Psychological health key terms

someone who takes action after witnessing or hearing about an incident of harmful behaviour. It can involve acting in the moment through words or body language. It can also include making a report afterwards or challenging the culture that allowed the behaviour to occur.

how, when and where a task is done. This may include:

• the requirements of the work; for example, it:
  • requires extended periods of focus and care
  • occurs during some or all the natural time for sleep
  • requires sustained physical, mental or emotional effort
• the location of work; for example:
  • work is done in remote or isolated locations
• the working environment; for example:
  • if employees are inherently exposed to hazardous tasks like working in extreme heat or with dangerous chemicals
• work that:
  • directly exposes a person to traumatic events or content; for example, first responder or emergency services work
  • vicariously exposes a person to traumatic events or content; for example, hearing, viewing or reading details about the traumatic experiences of others in the course of their work.

deliberately misgendering someone, using incorrect pronouns or not using their preferred name.

digitally altered images and videos that may be pornographic.

when someone shares an experience of harm with a friend, family member or colleague.

any person who has duties to ensure health and safety under Part 3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

defined in section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 as a person employed under a contract of employment or contract of training.

free and confidential resources provided by a workplace to help employees manage their own wellbeing.

defined in section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 as a person who employs one or more other persons under contracts of employment or contracts of training.

an acute and/or ongoing state that leads to physical, mental or emotional exhaustion and prevents people from functioning safely. Fatigue is a common response to, or outcome of exposure to, many psychosocial hazards.

the way in which a person identifies or expresses their masculine or feminine characteristics. A person’s gender identity or gender expression is not always exclusively male or female and may change over time.

a person's deeply held internal and individual feeling of gender.

any harmful behaviour that is directed at, or affecting, a person because:

• of their:
  • sex
  • sexual orientation
  • gender
  • gender identity
• they do not adhere to socially prescribed gender roles.

the process of establishing and building a relationship with a child or young person to facilitate sexual abuse.

includes injury, illness and death.

something that can cause harm.

defined in section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 as including psychological health.

an employee who is elected to represent the health and safety interests of employees in a workplace. The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 gives HSRs a role in raising and resolving any OHS issues with their employer. It also gives HSRs powers to enforce compliance with the Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017. HSRs can facilitate communication and consultation and provide a crucial link between employers and employees.

any negative feeling, behaviour or language directed at people whose sexuality means they are attracted to the same sex or to more than one gender.

when different aspects of a person’s identity expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation. Factors include:

• sex at birth
• gender identity
• sexual orientation
• being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
• being culturally and racially marginalised
• migrant worker status
• disability
• literacy levels
• insecure work such as casual, fixed-term, labour-hire or part-time work.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and gender-diverse, Intersex, Queer and Asexual. The + represents other sexual identities.

responsibility for, and control of, operational decisions. This may include:

• structure and governance
• procurement
• resourcing decisions affecting work demands
• contract requirements (such as labour hire, delivery schedules)
• significant changes (such as downsizing, organisational restructuring)
• new work arrangements (such as flexible work or new technologies).

a state of wellbeing that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. See also Psychological health.

defined under section 3 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 as an injury that:

• causes significant behavioural, cognitive or psychological dysfunction
• is diagnosed by a medical practitioner in accordance with the most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

See also Psychological injury.

the cognitive, emotional, behavioural and associated psychological processes that create a risk to health and safety.

someone who does not identify as exclusively a man or a woman. Someone who is non-binary might feel like a mix of genders, or like they have no gender at all.

putting the safety, support and wellbeing of people at the core of decision-making.

someone who commits harmful behaviours.

interactions and behaviours that happen:

• between employees
• between employees and people other than employees.

includes:

• any machinery, equipment, appliance, implement and tool; and
• any component of any of those things; and
• anything fitted, connected or related to any of those things.

when employers must take proactive and reasonable action to prevent certain conduct from occurring. Under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), this includes taking reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment or victimisation as far as possible.

sometimes called mental health and includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make healthy choices. See also Mental health.

protecting the psychological health of employees, in the same way that we protect physical health.

a disorder diagnosed by a medical practitioner and includes a range of recognised cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioural symptoms. These might be short term or occur over many months or years and can significantly affect how a person feels, thinks, behaves and interacts with others. Psychological injuries are sometimes also known as mental health conditions or disorders. See also Mental injury.

includes cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses and the physiological processes associated with them.

the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes, and the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.

an organisational environment where management has prioritised psychological wellbeing and considers psychological health to be as important as production demands.

