糖心视频

We often hear about workplace stress affecting frontline police officers, but it is important to understand how different types of stress experienced by staff in specialist roles such as forensic services impact their well-being.

New Griffith University research in the Journal of Forensic Sciences investigated the types of stress factors which affect police staff working in forensic services who typically examined crime scenes, analyzed evidence, and often encountered distressing material.

Dr. Jacob Keech from Griffith's School of Applied Psychology said while police agencies had commonly focused on the impact of trauma exposure, our study aimed to see how broader organizational and occupational demands affected forensic staff well-being and identified the workplace resources to help protect against stress and burnout.

"Examples of organizational stressors included unequal sharing of work responsibilities, bureaucratic red tape, and excessive administrative duties," Dr. Keech said. "We also found working alone at night, risk of being injured on the job, and shift work were also contributing factors."

The research found organizational and operational pressures, not trauma exposure, were the strongest predictors of poor well-being outcomes such as burnout and distress. Staff conveyed they felt overwhelmed by administrative obligations, and that they may let the team down due to their work pace.

They reported stress due to doubting their own thoroughness in investigations, hours of work impacted balancing work-life balance, and concern about colleagues' skills or drive impacting their work standard.

Conversely, supportive supervisors, peer support, and a psychosocial safety climate where staff felt their well-being was valued by the organization were protective factors linked with lower burnout, and better engagement and job satisfaction.

Dr. Keech said the findings highlighted improving well-being for police staff working in forensic services required a holistic approach which went beyond trauma support. "Police agencies should focus on reducing organizational and administrative strain, building a psychosocial safety climate where well-being is prioritized across all levels of management, and uplifting supervisor and peer support capacity," he said.

"We are working to support police agencies to do this. Associate Professor Jacqueline Drew and I have developed the EMPOWER Leaders Program aimed at uplifting the capability of mid-level police leaders to improve their own health and that of their staff."