Mental Health First Aid: An HR Leader's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Monitoring Workplace Mental Health
Mental illness is now the leading cause of sickness absence and long-term disability worldwide, and in Australia, depression alone costs the economy more than AUD $12 billion each year, primarily through lost productivity and worker turnover. Under Australia’s Model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, organisations have a legal obligation to identify and manage psychosocial hazards, just as they would physical hazards.
For HR leaders, the challenge is not simply awareness; it is knowing how to translate that awareness into meaningful action. This guide provides a structured, three-part framework to help organisations build a culture of psychological safety from the inside out.
Key Insights:
- Understanding psychosocial hazards and how they interact to create compounding risk
- Measuring workplace mental health: recognising the signs and symptoms that appear at work
- How to educate, communicate, and normalise mental health conversations at every level
- Building the right support infrastructure, counselling, EAP, online and offline options
- What a Mental Health First Aider is, what they do, and how to identify the right person for your team
- Sustaining a monitoring culture that protects well-being long after initial programs are launched
