may be more complex in the event of prior early pregnancy loss or for those in the LGBTQIA+ community,” says Travers-Wolf.

What could HR do differently? She suggests expanding the language used in such policies (i.e. not referring to ‘primary and secondary’ carers). In the case of prior early-pregnancy loss, Travers-Wolf says you might offer additional EAP or wellbeing services for expecting parents, to help ease them into their leave and address any underlying anxiety.

Sudden performance issues: For example, a usually strong performer is consistently showing up late or not delivering their usual quality.

What could HR do differently? Instead of assuming the individual is lazy or incompetent, a trauma-informed leader or HR practitioner would be curious and ask sensitive questions that give the employee the opportunity to open up.

“Keeping safety, trust, choice, collaboration and empowerment at the forefront of the approach you take is the key to a respectful and inclusive process.”

Personal disclosures: If an employee tells you about a traumatic experience in their personal lives, what is your default way to respond?

What could HR do differently? Often a caring and supportive manager or HR professional might want to jump into fix-it mode in an effort to help.April Long, CEO of SMART Recovery Australia, says trauma-informed HR is about “meeting the person where they’re at”.

“It’s about making sure we’re not doing more harm,” says Long.

For example, assuming that people experiencing trauma will automatically need time off work could do further damage. As HRM has previously reported, work is often the safest and most stabilising space for people experiencing personally distressing situations.

In this instance, having a preventative measure in place, such as a ‘personal situation plan’, is a great way to better understand the individual needs of your employees ahead of a traumatic event and gives HR a clear blueprint to roll out.

Download AHRI’s personal situation plan template.

Intergenerational trauma

Long says it’s important for HR to remember that trauma can have a cumulative effect, especially for those in underrepresented groups who can face discriminatory behaviours on a regular basis that often reopen old trauma wounds.

“When we talk about trauma, we’re not really good at understanding that it can be collective and intergenerational,” says Long.

Having an entire nation weigh in and cast judgements upon whether or not you should be legally allowed to marry your partner, for example, is not only a deeply distressing circumstance in and of itself, but it could also dredge up prior experiences of homophobia or violence. 

The same thing is occurring now for many Indigenous employees in the lead up to the Voice referendum.

“As a Queer Aboriginal person, this is the second time the nation has voted on whether or not I have the right to do basic things like marry the person I love or have a voice around policies and programs that impact me.

“And for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Elder in the Queer community, this is the third time they’ve experienced this, [when you consider the] 1967 referendum.”

Trauma isn’t just about things that are happening in the here and now, Long adds.

“People can be triggered by things that happened years ago. It can rise up when you least expect it. So how do we ensure that managers and HR specialists know what their role is and what their role isn’t?”

Conducting an audit

As a short-term priority, Travers-Wolf suggests assessing your organisation’s current risk factors that might inadvertently spark or trigger trauma by auditing your policies and processes.

The SAMHSA trauma-informed guide offers helpful questions to consider as you do this, and suggests assessing various areas of your organisation, including:

How do leadership and governance structures demonstrate support for the voice and participation of people using their services who have trauma histories?

See page 14 of this guide for the full list of examples.

Collaborate and communicate with employees

Importantly, this doesn’t all sit on HR’s shoulders. Part of being a trauma-informed leader is knowing when to call on external qualified experts for training or investigation purposes.

“It can involve additional financial cost for the company, but it minimises the risk of further harm and reduces the human-emotional cost of the process,” says Tahka. 

Travers-Wolf also suggests following the “platinum rule”: “Treat others not as you wish to be treated, but as they wish to be treated.”

Long agrees, emphasising the importance of consulting the community you’re aiming to support to ensure you’re not unintentionally doing more harm.

“You see this quite a lot in corporate Australia. An organisation wants to recognise Reconciliation week or Sorry Day, but they actually end up loading extra work on to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff who carry that extra responsibility on top of their workload. National Sorry Day in particular can be very triggering and emotional for mob impacted by Stolen Generations” 

Read HRM’s article on managing cultural load in the workplace.

“Even things like a Welcome to Country [can be triggering]. Depending on where that person is at in their cultural journey, they may just not have that information, which can make them feel worse.”

Lay the foundations of trust

Dr Lau says it’s important not to jump into trying to manage a traumatic situation at work without first laying the groundwork of trust.