anything in the working environment that could cause an employee to have a negative psychological response. This response can lead to psychological or physical harm, or both.

means doing what a reasonable person in the same position would do. For more information, see How WorkSafe applies the law in relation to Reasonably Practicable.

the chance of a hazard causing harm.

an organised approach to finding and controlling psychosocial hazards and risks.

a person’s primary and secondary sex characteristics; for example, sex chromosomes, hormones, reproductive organs, genitals, and breast and hair development.

a person’s romantic or sexual attraction to another person.

traditional ideas about:

• how men and women should look or act
• what characteristics they should have
• their roles in the workplace, home or public life.

the way work is planned, organised and done. It may include:

• related sets of policies, procedures and practices
• equipment, materials and the environment.

Policies and procedures on their own are not systems of work.

people whose gender identity is different from the gender they were thought to be at birth.

any negative feeling, behaviour or language directed at transgender people because of their gender identity.

recognising that:

• Employees may have experienced or been exposed to traumatic events or content.
• Trauma can affect people in many ways. For example, how an employee recalls and describes events.

adults, children and young people who have experienced harmful behaviours.

the values and behaviours that employees share and demonstrate. It can include the shared attitudes and beliefs that form part of an organisation’s written and unwritten rules.

the shared practices, behaviours, norms and values that people within an organisation or workplace have towards health and safety.

the equipment, content and organisation of an employee’s

• work tasks
• activities
• relationships
• responsibilities

within a job or role.

incidents in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.

repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed at a person or group that creates a risk to health and safety.

Bullying behaviour can be:

• between employees
• directed at employees from people who have relationships with the workplace, such as:
  • clients
  • customers
  • contractors
  • patients
  • volunteers
  • members of the public.

Exposure to traumatic events may involve:

• actual or perceived threats to life
• experiencing a serious injury
• witnessing serious injuries or fatalities.

Exposure to traumatic content may include:

• hearing other people’s traumatic stories
• reading detailed reports or documents about traumatic events
• reviewing images or video footage of traumatic events.

Exposure to traumatic content can result in indirect or vicarious exposure to trauma.

Being exposed to traumatic events or content may cause:

• fear and distress
• a trauma response.

Exposure to traumatic events or content can arise from:

• a single experience
• the cumulative effects of several or repeated exposures over time.

A person is more likely to experience an event or content as traumatic when they consider it to be:

• unexpected
• something they were unprepared for
• unpreventable
• uncontrollable
• the result of intentional cruelty.

any behaviour directed at, or affecting, a person because:

• of their sex, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity
• they do not adhere to socially prescribed gender roles.

work involving sustained or repeated high physical, mental or emotional effort, or a combination of any of these.

when employees have little control over aspects of their work, including how or when a job is done.

work involving sustained low physical, mental or emotional effort.

when there is a low level or lack of acknowledgement, reward or recognition for an employee’s:

• contributions
• achievements
• efforts.

jobs where:

• there is uncertainty about, or frequent changes to, tasks and work standards
• important task information is not available
• there are conflicting roles, responsibilities or expectations.

when employees are exposed to poor quality or hazardous working environments, including in work-provided accommodation.

when change related to an employee’s work conditions is poorly managed, supported or communicated. This may include:

• a lack of consideration of the potential effects on health, safety and performance
• inadequate consultation with employees.

situations where:

• people in positions of authority do not apply processes fairly when making decisions (procedural fairness)
• relevant employees are not given necessary information (informational fairness)
• employees are not treated with dignity and respect (interpersonal fairness).

when employees do not have adequate:

• practical or emotional support from supervisors and co-workers
• information or training to support their work performance
• tools, equipment and resources to do their job.

interactions in the workplace that may be harmful. These can start with low-intensity incivility. If unaddressed, they can escalate into more harmful interactions.

Remote work is work at locations where:

• access to resources and communication is difficult
• travel times might be lengthy.

Isolated work can be where:

• there are no or few other people around
• access to help from others, especially in an emergency, might be difficult.

An employee can be working alone or in isolation even if other people are close by. For example, an employee working at a temporary location who is the sole representative from their team or organisation.

has the meaning given by section 92(1) of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (EO Act).

The EO Act states that a person sexually harasses another person if he or she:

1. makes an unwelcome sexual advance, or an unwelcome request for sexual favours, to the other person, or
2. engages in any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in relation to the other person.

in circumstances in which a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would have anticipated that the other person would be offended, humiliated or intimidated.

See legislation.vic.gov.au for current version of the EO Act.