Mental health issues are widespread across Australia, with the most common mental illnesses experienced by 20% of the population in any 12-month period. While no industry-specific data exists, general national population data suggests that all employers are managing workers affected by mental illness.
Workplaces are ideally placed to prevent mental health problems, promote mental health, and support a person with mental illness. Investing in strategies to support mental health in the workplace has been associated with improvements in productivity, job satisfaction and significant returns on investment.
This extended abstract discusses approaches to addressing mental health in the resources sector and reports on industry engagement, partnership with researchers from The University of Newcastle, and research into targeted interventions. A range of partnership activities included the development of a framework to support mental health in the workplace—a Blueprint for Mental Health and Wellbeing—and various workplace strategies to address mental ill-health and wellbeing.
Discussion centres on the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of a multi-component mental health program that aims to promote:
mental health awareness to employees;
a peer-based support model;
education to supervisors regarding the management of staff experiencing mental health problems; and,
a review of organisational policy.
Research in the coal-mining sector has demonstrated that through industry partnership, appropriate interventions can be developed and implemented that result in policy and practical changes that better the health and wellbeing of employees.