Fitness For Work
Fitness for Work is ESSENTIAL for Safety Sensitive Industries as part of an overall psychological risk plan. Fitness for work is both intent focus of the individual to be and want to be fit for work, as well as the organisational requirement and structure to promote and manage it.
What is Fitness for Work?
Fitness for work refers to an individual’s ability to perform assigned tasks competently and in a manner that does not threaten the safety or health of themselves or others.
At times issues such as drug and alcohol management, fatigue management and psychological impairment can compromise an individual’s Fitness for Work.
The Gryphon Psychology offers Fitness for Work as a program alternative to HR Management to address an individual’s fitness for work, and assist with concerns bought forward by the orgnanisation with the intention to assess and provide recommendations to improve / gain an individual’s fitness for work.
Fitness for Work delivered as a service from Gryphon Psychology includes assessment, management and monitoring as part of a comprehensive process. Fitness for Work is available for organisations to formally refer an employee to, so that a professional can assess the reason for referral, provide management strategies to the employee and feedback to the organisation.
Some reasons an organisation may make a formal referral include:
- Employee positive alcohol and drug test
- Signs of stress and or irritability
- Absenteeism
- Fatigue / drug / alcohol related incident
- Emotional instability / aggression
Gryphon Psychology are expert Fitness for Work consultants and are widely acknowledged as key providers in the Resource Sector and other safety sensitive industries both in Australia and Internationally.
Our approach is designed to mitigate risk and manage complex situations and potential workplace hazards such as fatigue, drug and alcohol, and psychological impairment. Our experience and formal procedures allow us to provide the Fit for Work service with a delicate balance of confidentiality, duty of care and support.
Fitness for Work Organisational Consultancy:
Fitness For Work Consultancy is also available and includes the education of managers/supervisors/leaders in how to identify, respond to, and refer at risk individuals.
Gryphon Psychology are experienced developing and promoting organisational policies. Organisations can opt to train their employees to manage fitness for work issues in a way that promotes behavioural change, complies with the company’s policy and increases the overall safety of the person, their colleagues, and the workplace. Organisational Consultancy Programs can be found within our Psychological Risk Assessment Suite.
Better Sleep Program
The most common patterns of poor sleep are trouble getting to sleep, waking up frequently through the night and waking too early. The Better Sleep Program is designed to help attendees improve both the amount and quality of their sleep, benefiting life at work as well as at home.
The program has 3 main objectives:
- Understanding, identifying and eliminating ineffective sleeping habits
- Reducing sleep related anxiety and other psychological issues that disrupt sleep
- Addressing dysfunctional belief and attitudes that make sleep difficult
The therapy style used in the Better Seep Program is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), a scientifically proven results driven approach to manage insomnia. During the program a range of assessments are completed that determine what specific strategies and practical advice is best for the attendee.
Topics that may be covered, dependent on individual assessment include:
- Understanding Sleep
- Quality and Quantity of Sleep
- Purpose of sleep
- Sleep cycles
- Getting to sleep and staying asleep
- Circadian rhythms and shiftwork
- Stimulus control
- Sleep routine and habits
- Sleep restriction and cognitive behaviour
- Assessing and monitoring sleep efficiency
- Controlling your thinking
- Stress, anxiety and depression
- The role of sleep medication
- Effects of sleeping medications, drugs and alcohol
The program is delivered by qualified clinicians with training in delivering the program and treating individuals with sleeping problems.
Peer Support Program
The Peer Support Program from Gryphon Psychology is a guided program that has been developed to train and then support on-site employees / peers in mental health support.
Having a Peer Support Program is an effective way to increase the value of the company’s Employee Assistance Program, particularly in reaching individuals and groups who are often reluctant to access counselling.
Gryphon Psychology’s Peer Support Program has robust policies, procedures and selection processes in place to ensure the program works to reduce risk for both the Peer Supporter and the Employee identified.
Implementing a Peer Support program can:
- Create an additional avenue of support for employees. Companies who implement Peer Support essentially add a layer of psychological support into the general workforce, a team who via Gryphon Psychology become trained to act as “Peer Supporters”.
- Increase employee’s capacity to better manage and cope with stress, therefore reducing potential impact on performance, safety, and attendance.
- Bridge the gap between the workforce and professional services and encourage a culture of self-management and self-help.
- Increase the likelihood of employees accessing professional services.
- Act as a preventative, proactive measure in reducing mental health risk in the workplace.
- Create a culture of care within the organisation.
Note: The program is an addition to already existing support services. It does not replace the role of HR/HSE or Supervisors but rather acts as additional support, provided by peers.
A Peer Supporter will be trained to respond to and recognise support situations. The program includes:
- Initial Training provided to individuals wanting to be a Peer Supporter
- Assistance in Peer Support Program Development
- Guidance of how to Launch the Program
- Assistance in sustaining the Peer Support Program
- Provision of Peer Support Hotline
Onsite Support
Our Onsite Support Service, along with other Gryphon Psychology Services, aims to mitigate Psychosocial Risk by ensuring psychosocial hazards are identified and support is available for employees experiencing stress, fatigue, bullying etc.; with little to no pre-arrangement of appointment – because we are onsite!
We can be rostered to be regularly onsite and become part of your organisational vision to support your workforce. Having expert support onsite is invaluable to workers, managers and leaders. This arrangement is ideal to ensure our staff work in context with organisations to best support and mitigate risk.
Our Onsite Service can help create a culture of mental health awareness, reduce psychosocial hazardous behaviours, normalise help seeking behaviour and decrease the stigma of using EAP.
Onsite Support means accessible clinicians, it allows your employees to access EAP services with ease, in their own time, or allocated organisational time. Gryphon’s methodology for building an effective onsite service is a 3-month onboarding framework that prioritises connection with key stakeholders, and undertakes destigmatising activities (such as workshops etc)
Customised Clinical Engagement
We understand each client of Gryphon Psychology has unique challenges and opportunities. Our team of expert clinicians and management can work in close consultation with your organisation to design and deliver Customised Clinical Engagement Activities.
Some of our most requested Customised Engagement include:
- Involvement in Organisational Events – Live and Online
- Guest Keynote Speakers
- Topic Specific Webinars
- Topic Specific Workshops / Training
- Lunch and Learn Sessions
- Toolbox Talks
- Specific Training Courses
Special Programs
How an organisation supports those impacted by serious trauma is crucial. Lack of response can negatively impact the business, the work environment, and all employees.
We invite you to enquire about our Special Programs targeted at serious topics, offering specific solutions.
One of the Special Programs developed by and available only through Gryphon Psychology and our affiliate network is SHARE, a specialist service to support those impacted by sexual harassment or sexual assault.
