WorkCover Queensland has welcomed a recent ruling of the High Court of Australia, reaffirming that an employer’s duty of care to workers includes taking reasonable care to avoid mental injuries in the workplace,
According to WorkCover, the judgement provides helpful guidance to employers on how best to respond to identified risks of mental injury in the workplace.
WorkCover said the person at the centre of the case – Victorian worker Ms Zagi Kozarov – worked for her State’s Office of Public Prosecutions.
In that role, WorkCover said, Ms Kozarov was routinely interacted with victims of trauma and exposed to evidence of trauma.
“Ms Kozarov was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and secondary major depressive disorder from vicarious trauma suffered in the course of her employment,” WorkCover said.
“(She) subsequently sued her employer, alleging they failed to prevent her from developing a workplace injury.”
“On 19 February 2020, the Supreme Court of Victoria found in favour of Ms Kozarov in her claim against her employer, however on 24 November 2020, the employer successfully appealed (against) the original judgment,” it said.
“On 13 April 2022, the High Court of Australia ruled in favour of Ms Kozarov, which ultimately meant that the decision of the Court of Appeal was set aside, and the original order of the Supreme Court of Victoria was reinstated in her favour.”
WorkCover said that while the decision did not fundamentally change the nature of an employer’s duty to its employees, it does help everyone to understand what duty employers have to workers around preventing both mental and physical injuries when their workers take part in inherently risky work.
“Employers must provide a safe system of work and take steps to reduce or avoid foreseeable risks of both physical and mental harm,” WorkCover said.
“The extent of the duty of care that employers have to workers, and the steps they should take to mitigate risks, differs based on the type of workplace and role.”
“In this case, the work itself was inherently risky, so the employer was obliged to take appropriate steps to reduce the risk to its employees.”
WorkCover said the decision may prompt employers to consider whether their employees’ roles, or work situations, have an inherent risk of mental or physical injury – that is, whether injury could happen just by the worker doing their job.
“If so, employers need to put systems in place to meet that risk,” it said.
“It’s important for employers to be on the lookout for, and have systems in place to detect, early signs of both mental and physical injury so that employees can be supported at work.”
Readers wishing to know more about their rights relating to mental health can contact Workers’ Psychological Support Service on 1800 370 732 or 1300 MH CALL (1300 642 255).
