Empowering workplace safety advocacy
Case Study
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) x Evolved Thinking
“Work Shouldn’t Hurt is an annual, quantitative, tracking program for Work Health and Safety (WHS)/ Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), conducted by the ACTU Centre for Work Health and Safety and the ACTU Insights Team. Evolved worked closely with the ACTU to establish the survey and insights delivery programs on an annual basis. The data and insights give the ACTU important annual data, with the ultimate aim of increasing health and safety protections for all Australian workers.”
Simone Rosser, Insights, Member Experience and Data Manager, ACTU
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Overview
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AboutThe Australian Council of Trade Unions is the peak body for Australian unions, made up of 38 affiliated unions who together represent almost 2 million workers and their families. It provides a single representative union voice to the government and employers. Since its creation in 1927, the ACTU has spearheaded some of the most fundamental workplace and social struggles in Australia’s history.
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StrategyThe team at Evolved assisted the ACTU in developing a survey design and easy-to-use live dashboard solution via the HumanListening platform. This enabled the ACTU to develop, administer and report results from what is now the annual Work Shouldn’t Hurt survey program.
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ObjectiveThe ACTU has a long history of advocating for safe working conditions. To support this, it conducts regular research. Up until 2021, this included occasional surveys around significant issues such as sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. In 2021, the ACTU sought a survey platform partner to help develop an ongoing, comprehensive research program to consistently understand and track a wide range of workplace health and safety practices and concerns across the years. The long-term aim is to evaluate any shifts or stagnations in work health and safety issues, so that the union movement can determine where best to deploy effort to create healthier and safer workplaces.
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ResultsThe 2022 report was released in February 2023, and included the following key insights: “In 2022, the annual Work Shouldn’t Hurt Survey found that more than one in four workers in Australia had been injured or become sick due to work in the previous 12 months. Even more concerning, 38 per cent of workers reported that they literally couldn’t afford to be away from work – likely a sign of the cost-of-living pressures workers have suffered.” The ongoing collaboration with the team at Evolved enables the ACTU to conduct important advocacy work on behalf of workers to ensure greater workplace health and safety. The program has been active on the Evolved platform since 2021 and is a critical insights tool for the ACTU, within our broader work with the organisation.