Workplace personal injury claim due to mental health?

Walking into work on a Monday morning may bring pleasure and delight to some but worry or anxiety to others.  Most people associate the term “work injury” with physical injuries such as stumbling and being burned at work.  However, psychological injuries are more widespread than most people think, and they are becoming a major concern for both employers and employees.

Furthermore, while vicarious trauma has traditionally considered a danger for businesses such as emergency services, social work, and mental health practitioners, new research has revealed that it is a growing problem in a variety of industries…

The recent High Court of Australia of Kozarov v Victoria [2022] HCA 12 has reaffirmed an employer’s duty of care to its workers extends to taking reasonable care to avoid psychological injuries in the workplace.  Psychological injury defined is a cognitive or emotional issue which effects a person’s life, how they think, feel and behave.  This injury can include depression, post traumatic stress and anxiety disorders.  Workplaces can cause such injuries through environment, organizational or individual factors.

Psychological injury may also be caused by the primary injury, this may occur when a person suffers a physical injury and later develops the secondary injury such as depression, sadness, anger, poor sleep and lower levels of drive and engagement.  Their injuries and health may be exacerbated by ongoing pain, medication, and isolation from friends and coworkers.

What does this mean if I am an employer?

While this decision does not fundamentally alter the nature of the employer-employee relationship or the employer’s responsibility to its workers, it does serve to reaffirm the employer’s inherent duty to prevent both mental and physical injuries.

As an employer you must provide a safe working environment and take steps to reduce or avoid foreseeable risks.  Such possibilities which may cause work-related stress that may lead to psychological injuries include the following: –

• Uncertainty in employment;
• Lack of job control;
• Inadequate support;
• Negative workplace connections;
• Lack of role clarification;
• Ineffective organizational change management;
• Inadequate recognition and reward;
• Inadequate organizational justice;
• Overwhelming workload;
• Harassment and bullying.

What does this mean if I am an employee, am I eligible for compensation?

If you have suffered a psychological injury at work, you may be eligible for compensation pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (QLD) it must be proven that your employer contributed to the injury.

However, not all psychological injuries arising from your job is eligible, these include the ‘reasonable management actions’ of your employer by:-

• transferring a worker;
• demoting a worker;
• discipling a worker;
• redeploying a worker;
• retrenching or dismissing a worker;
• not awarding or providing a promotion to a worker;
• transferring or reclassifying a worker;
• granting leave of absence or other benefit.

If you or your business have any questions or concerns, please contact our experienced and motivated commercial, employment and personal injuries solicitors at Macrossan & Amiet Solicitors.