“Sometimes the individual doesn’t think HR or leaders [are] safe [to share] such personal information with,” she says. “If an individual does not find the workplace to be physically, psychologically or emotionally safe, a trauma-informed approach is not going to work.”

Post-referendum, Long says line managers and HR will need to think about how to support their people – no matter the outcome – rather than brushing this off as a political matter that doesn’t belong in the workplace.

“If there’s no place for these conversations [at work], that can reinforce a lack of inclusion and create more stigma and shame.”

Travers-Wolf says trauma-informed HR should be practised year round, but notes that the referendum period could be a particularly challenging time for some people.

“It’s vital HR understand how to support [those experiencing trauma] and bring the workforce together. That requires a delicate dance between respecting everyone’s views and not exacerbating the trauma this social debate has brought on for some.

“We are all human, equally worthy of respect, connection, care and compassion. We need to balance respecting the view of others, while also being able to express/voice a version of our views in a way that’s [appropriate] for the workplace.”

Learn how to develop a practical, evidence-based action plan to address mental health challenges in the workplace by booking your place at AHRI’s mental health first aid course.

The post What is trauma-informed HR and why is it important? appeared first on HRM online.

On paper, resilience workshops, immediate counselling after a traumatic event and dedicated mental health roles sound like great inclusions in a company’s wellbeing strategy.

While these are introduced with good intentions, some experts suggest such programs often don’t translate into positive mental health outcomes.

It’s not that they’re ineffective per se, but that employers often overlook critical pieces of the puzzle when crafting their preventative mental health strategies.

Ensuring there is robust evidence to back every initiative and considering how it fits into a broader picture strategy can help to drive meaningful change and create healthier workplaces.

Avoid quick-fix options

In recent years, resilience programs have surged in popularity. Although some can help employees to reframe their thinking, they’re often relied upon as a quick fix and don’t account for more deeply rooted issues, such as unrealistic job demands, low levels of psychological safety or poor management.

Mark Oostergo, Principal Psychologist and General Manager at Communicorp, says resilience programs are more likely to be effective when paired with an assessment of workplace psychosocial hazards.

“Too many organisations try to ‘fix’ the individual and take a once-off approach to building resilience. That doesn’t necessarily enable the person to embed skills over time.

“We need to look at behavioural change and how to hold people accountable, which might be through developing supportive leaders or providing coaching to embed the skills they’ve learnt in the program.”

“Too many organisations try to ‘fix’ the individual and take a once-off approach to building resilience. That doesn’t necessarily enable the person to embed skills over time.” – Mark Oostergo, Principal Psychologist and General Manager at Communicorp

Oostergo and his team identify hazards that could put people at risk, such as poor job structure or inadequate training, and evaluate whether it’s possible to change them. 

“We also look at factors such as improving team cohesion and supportive leadership, and ensuring there is strong procedural fairness. These can be great protective factors.”

The Applied Positive Psychology Learning Institute (APPLI) takes a similar holistic approach to designing preventative mental health interventions, creating evidence-informed and comprehensive mental health strategies and practices tailored to each organisation it consults.

“We’re looking for sustainable, positive and measurable change,” says Dr Paula Robinson, Founder and CEO of APPLI. When you have a one-off class, it can be tokenistic if you don’t have a follow-up strategy.”

APPLI assesses employees’ wellbeing, as well as the structural factors contributing to their mental health, such as the workplace culture, subcultures, leadership support and job demands.

Knowing an organisation’s needs enables customisation and helps to achieve buy-in from employees – one of the most important predictors of a strategy’s effectiveness.

“If you’re running a workshop and you don’t know how mental health or ill-health has affected your audience, how will you tailor a program to their needs?” says Robinson. “Obtaining employees’ responses also ensures they have ownership over the program’s design.”

APPLI typically works with companies for one to three years to see a project come to fruition and generate results. 

Programs need to be goal-oriented, with specific actions employees can take, and they should include regular follow-ups, says Robinson. Importantly, you can’t implement an effective wellbeing strategy without also putting a positive change management process in place to gain employee buy-in, as well as a tracking system to see if it’s actually working.

“You measure the sales target and every other metric that’s core to the business, so why wouldn’t you measure mental fitness as well?” she says.

Tracking progress is the only way to see what’s working and identify critical gaps.

