Flexible work and psychological safety: Phase 3 report

This report presents findings from the third phase of a three-phase study: Flexible work and psychological safety: best practice to advance psychologically-safe work from alternate locations. Phase 3 utilised a co-design research approach. Working collaboratively with key stakeholders, a model of best practice was developed for flexible working arrangements that promotes participation in work health and safety (WHS) by flexible workers. The need for this research was evident from the findings from the first two phases of the project, which indicated relatively low WHS participation and compliance by flexible workers, as compared to their office-based peers, and organisations without WHS management systems that supported flexible working.

Focus groups, conducted online, were used for data collection, comprising 23 participants: four WHS personnel, two HR managers, three flexible workers, three line managers, three senior managers and eight regulators. The focus of discussions centred on the question, How can organisations improve their WHS systems and processes to ensure the inclusion of flexible workers within a psychologically-safe work environment?

The participants were stratified into the five focus groups as follows:

• Focus Group 1: Mixed Group (WHS manager, senior manager, HR manager, flexible worker)
• Focus Group 2: Homogenous group (line managers, senior manager, flexible worker)
• Focus Group 3: Homogenous group (regulators)
• Focus Group 4: Mixed Group (regulators, senior manager; HR manager; flexible workers)
• Focus Group 5: Homogenous group (WHS personnel)

The research team met following each focus group session to develop the model through an iterative process of reviewing, adapting and refining the model. A thematic analysis was conducted of the transcripts and the notes taken by the research team to identify the key themes. In addition, the suggestions from the participants about the type of information that should be contained in a toolbox for flexible working were compiled. Major outputs of the focus group research were the conceptual model presented in this report, together with a description of what a toolbox for flexible working would contain.

The key emergent themes were considered from the systems perspective, in line with earlier research, incorporating macro, meso and micro-level sub-system factors in relation to the problem of flexible worker engagement with WHS. Within the conceptual model, individual worker engagement with WHS and psychological safety is influenced directly and indirectly by each of the outer layers of the model, including:

• The external environment (e.g. guidance and tools from regulatory and government bodies and other external parties inform organisational policy)
• Organisation (senior management commitment to and resourcing of flexible working)
• Line managers (support and resourcing for work teams engaged in flexible working)
• Individual and work teams (tools to enable effective and safe participation in flexible working and effective engagement with WHS).
• The model also included genuine participation and collaboration between management and flexible workers, and resourcing of flexible working across the system.

The emergent themes from the focus groups for each of these work system layers are detailed in the report.
The systems perspective is applied to the discussion of findings in relation to what is currently known in the existing literature. The discussion considered key areas of concern across the work system, including: regulation, commitment, culture and trust, hazard management, WHS participation, capacity and capability, resourcing of flexible work, and workloads. Finally, the practical implications of our findings for the NSW Government, organisations, and flexible workers are discussed, as well as the broader implications for WHS and flexible work in Australia. A number of prototype tools are provided to support issues of greatest concern to focus group participants in relation to the ability to detect and assess psychosocial hazards in flexible working.

Read the full report (PDF, 1855.04 KB).