Psych Health and Safety Podcast

This episode marks one year since the start of the Psych Health and Safety USA podcast and again features a conversation with Joelle Mitchell and Jason van Schie, the co-hosts of the original Psych Health and Safety podcast in Australia. In a unique conversation, Jason and Joelle talk with Dr. Daniels about the last year of the USA podcast and some of what he’s learned over the year. They also fil...

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Alicia are joined by regular guest Dr Rebecca Michalak, Managing Director at Psychsafe. We take a case exploration approach, referencing a recent incident involving police response, to discuss the type of approach that should be taken during an investigation into incidents where individual decision-making is core to the event. https://www.linkedin.com/po...

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with returning guest Jennifer Low, Director of Health, Safety, Resilience and Digital Policy at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Jen provides an update on the progress of the psychosocial regulations since we last spoke with her, then gives us a crash course in work design for psychosocial hazards.

In this episode, UK Hosts Peter and Hayley chat with Louise Aston, Wellbeing Director at Business in the Community. Louise shares insights from BITC's latest report - "Prioritise people: Unlock the value of a thriving workforce". https://www.bitc.org.uk/report/prioritise-people-unlock-the-value-of-a-thriving-workforce/

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with returning guest Anna Feringa. Anna recently joined us on a live webinar series focused on how to pitch the business case for Psychological Health and Safety to the Board and Executives. The webinar series was so popular we decided to ask Anna to record a podcast episode with us on the same topic. Key points include: 1. How much do the Bo...

In this episode, UK hosts Peter and Hayley chat with guest César Gamio, Managing Director at Dharma Centre for Wellbeing. César distinguishes between 'wellness' and 'wellbeing', and explains how organisations can build an employee wellbeing approach that is comprehensive, strategic, resourced appropriately, and aligned with organisational objectives.

In this episode Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Cameron Stevens, safety technologist and Director of Pocketknife Group. Cam discusses the benefits to an organisation of having their safety function involved in technology application. He shares his observations about current pre-employment screenings and the significant opportunity to explore psychosocial factors using realistic job pre...

In this episode, UK hosts Hayley and Peter chat with repeat guest Louise Hosking, who is joining us from a brand new role as Executive Director of Environmental Health with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Louise speaks to the importance of environmental health in improving human health, and the relationship between mental health and public health.

With most Australian states now having specific regulations for managing psychosocial risks in place, regulators will be responsible for inspecting duty holders to ensure they have safe systems of work in place to prevent psychological injury. So what is required? Join Australian hosts Jason and Joelle as they share what to expect when a psychosocial inspector visits your workplace, and how to be...

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Donna Lawrence, Clinical Psychologist and Head of Wellbeing, Safety and Injury Management at St John WA. Donna shares the bespoke approach St John WA takes in maintaining its own Employee Assistance Provider network of Psychologists, (including the work involved in establishing and maintaining the network!) and then we discuss how St Joh...

In this episode, UK hosts Peter and Hayley chat with guest Amy McKeown, Strategist and Consultant in Organisational Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing. Amy offers advice on the importance of clarity of our terminology. What is an organisation actually targeting when developing a "wellbeing strategy"? What do we mean as a society when we talk about "mental health"? She explores the conflation betw...

In this episode Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Rachel Clements, Co-Founder of the Centre for Corporate Health. We chat about an emerging trend in the psych health and safety space - wellbeing washing. Rachel explains what this looks like in different organisations and why some organisations may not realise that their approach is poor. She offers advice for organisations to move away f...

In this episode we chat with Lynnell Beeck-West, Staff Wellbeing Program Manager at the East Metropolitan Health Service in Western Australia. Lynnell describes the approach she has taken to develop a psychosocial risk management process within the Health Service, sharing practical information about the organisational drivers, the process involved in scoping the work, how a pilot group was selecte...

In this episode, UK hosts Peter and Hayley chat with Lee Chambers, Founder of Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing. Lee discusses the relationship between inclusion and wellbeing, both as organisational activities and as individual outcomes, and the wellbeing impacts on individuals experiencing exclusion in the workplace. He shares his views on the breadth of skills required for a Wellbeing Officer ro...

In this episode we chat with Nicola Hemmings, Doctoral Candidate at Birkbeck University of London. She tells us about the doctoral projects she's undertaken so far - Mission to Mars (helping to address burnout in entrepreneurs), and a maturity model of HR-owned mental health strategies. We chat about her next project, exploring mental health support for small and medium enterprises in the UK. http...

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Dr Kim Hamrosi, CEO of the Corporate Mental Health Alliance. Kim describes how the Alliance was founded, its membership, aims, and activities. She talks about how Alliance members share and learn from each other, and shares how the topics and discussions have evolved and matured from "fruit bowls and yoga" to psychosocial risk and work d...

In this episode, UK hosts Peter and Hayley have a discussion about the things that are bothering them both in the dominant approaches to workplace wellbeing - from terminology and fixing the individual, through to corporate metrics and the S in ESG.

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Angelina Badri, Director at Universal Safety Wellness. From her experience working in high-hazard industries, Angelina shares her observations about how an individual's mental state can impact safety outcomes at work. We discuss the relationship between psychological safety and psychological health and safety, and Angelina shares her tho...

In this episode, UK hosts Hayley and Peter chat with Catherine de la Poer, Founder of Halcyon Coaching Ltd. We discuss the contribution of psychological health and safety to the innovation economy, the growing importance of meaningfulness at work, the significance of the S in ESG, and how these elements contribute to an organisation becoming an employer of choice.

In this episode, Australian hosts Jason and Joelle chat with Dr John Chan, Organisational Psychologist and Managing Director at Infinite Potential. John shares insights from Infinite Potential's research report titled "The State of Workplace Burnout 2023". We explore how burnout rates are changing over time, discuss the relationship between hybrid work and burnout, and consider the impact of burno...

In this episode, Hayley and Peter chat with Jamie Broadley, Head of Health & Wellbeing at Serco. Jamie talks about Serco's experiences in implementing ISO 45003 and how they have approached operationalising the standard in the face of competing resource priorities and what are some and the future for psych health and safety in the UK

In this episode we chat with Susanna Harkonen, CEO and Founder of Inner Work. We discuss the implications of the recent International Labour Organization to include a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work; along with the WHO-ILO Joint Policy Brief on mental health at work. She shares insights from her work as a member of the WHO's Pan-European working gr...

Peter and Hayley chat with Kate Field From the British Standards Institute. Kate discusses the state of psych health and safety in the UK, talks about the role of standards in helping setting the agenda in Psych health and safety and were she sees psych health and safety evolving over the next couple of years.

In this special episode, hosts Jason, Joelle, and Alicia get together to celebrate the second birthday of the Psych Health and Safety podcast. They reflect on the past year, discuss what they anticipate in the coming year both locally in Australia and internationally, and share their hopes for the immediate future of psych health and safety.

In this episode, hosts Peter and Hayley chat with Jonathan Gawthrop, Executive Director Wellbeing Sustainability & Assurance at EMCOR UK. Jonathan discusses the state of psych health and safety in the UK, talks about the utility of different legislative instruments, and considers what is required to drive meaningful change across UK businesses.