The Duty of Care that your employer has for you and the other workers employed by them includes keeping you out of any undue harm. The most obvious result of negligence in this arena comes in the form of a physical injury, but this also applies to psychological injuries that you sustain because of your employer or workplace.
As a result of this, sustaining a mental or psychological injury at work means that you can be eligible for a workers’ compensation claim.
Psychological Injury Payouts in Queensland
Psychological injury payouts are calculated on a similar basis to physical injuries payouts for workers’ compensation claims. The psychological injury payouts you receive in Queensland intends to compensate you for the losses you have incurred. These include:
- Medical or specialist expenses
- Loss of wages
- Services related to returning to work
- Pain and suffering
Psychological Injury Examples
Psychological injuries that are commonly sustained by workers involved emotional or cognitive troubles. Every case is different, and psychological injury is not often as clear cut as a physical injury, but the symptoms can often present themselves in similar ways. Some common ways that psychological injuries present themselves are in raised levels of anxiety, stress, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Causes of Psychological Injury to Workers
The psychological injury must be tied to workplace events. They must come about because of negligence on the part of your employer to facilitate a claim.
Workplace Bullying & Harassment
Workplace harassment is a common cause for psychological injury, as workers no longer feel comfortable in the working environment that they are being placed in. Bullying, intimidation, or harassment can come from people in positions of power, but this is not always the case. It is still your employer’s responsibility to provide you with an environment free of undue psychological stress.
Stress
Stress can come from several triggers, both internally and externally. Maybe your workload or responsibilities have increased significantly, and you have not been given access to the proper resources to help you to manage your work. If you are finding yourself unable to relieve work-related stress and your employer has caused this through negligence, you may be able to claim workers’ compensation.
Overworking & Exhaustion
Shift workers working longer hours are very prone to feeling overworked and mentally exhausted. This can contribute to psychological injuries such as depression and more. Also, this can come about because of changed working conditions where workers’ responsibilities have been changed. Some workers may end up having to contribute more to make up for missing or terminated employees, contributing to mental exhaustion.
Dangerous Working Conditions
Dangerous working conditions can play into anxiety and feelings of elevated alertness, where workers don’t feel comfortable and safe in their daily working environment. Workers in higher-risk occupations may find themselves mentally suffering because of dangerous working conditions.
Job Insecurity
Often during times of economic instability, companies find themselves forced to restructure and lose workers to save on cost. The mental wellbeing of workers with an uncertain future can be tested in times like these!
Other Workplace Injuries
Your psychological injury could even be the result of another workplace injury which has negatively affected your mental health. You may be finding it difficult to adapt to not working or your new way of living, which is affecting your mental wellbeing.
If you’ve suffered a psychological injury because of your workplace, you may be able to claim workers’ compensation. At Personal Injury helpline, we’re experts in compensation claims. Contact us today for a free claim assessment!
