HSE Articles

Managing psychosocial hazards for a mentally healthy workplace

Written by Nicolina Holmes

Managing the psychological health and safety of workers is not a new concept to Australian employers. Under the model WHS Act, “health” is defined as both physical and psychological health. Duty holders have had the responsibility of eliminating or minimising risks that could cause psychological injury or psychological harm for some time.

However, as highlighted by reports such as Marie Boland’s Review of the model Work Health and Safety laws (the Boland Review) and the Productivity Commission’s Mental Health Inquiry, there is a need to improve understanding and protection of worker mental health, and make related health and safety duties for Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs) clearer.

This article explores the drivers for change and recent amendments to the model WHS laws, provides insight into how you can understand and address psychosocial hazards in your workplace, and highlights recent or upcoming changes to WHS/OHS legislation for each jurisdiction.

Drivers of change towards a focus on psychological health

Research conducted in 2014 by Beyond Blue, indicated a gap between workers’ desire for mentally healthy workplaces and the actual performance of their own work environments.

Findings from the recent Boland Review and Productivity Commission’s Mental Inquiry strengthened this conclusion. The Boland Review found there was a lack of specific requirements and clarity on how duty holders should manage psychosocial hazards and recommended amending the model WHS Regulations to more appropriately address the risks that may cause psychological injury and psychological harm, and the control measures to manage them.

The Productivity Commission Inquiry anticipated that almost half of all Australians will experience mental illness in their lifetime. It recommended that the model WHS laws be amended, to provide both physical and psychological health with the same consideration in legislation, and to implement other workplace initiatives to support worker mental health.

Defining psychosocial hazards in the model WHS laws

Based on the recommendation from the Boland Review, the model WHS Regulations were amended in 2022, and a model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work published.

The new regulations provide clear definitions for ‘psychosocial hazard’ and ‘psychosocial risk’ as well as distinct obligations to manage and control psychosocial risks as far as is reasonably practicable.

Below is a list of common psychosocial hazards, potential causes, and control measures.

Understanding psychosocial hazards in your workplace

From CEOs to graduates, anyone in your organisation can be exposed to psychosocial hazards. A person can be exposed through the nature of their job, their work environment, a specific event or a workplace interaction.

The exposure may be reoccurring due to their job circumstances, such as working remotely, or may only occur once but have a prolonged affect, for example interacting with aggressive clients. Some workers may even be exposed to a combination of psychosocial hazards.

A person’s exposure to psychosocial hazards might not be immediately obvious. WorkSafe ACT offers some physical, emotional and behaviour reactions to look out for, including (but not limited to) headaches, insomnia, irritability and dependency on alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Safe Work Australia also has an infographic – What Psychosocial Hazards Sound Like at Work – to assist leaders, managers, and workers with recognising the signs.

Psychosocial hazards may lead to psychological or physical harm

Psychosocial hazards are mental or emotional stressors, that if not effectively managed, can have a detrimental impact on a person’s physical or psychological health. They may cause psychological injury or psychological harm such as anxiety or depression; and physical injury or physical harm such as chronic disease or fatigue-related workplace incidents.

A mental or emotional stress response may occur when a person feels unable to cope with their work, like they have little control or inadequate support to complete tasks, or feel unsafe in their work environment due to workplace bullying.

Psychosocial hazards can lead to absenteeism, staff turnover, poor work, or poor product quality, and can compromise workplace culture, put additional work-related stress on co-workers and affect the organisation’s customer service and bottom line.

Addressing psychosocial hazards using a risk management process

The new regulations require a PCBU to identify, assess and manage psychosocial hazards in accordance with the risk management process for other workplace health and safety hazards.

When determining control measures, the regulations also stipulate that the PCBU must have regard to all relevant matters, including (but not limited to):

the duration, frequency and severity of exposure
how the psychosocial hazards may interact
the design of work, including job demands and tasks
workplace interactions or behaviours.

Psychosocial hazards overview with potential causes and control measures

Click here to download this table as a PDF to share with your managers and team members.

Click here to download a table as a PDF to share with your managers and team members.