For instance, if you’ve set up a one-off resilience workshop, and then you set up a mechanism to capture employee sentiment one, two or three months down the track, you might see that it has had little impact on their overall wellbeing.

More targeted approaches, however, tend to reap benefits. From her own tracking efforts,  Robinson has noted decreased absenteeism rates and fewer workers’ compensation claims since interventions were made.

Rethink trauma support

In the aftermath of a traumatic event, counsellors are often rushed to the scene to help victims, witnesses and first responders to talk through their reactions to the incident.

Although this technique, known as critical incident stress debriefing (CISD), has been widely used to try to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder, there’s minimal evidence to support its effectiveness.

“There’s research to suggest some of these models can actually do more harm than good,” says Oostergo.

He points to the Mitchell Model, which includes group debriefing, as an example.

“Unpacking someone’s experience immediately after the event can be damaging, especially if it’s done in front of other people because not everyone will have perceived the incident in the same way. Some people may not have experienced aspects of the incident.”

“You measure the sales target and every other metric that’s core to the business, so why wouldn’t you measure mental fitness as well?” – Dr Paula Robinson, Founder and CEO, APPLI

In place of CISD, the World Health Organisation has identified psychological first aid as the best-practice approach to immediately manage trauma exposure.

“It’s looking at how to support people with their basic needs, such as safety, shelter and food, monitoring for early warning signs of compromised wellbeing and continuing to monitor affected people post-incident.

“You also want to look at how you can enhance social connection and support.”

Are dedicated mental health roles effective?

As mental health issues have spiked in recent years, many companies have established new positions, such as the Chief Mental Health Officer (CMHO) or Wellbeing Lead.

Rachel Clements, Co-Founder and Director of Psychological Services at the Centre for Corporate Health, says the rise of these positions indicates organisations are putting mental health on their corporate radar.

“It’s a highly valued function and shows that there’s a real need for greater support. Organisations want to protect their people while maintaining high performance.”

However, she emphasises the need to think carefully about how such roles operate.

“The CMHO is often a psychologist working in-house. You don’t want to have the CMHO running counselling sessions and replacing the company’s EAP. Boundaries can easily blur when that psychologist is also working, and sometimes socialising, with people too. They need to be able to maintain their professional role as a psychologist.”

For this reason, she says the CMHO function operates best when they approach mental health from a strategic lens.

“They’re for big-picture matters and might look at issues such as: what are the emerging psychosocial risks for various teams? What early intervention measures can we introduce? How do we educate teams about certain risks?”

Dr Laura Kirby has been addressing these questions in her role as Chief Mental Health Officer at Commonwealth Bank since January 2021.

Kirby’s work in the space has involved taking steps such as running targeted workshops within high-risk teams, giving employees the tools to create boundaries, establishing wellbeing charters within teams and coaching leaders on how to support employee wellbeing.

“We take a holistic systems-based approach to establishing work-life boundaries because so much of that relies on teams having good structures in place,” says Kirby. “It’s no good having one individual set a firm boundary if that’s not supported by their immediate team. So we might help the team to agree to reduced meetings, set clear working hours, or establish digital hygiene practices where we might limit after-hours contact. It’s taking a preventative focus that proactively identifies work practices and looks for opportunities to improve them so people are in a much healthier space.”

While the CMHO might provide initial triage for vulnerable employees, their role should then be to refer them to the EAP or another counselling provider, says Clements.

“CMHOs can be wonderful connectors to help reduce stigma. Sometimes EAP providers see increased utilisation rates when there’s a CMHO in an organisation because there’s someone on the ground educating people and creating a safe space for vulnerability.

“The CMHO can help to take the pressure off and to coach HR on how to have challenging conversations and to recognise early warning signs. Together the CMHO and HR can help people to feel much more supported in the workplace.” 

This article first appeared in the September 2022 edition of HRM magazine.

Want to upskill your entire team in Mental Health First Aid? AHRI’s short course is designed to equip your team with these critical skills.

The post How to elevate your mental health strategy appeared first on HRM online.

This article mentions sexual offences and suicide. If you or someone you know needs immediate support, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14. If you’re looking for general support resources, we’ve included a list at the end of this article.

Zagi Kozarov had been working in a job that she loved with the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) for two years when work started taking its toll.

