Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, Australia.
Beyond Blue, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
J Occup Rehabil. 2021 Mar;31(1):197-206. doi: 10.1007/s10926-020-09909-8.
Purpose To assess employees' experiences of the workers' compensation claim process for psychological trauma, stress or a mental health condition sustained during the course of work in the police and emergency services sector. Methods 14,868 employees (69.4% male, response rate = 22%) from around Australia participated in Answering the Call: the Beyond Blue National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services, and were asked questions regarding their workers' compensation experiences for mental health reasons. Results 14% of all employees in police and emergency services organisations had made a workers' compensation claim for mental health reasons. Only 8.2% of employees making a claim had a positive experience (95% CI 6.6-9.8) while 70.3% had a poor experience (95% CI 67.6-73.0). Two-thirds of employees who had made a claim reported that the process was unsupportive and stressful, and over half reported that it had an overall negative impact on their recovery. Employees with poor overall support from their managers and those who perceived negative stigma about mental health in their workplace were more likely to report poor experiences. Conclusions The workers' compensation process is perceived negatively by most police and emergency services employees who have experience with it, and a majority found that it negatively impacted on their recovery. Ways to reform the system to better support employees experiencing significant functional impairments related to mental health issues should be urgently considered.
评估员工在警察和紧急服务部门工作过程中因心理创伤、压力或心理健康问题而提出的工人赔偿索赔的经历。
来自澳大利亚各地的 14868 名员工（69.4%为男性，回应率为 22%）参与了《接听电话：蓝脑全国警察和紧急服务部门心理健康和幸福感研究》，并被问及有关他们因心理健康原因申请工人赔偿的经历的问题。
在警察和紧急服务组织中，所有员工中有 14%因心理健康原因提出了工人赔偿索赔。只有 8.2%的索赔员工有积极的体验（95%置信区间 6.6-9.8），而 70.3%的员工有较差的体验（95%置信区间 67.6-73.0）。三分之二的索赔员工报告称该过程缺乏支持且压力大，超过一半的员工报告称该过程对他们的康复产生了整体负面影响。那些从经理那里获得的总体支持较差的员工，以及那些认为工作场所存在对心理健康的负面污名的员工，更有可能报告较差的体验。
大多数有过这种经历的警察和紧急服务部门员工对工人赔偿过程的看法是负面的，大多数人认为这对他们的康复产生了负面影响。应紧急考虑改革该系统，以更好地支持那些因心理健康问题而导致功能严重受损的员工。
