Healthy Work
Have Your Say Results Snapshot
SafeWork NSW’s Healthy Work Principles Paper was open to public consultation from 15th November 2022 – 3rd February 2023.
The goal was to:
- Gain insights on our stakeholders’ understanding of Healthy Work
- Shift the focus of work health and safety (WHS) beyond protecting against physical and psychological harm
- Move to an integrated Healthy Work approach that benefits the health, safety and wellbeing of workers.
We’ll use the responses to help support duty holders’ comply with their WHS obligations through a broader focus on safe and healthy work.
Healthy Work
Evidence to support the effectiveness of an integrated approach to health, safety and wellbeing is growing. How, when and where we work has changed, blurring the line between work and home. More than ever, work and health are now inseparable.
Your personal life consists of:
- Family
- Personal relationships
- Travel
- Leisure.
Your work life consists of:
- Organisation
- Work environment
- Work relationships
- Role.
You intersect both these groups.
Who took part in the consultation?
The consultation received over 6,000 site visits, and 875 surveys. The majority of respondents were:
- 49% Workers (as opposed to managers/supervisors or government official
- 16% From the administrative and support services industry
- 16% From the education and training industry
- 60% From a large business
- 60% Between 45 and 64 years of age
- 34% In their current position for more than 10 years.
What did respondents say?
Almost 3 in 5 had not heard of Healthy Work.
92% Agree with our 7 principles of Healthy Work:
- Healthy Work is good for business
- Leadership is fundamental to creating Healthy Work
- Creation of Healthy Work relies on worker participation
- Design work to be healthy
- Healthy Work can positively influence lives
- A strategic coordinated approach is required to achieve Healthy Work
- Healthy Work is built on a foundation of safety.
Almost 1 in 5 are unsure if their work is healthy.
80% Support our definition of Healthy Work:
Healthy work is when work is designed and managed in a way that does not cause harm, has positive benefits to the physical and psychological health, safety, and wellbeing of workers.
88% Support our long term vision for Healthy Work:
Work is designed to be HEALTHY and safe in NSW.
96% Believe businesses can benefit if they take action to improve workers’ health and wellbeing.
The top two ways suggested for us to support businesses on their journey to Healthy Work were:
- Education and training
- Support and advice
Support Healthy Work in your workplace by understanding your obligations, consulting with workers and taking an integrated approach to designing work to be healthy and safe.
Read more about Healthy Work in our principles paper here.
