We have completed research projects across several areas important to workplace health and safety. 

A major area of our research has focused on leading indicators of health and safety in workplaces.

Some examples of reports produced in our completed research projects are shown below.

Reports available:

Psychological safety at work: Attitudes to bullying (2021)

This report was prepared for WorkSafe Victoria and the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR).  The main aims of this project were to: (a) develop and validate a brief suite of tools that can be used as a “pulse check” to measure: (a) attitudes towards bullying, (b) bullying behaviour, and (c) perceptions of the psychosocial work environment. To further these aims,  we conducted an anonymous online survey with a sample of 1,000  employed adults from the State of Victoria. Our validated suite of tools can be used to help identify workplaces and industries where negative attitudes and behaviours may place employees at risk of psychosocial harm, and  monitor the outcomes of attitude-based interventions to improve psychosocial safety at work.

On-demand economy: A snapshot review (2020)

This snapshot review of literature was prepared for WorkSafe Victoria and the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR). The aims of this snapshot review were to:

• define the gig economy;
• examine the characteristics of gig economy workers and their working environments in Australia;
• compare the characteristics of gig workers and their working environment in Australia to the characteristics of gig workers and their working environments in similar liberal market economies;
• summarise the regulatory challenges created by the gig economy; and
• summarise the opportunity for policy developments with a comparison between Australia and similar liberal market economies.

On-demand economy in Victoria: A survey report (2020)

This survey report was prepared for WorkSafe Victoria and the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR).

Responses to an online survey were received from 1,015 gig workers. The report presents an overview of the characteristics of gig workers and their working environment in the State of Victoria, as well as their motivations for working in the on-demand economy. We also report on respondent perceptions of their health, safety and wellbeing as well as self-reported safety incidents (i.e., injury or illness, near misses, violence and aggression, sexual harassment and racial vilification).

OHS Survey of Australian Education Union (Victorian Branch) Members (2020)

This report presents results of a survey conducted with members of the Australian Education Union (AEU) Victorian branch in August and September 2019 by the Monash Workplace Health and Safety Research Team. The survey addressed a range of areas relevant to occupational health and safety (OHS).

Previously, in 2014, the Monash Workplace Health and Safety Research Team conducted a survey with the AEU Victorian branch with the aim of providing an overview of their members’ perceptions of OHS, safety behaviours and other elements of work-related experiences along with self-reported OHS outcomes. The current report presents a similar analysis of union members’ perceptions of OHS, their safety behaviours within the workplace and OHS outcomes along with new information related to work demands and levels of incivility, aggression and violence experienced by the Victorian educator workforce. This new information can be used as the basis for ongoing recording of these issues in subsequent years.

The aim of the report is to present the AEU with an overview of their members’ perceptions of OHS, safety behaviours and other elements of work-related experience, as well as self-reported OHS outcomes.

An investigation of post-incident support for healthcare workers experiencing occupational violence and aggression (2018)

This report presents results from a larger survey that was conducted with members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) (Victorian Branch) in April and May 2014. The focus of this report is on respondent perceptions of post-incident support following their experience of occupational violence and aggression (OVA). By investigating the barriers and challenges related to the reporting of OVA, this report identifies areas for the development and implementation of policy, workplace-based strategies, evaluation and research focused on OVA.

Testing the predictive validity of the Health and Safety Inspector Checklist (HaSIC): A follow-up study (2018) 

This report presents the results of a follow-up validation study of the Health and Safety Inspector Checklist (HaSIC), a brief tool that can be used by inspectors to assess the potential of workplaces to keep everyone healthy and safe. For details of the initial trial project, see the 2016 report ‘Development and Testing of the Health and Safety Inspector Checklist (HaSIC)’. This follow-up study provides important evidence showing that the HaSIC has sound predictive validity as demonstrated by the findings that initial ratings by inspectors using this tool are predictive of a number of subsequent WorkCover claim outcomes.  The findings demonstrate that the HaSIC has very good psychometric properties with the potential to: 1) assist inspectors and the health and safety regulator to identify workplaces most at risk of OHS incidents; 2) standardise the inspection process; and 3) enhance the development of new inspectors with limited tacit knowledge.

Final Report on the OHS Leading Indicators Research Project (2016) 

This report presents a summary of all stages of the OHS Leading Indicators Project and information about the Organizational Performance Metric – Monash University (OPM-MU).

Development and Validation of the Health and Safety Inspector Checklist (HaSIC) with WorkSafe Victoria inspectors (2016)

This report presents the development and testing of the Health and Safety Inspector Checklist (HaSIC), a brief, generic OHS checklist that could be used by inspectors in their evaluations of worksites.

An analysis of leading indicators as predictors of workplace OHS outcomes in Australian workplaces (2015)

This report presents the results of the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Survey with 3605 workers, supervisors and managers in 66 workplaces in six industries.

Survey of Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victoria) Members (2015)

This report shows results from the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Survey, with responses from 4,891 members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) (Victorian Branch)

Survey of Australian Education Union (Victoria) Members (2015)

This report shows results of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Survey, with responses from 4,750 members of the Australian Education Union (AEU) (Victorian Branch).

Comparison of AEU and ANMF members’ views on OHS (2015)

This report compares key results of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) surveys with ANMF and AEU members, focusing on safety climate, OHS leadership and workers’ engagement in safety.

Comparing OHS for public hospital workers and aged care workers (2016)

This report compares key results of an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) survey with ANMF members working in aged care facilities and public hospitals.

Brief Survey of Health and Safety Representatives (2015)

This report shows results of a brief survey with responses from 639 attendees at a session in the WorkSafe Victoria Health and Safety Week 2015 Health and Safety Representatives’ Conference.

Leading indicators of OHS – A snapshot review (2012)

This report presents a review of the literature on leading indicators of OHS and identifies and evaluates scales that measure this construct, including the IWH Organizational Performance Metric (IWH-OPM: Amick, 2010; IWH, 2011).