As a solicitor working in the Specialist Sexual Offences Unit (SSOU), she was witnessing disturbing images and stories that were “abhorrent in nature”, according to a recent High Court decision. She had to familiarise herself with statements, videos and audio files of graphic and disturbing content and often dealt with minors, which was particularly disturbing.

On top of this, she was also working intense, long hours.

In February 2012, Kozarov developed a psychological injury (post-traumatic stress disorder) which later developed into a major depressive disorder which she claims were a result of her exposure to traumatic materials. 

Speaking to the ABC, Kozarov said she became “possessive and paranoid about her own children’s wellbeing” and that she became “hyper vigilant” about their safety.

Court notes outline how work impacted her sleep, made her fearful and prone to intrusive thoughts, and resulted in panic attacks, loss of confidence and ambition, de-personalisation and reduced social contact.

The OPP stated that February 2012 was the first time it was made aware of Kozarov’s deteriorating mental state. However, a recent High Court decision outlined the employer was notified of her struggles seven months prior to this.

In February 2012, the OPP attempted to find Kozarov another position within the organisation that didn’t deal with sexual violence, but was unsuccessful.

After three years working in the SSOU – following a period of leave to tend to her wellbeing and unsuccessful attempts to create an adequate return-to-work plan – Kozarov left the OPP and decided to pursue legal action.

In 2017, a Supreme Court decision sided with Kozarov, but in 2020 this decision was overturned on appeal. However, after taking the matter to the High Court, the original Supreme Court decision was upheld and Kozarov was awarded $435,00 in damages for negligence.

Speaking to HRM, the OPP stated: “Since the time of Ms Kozarov’s employment in 2011 and the Victorian Supreme Court’s original decision in February 2020, the OPP has made significant changes to our organisational structure and operations. The OPP is in the process of implementing new workload guidelines which will ensure that sexual offence prosecutions do not constitute more than 60 per cent of a lawyer’s overall workload.

“The OPP is committed to continually monitoring and improving our practices and implementing measures that will provide a psychologically safe workplace for all our staff, including the provision of additional expert support where needed. Training in dealing with vicarious trauma is regularly offered and all managers complete mental health awareness training.”

This decision could very well pave the way for better approaches to vicarious trauma management in workplaces where employees are exposed to emotionally fraught situations, such as emergency responders, social workers and psychologists.

Speaking to HRM, Will Snow, Partner at Finlayson, says, “This is a really, really important case. You look at someone and you might think, ‘You work in a commercial law firm, when would you see trauma?’ Well, they see it often. This stuff can come up in anyone’s role,” he says.

“Physical risk factors have been quite well understood to date, like working in confined spaces, lifting techniques and working from heights. An increasing trend now, from jurisdictions and also from guidance from safety regulators, is to manage psychosocial risks with the same rigour and process.”

This means considering things such as: do you have adequate grievance policies in place? How do you handle conflict between staff? And, in this case, what protocols are in place to manage exposure to traumatic situations?

Combating compassion fatigue

A key part of the 2020 appeal decision was an email from Kozarov to her employer in which she outlined how much she loved her work. At the time, the OPP suggested this made it difficult for managers to know the truth of Kozarov’s experience of work.

However, this ignores a glaring red flag. Just because you love what you do, that doesn’t mean it can’t have detrimental impacts on you. In fact, it’s often the people who love their jobs that are most prone to burnout. Emotionally draining work attracts certain personalities – those who feel a sense of duty to the people they’re serving. And it’s these people who are most likely to fall victim to compassion fatigue.

“This case talks about [Kozarov’s] dedication to her job,” says Snow. “Often people who work in areas supporting people in crisis have an absolutely amazing passion for their work. These people can have such a strong personal motivation that they’ll just keep on going until they drop.”

Snow says the fact that Kozarov’s role was highly specialised matters in this case too, as it may have added to her sense of duty. There was unlikely to be a wealth of people who could step in to relieve her on a stressful day.

While compassion fatigue is common in the industries already mentioned, Snow says it’s important for HR to remember that it can happen in any work environment – even to HR professionals themselves.

“HR and managers could have to hear about some really distressing stuff,” he says. “You might be in a position where an employee confides in you about feelings of self-harm, their mental health concerns or perhaps that they’re experiencing family and domestic violence.

“Anyone can be exposed to trauma.”

