Weekly round-up: Health and safety

In this week’s round-up of HR news, health and safety are the key topics.

Retail workers have now been lumped into the “unsafe jobs” category. What can be done to change this? More and more leaders are sharing their mental health stories. How can this assist staff? And benefits are on the rise as the stress of the cost of living remains front of mind.

Safety for retail workers

The Australian discussed why more action needs to be taken to protect retail employees.

“When people think of dangerous jobs, they often think of emergency services, construction workers and mining technicians,” said Paul Zahra, chief executive of the Australian Retailers Association and author of the article.

“Yet only months ago, Australia was left aghast by CCTV footage of a supermarket self-serve attendant – a 19-year-old girl – being repeatedly punched in the head by a violent customer.”

Retail workers are now being thrown into the “dangerous jobs” chat, which highlights that something has gone wrong along the way.

One worker said to The Australian: “A customer threatened to kill my family and myself if I didn’t remake his cheeseburger because the first one was apparently too cold.”

Another said: “I have been threatened to be raped. I have had customers physically throw items at me, including hot coffee.”

Some action has been taken, like in South Australia, where a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment for people convicted of assault against a retail worker was introduced. This jumps to seven years when the assault causes harm.

More needs to be done to protect the frontline workers in retail.

Become a ‘leader ally’

As seen in the Harvard Business Review (HBR), business leaders who share their mental health stories are better able to connect with staff.

Being transparent with struggles helps to destigmatise the issue, as seen in recent years with celebrities speaking out over the last few years.

HBR noted: “To fully catalyse societal change and normalise mental health challenges and seeking support, workplaces must also play a part. This is critical since many people spend most of their waking hours at work, and workplace factors can lead to poor mental health.”

Mind Share Partners recognised the impact leaders can have and established the Leaders Go First campaign, which encourages “leader allies” to share their mental health stories with staff.

Andrew Miller, chief operating officer of the Minnesota Vikings, joined the campaign: “Just a few weeks into the pandemic, I joined a virtual all-staff meeting. I was nervous about what I was going to say, but I knew it was the right thing to do as a leader … [I said], ‘I know that many of you are struggling with your mental health right now, and I can relate to you because … I’ve battled depression throughout most of my life.’”

“I was surprised not only at the number of people who had experienced mental health challenges but also at the gratitude they had for someone in my position sharing my story.”

Being open and warm to staff can create a psychologically safe workplace. Sharing times of hardship allows others to connect, which could be the reason they seek the help they need.

Benefits helping to ease financial stress

As seen in Human Times’ 8 May bulletin, Employer News reported how UK employees are prioritising benefits as the cost of living continues to create financial issues.

According to a study by employment agency Reed, 43 per cent of UK workers are prioritising benefits over anything else when looking for a new job.

A four-day working week and flexibility were the next two considerations, at 36 per cent each.

“The current cost-of-living crisis is clearly impacting on the benefits that employees value,” said Ian Nicholas, global managing director at Reed.

“Some of the other peripheral workplace benefits, such as insurance, healthcare and discounted gym memberships, are currently seen as less important when compared with a guarantee of increased financial reward to keep pace with inflation.”