by Belinda | Oct 13, 2022 | Drug & Alcohol Testing, Health Assessments, Mental Health, Workplace Education
Know safety, work safely – encouraging everyone to make health and safety a priority in the workplace.
October is National Safe Work Month. The time of the year to commit to creating and managing safe and healthy workplace for all your employees.
Individuals, their families and the broader community are all impacted by work-related injury and illness. WorkSafe Victoria reported that 66 lives were lost in 2021 due to workplace injuries with an additional 23,000 workers being injured seriously enough to have a claim for compensation accepted.
This is why October is dedicated to being National Safe Work Month. During the month of October, businesses, employers and workers across Australia are asked to join National Safe Work Month and commit to building safe and healthy workplaces for all Australians. There is more that we can do to improve workplace health and safety, and together we can make a difference. Every workplace needs to take the time to properly assess their health and safety risks and plan how to eliminate or manage them.
So, what does having a healthy and safe workplace mean? It means that your workplace is free from physical and psychological harm. It is a positive, safe environment that benefits everyone.
Ideas for National Safe Work Month you can implement in your workplace
- Encourage staff wellbeing – implement wellbeing programs
- Organise health talks & health eating programs
- Encourage physical activity
- Conduct a safety training workshop
- Implement a stretching & warm-up session prior to starting a shift
- Host a session with a guest speaker on safety
- Launching a new health and wellbeing initiative
- Host a morning tea focused on wellbeing
- Make mental health a priority in your workplace
- Reward safety awareness
To find out more, visit www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
To find out more about Work Safe Victoria’s WorkWell program visit www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/workwell
by Belinda | Aug 30, 2022 | Mental Health, Uncategorised, Workplace Education
Wednesday 21st September is World Alzheimer’s Day.
Alzheimer’s disease is a type of brain disorder that causes problems with memory, thinking and behaviour. It is a gradually progressive condition.
Some people use the terms Alzheimer’s and Dementia interchangeably however they are not the same. Dementia is the general term that is used to describe a group of symptoms that affects memory, thinking an interferes with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of Dementia, affecting up to 70% of all people with dementia but it’s not the only one. (Source: dementia.org.au (2021).
World Alzheimer’s Day highlights the importance of talking about Alzheimer’s, raising awareness of how it impacts the daily lives of people affected by the condition and challenge the stigma that surrounds it.
Symptoms:
- Vagueness in daily conversation
- Memory loss – Misplacing items
- Taking longer or having trouble to do regular tasks
- Forgetting well-known people or places
- Difficulty processing questions & instructions
- Decline in social skills and withdrawal from friends, family and community
- Repetition – asking the same question several times
- Increased confusion and disorientation
- Apparent loss of enthusiasm for previously enjoyed activities
- Difficulties with problem-solving
- Trouble with speech or writing
- Becoming disoriented about times or places
- Mood and personality changes
- Emotional unpredictability
- Problems with short and long-term memory
Factors known to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s include age, family history, genetics, head injuries and past head trauma. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, however there are treatments available that can slow progression and help manage the severity of your symptoms.
If you have been diagnosed and are still working, you will need to consider how Alzheimer’s will affect your work. Some of the effects of Alzheimer’s on your work may include:
- Difficulty communicating your thoughts
- Trouble concentrating
- Forgetting important meetings or appointments
- Difficulty managing several tasks at one time
- Losing confidence in work abilities
- Feeling uncertain about making important decisions
It is important to seek guidance and support.
How can your workplace help support somebody in the workplace with Alzheimer’s?
Whilst it’s not often widely talked about, people suffering Alzheimer’s can still infact work and have a meaningful career. The impact of Alzheimer’s not only affects the sufferer but also their caregivers.
If you have someone in your workplace that has Alzheimer’s or is a caregiver, you can help support them by:
- Offering education to the staff to increase awareness
- Promote conversations
- Offer support and flexibilities
- Offer caregivers benefits to juggle work & personal responsibilities
- Address stigmas
- Choose tasks fit for the person’s ability
- Provide simple written instructions
- Help limit distractions
- Help plan daily activities
- Show compassion
- Provide ongoing support
- Eliminate less meaningful job functions to enable focus on more important priorities
- Divide large tasks into smaller tasks
- Make reasonable adjustments
- Encourage open dialogue
- Provide memory aids (notes, reminders, to-do lists, calendars) and assistive technology
- Employee and employers – work together