(See HRM’s guide to addressing domestic violence at work).

The presence of a policy isn’t enough

The High Court placed emphasis on the fact that the OPP had been notified of the risks to Kozarov’s mental wellbeing months before she was diagnosed with PTSD.

The OPP also had an existing policy to manage vicarious trauma. 

In order to change roles, employees of the SSOU were required to apply for advertised internal roles, which was contrary to its own policy which stated that SSOU employees should be rotated every two years.

However, the court documents note that “none of the protective measures identified in the [vicarious trauma] policy, or indeed any other reasonably available preventive or protective measures, were implemented by Ms Kozarov’s managers.” 

It also states that Kozarov’s managers weren’t aware of the terms of the vicarious trauma policy. If Kozarov had been offered occupational screening to assess for wellbeing risks prior to developing PTSD, the court suggests she would have done it and the risks to her mental health would have likely been identified and remedied.

“Often people who work in areas supporting people in crisis have an absolutely amazing passion for their work… they’ll just keep on going until they drop.” Will Snow, Partner, Finlaysons.

Regardless of whether or not the OPP policy was made available to employees, speaking broadly, Snow says, “It’s not enough to say that there might be some industrial consequences [of rotating staff], or it’s not convenient for our current reporting lines. If the safety advice is that people have to be rotated in and out of these roles, because the role is just way too heavy to do for a long stretch of time, then you’ve got to do everything you can to make that happen.

“Some people will argue that a policy is a term of their employment, therefore if you don’t follow that policy, they could say you’ve breached that contract.”

However, if an employee has visited a psychologist for assessment and still chooses to continue in the role, you’ve probably adequately exercised your duty of care, says Snow.

Also worth noting is the fact that in April 2011 SSOU staff, including Kozarov, signed and distributed a memorandum detailing their concerns about the stress they were experiencing at work, and stated that they felt overworked.

While this isn’t directly related to Kozarov’s vicarious trauma experience, it should have prompted the OPP to look into making its policy widely available to SSOU staff, says Snow. 

What can HR take from this psychological injury case?

When someone is in the midst of a stressful situation, they’re not always the best person to identify risk factors or assess the ongoing safety of work, says Snow.

Employers are responsible for taking reasonable steps to assess any psychological risks that work could pose for employees.

“There are preventative measures and then there are symptomatic measures. We’re getting better at symptomatic measures – people being supported to use personal leave whenever they need to and giving people access to an EAP.”

The preventative measures speak to the cultural mechanisms you put in place to discuss and respond to mental health at work, the way you approach disclosure processes and the tools you offer managers to deal with issues effectively.

“EAPs are there for acute, symptomatic issues, but it’s also a fantastic resource for managers to ask questions about how they can give more support or start conversations. If someone has disclosed that they’re experiencing domestic violence, for example, how should [managers] approach that conversation?”

To add the necessary rigour and attention that these issues deserve, Snow says to think of it in the same way you would physical workplace risks.

“If I work in a warehouse operating a forklift and I get a spinal injury, which means I can’t look behind me because my movement is restricted, then I can’t do that work. In the same way, if someone is psychologically vulnerable, and you know that, you need to consult a medical professional to figure out how that work can continue safely.”

That might be a reduction in workload, it might be a job-sharing arrangement, it might be rotating between roles after a certain period of time, or scheduling in psychologist sessions each week.

Finally, it’s really important that all workplaces are well equipped to manage trauma disclosures. Snow says this not just as a point of advice, but from personal experience.

“I had a client who took his own life. I was the last person that he spoke with. That sparked a depressive episode for me. I got great support from my workplace. I got in touch with the EAP and my GP and had some time to reflect on it. My employer really supported me to have some time off and said, “Don’t worry about work – it can wait.”

“This is a really good example of a work culture where I felt comfortable disclosing that. Any of us can be exposed to trauma. We often have to deal with difficult, sensitive and sad information.”

If you’d like more resources on starting these important conversations with employees and preventing psychological injury at work, here is a list of resources that could help:

• • Workplace suicide prevention – article and video from Beyond Blue

• • Tips for managing trauma – article from Headspace

• • Six supportive ways to address trauma that shows up at work – article from Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence

• • AHRI’s mentally healthy workplaces short course

• • Ten things you can do to make your workplace mentally healthy – info sheet from Beyond Blue

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