New Griffith University research investigated the types of stress factors that affect police staff working in forensic services who typically examine crime scenes, analyze evidence, and often encountered distressing material.
Jacob Keech from Griffith’s School of Applied Psychology said that while police agencies have commonly focused on the impact of trauma exposure, his study aimed to see how broader organizational and occupational demands affect forensic staff wellbeing and identify the workplace resources that could help protect against stress and burnout.
“Examples of organizational stressors included unequal sharing of work responsibilities, bureaucratic red tape, and excessive administrative duties,” 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 wellbeing 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 wellbeing was valued by the organization were protective factors linked with lower burnout and better engagement and job satisfaction.
Keech said the findings showed that improving wellbeing 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 wellbeing 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 capability of mid-level police leaders to improve their own health and that of their staff.”
The paper “Workplace demands, resources, and well-being among police staff working in forensic services” has been published in Journal of Forensic Sciences.
Republished courtesy of Griffith University