Psychosocial hazard	Potential causes	Potential control measures
Psychosocial hazards related to job characteristics, design and management
High job demands or low job demands	Long, irregular, or unpredictable work hours Tasks that can cause mental or physical exhaustion Tasks where a high level of concentration is required Little or repetitive work	Schedule tasks to avoid intense or sustained periods of work Provide quiet areas for mentally demanding work Rotate workers through repetitive or demanding tasks
Low job control	Needing permission or approval to perform any task, even a routine one Little influence over worker’s own tasks, break times or physical environment	Implement processes for workers to control workflow and physical environment Involve workers in the decision-making for work practices Hire workers with the right mix of skills and experience for the job
Poor support	Poor communication, information, training or job resources to complete tasks No opportunity or means to seek help (particularly those in remote or isolated work) Inadequate or poor performance feedback	Implement processes for constructive, goal-focused and fair feedback Provide workers with the resources to perform their job properly and safely Create a supportive workplace culture that promotes collaboration and cooperation
Lack of role clarity	Frequent changes to roles or tasks Conflicting job roles or unclear reporting lines Lack of clarity on work priorities	Have clear position descriptions for all roles Have an accessible organisational chart with transparent reporting lines Provide clear work instructions and task expectations
Poor change management	Poor communication and poor consultation with workers on current or planned changes to the work environment Insufficient training on organisational change	Consult workers who are, or likely to be, affected on any work-related health and safety matters, and provide reasons for the change Respect individual differences among workers in dealing with change, and offer emotional support for those feeling frustrated
Low recognition and reward	Unfair and biased allocation of recognition or reward Limited opportunities for job development Worker’s skills not appropriately recognised	Have fair and meaningful practices for acknowledging recognition and reward Provide fair and practical feedback that relates to the worker’s performance Conduct performance reviews that adequately reflect the worker’s experience and control
Poor organisational justice	Failing to maintain worker privacy and confidentiality Discriminating against certain groups of workers Failing to appropriately address unreasonable behaviour causing alleged or actual harm like occupational violence or harassment	Design and implement unbiased policies and procedures Offer opportunities for workers to raise concerns and issues and encourage them to do so Recruit and promote workers based on merit
Traumatic events or material	Witnessing or investigating a fatality, serious injury or neglect (for example child protection workers) Workers that support victims of traumatic events Exposure to events that bring up painful memories	Organise tasks to minimise the number of workers exposed to traumatic events Eliminate work-related physical safety risks to prevent trauma from a workplace incident Offer employee assistance programs
Remote or isolated work	Working in locations where there is a long travel distance Limited access to job resources and support networks	Ensure the safety of your worker with measures such as CCTV and alarm systems Set up adequate communication systems and schedule regular call-ins with workers
Poor environmental conditions	Working in hazardous or unpleasant conditions Performing physically demanding work while wearing uncomfortable protective equipment	Eliminate or minimise physical hazards in the workplace as far as is reasonably practicable
Psychosocial hazards related to harmful behaviour
Workplace violence and aggression	Providing care or assistance to people who are distressed, confused or affected by drugs or alcohol Working in unpredictable environments such as high crime areas Customer service methods that can cause anger or unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker	Prevent public access to areas where workers are working alone and/or at night, or employ security personnel or video surveillance Communicate with customers and workers that any form of harmful behaviour is not tolerated Try and provide different customer interaction options that could eliminate face-to-face communication Implement systems where workers can escalate difficult calls, customers, or workers to management Ensure reporting of incidents and harmful behaviour is accessible and confidential Train workers on how to deal with difficult clients or customers and management on conflict resolution
Bullying	Exposure to other psychosocial risks causing work-related stress Strict and direct management styles Poor workplace relationships
Harassment including sexual or gender-based harassment	Acceptance of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace Power imbalances Use of alcohol at work functions
Conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions	A tolerated negative or toxic workplace culture Exposure to other psychosocial hazards causing work-related stress

These are just some examples, provided by the Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice. Refer to the Code of Practice or your jurisdiction’s health and safety regulator for more information.

How each jurisdiction is protecting the psychological health of its workers

The WHS psychosocial risk amendments must be implemented in the WHS legislation for a jurisdiction before it can take effect there. Here is a snapshot of each jurisdiction’s progress:

Commonwealth

The National Mental Health Commission released a digital platform containing resources, and a guide for organisations to create resources, relating to mentally healthy workplaces.
The Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 will be amended in April 2023 to reflect the new psychosocial risk provisions.

Australian Capital Territory

At the time of publishing this article, the model WHS psychosocial risk amendments had not yet been adopted.
WorkSafe ACT’s Strategy for Managing Work-Related Psychosocial Hazards 2021-23 was launched in October 2021.

New South Wales

In May 2021, Safe Work NSW published their Code of Practice for managing psychosocial hazards at work.
In October 2022, the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2017 were amended to include the new provisions in the NSW WHS Regulations.
NSW’s State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) partnered with the Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association to assist those returning to work after psychological injuries.
Safe Work NSW developed a free Workplace Wellbeing Assessment Tool (WWAT) to help organisations understand and manage workplace psychological safety.

Northern Territory

At the time of publishing this article, the model WHS psychosocial risk amendments had not yet been adopted.

Queensland

The Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 will be amended in April 2023 to reflect the new psychosocial risk provisions. A Code of Practice will also commence.
The Queensland Government developed a risk assessment tool to assist employers with identifying, assessing and controlling psychosocial hazards.

South Australia

At the time of publishing this article, the model WHS psychosocial risk amendments had not yet been adopted.
Wellbeing SA, an initiative of the South Australian Government, provides information and resources to support South Australians physically, mentally, and socially.
SafeWork SA has put together a Psychological Health Safety Checklist to help small businesses meet their obligations.

Tasmania

The Work Health and Safety Regulations 2022 came into effect on 12 December 2022 and include the psychosocial risk provisions.
In January 2023, a Code of Practice for managing psychosocial hazards at work came into effect.

Victoria

Victoria has not adopted the model WHS legislation, however feedback closed in March 2022 for the Victorian Government’s proposed Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Psychological Health) Regulations which would make changes to recognise psychological health as a key factor in workplace health and safety, and provide guidance for employers on their obligations towards the mental health of employees. At the time of publishing this article, there was no commencement date.
In August 2022, WorkSafe released a toolkit to help small businesses prevent mental injuries.
WorkSafe Victoria provide guidance on mental health such as managing hazards like work-related stress but no definitive Code of Practice.

Western Australia

A Code of Practice was published for the prevention and management of psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
The Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 and Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations 2022 were amended on 24 December 2022 to include the new psychosocial risk provisions.

Achieving mentally healthy workplaces takes an integrated approach

Creating and sustaining a mentally healthy work environment takes an integrated and collaborative approach from people across all levels of an organisation.

Leaders and senior management can:

be educated in the recent or upcoming changes to their state or territories’ WHS/OHS legislation, including their health and safety duty to protect workers from exposure to psychosocial hazards
implement and integrate new organisational policies and practices to promote psychological health
invest in mental and wellbeing strategies, such as training workers to be mental first aiders and offering free counselling through an employee assistance program
endorse organisational change and build a trusting, fair and respectful workplace culture.

Managers and supervisors can:

increase their knowledge on psychosocial hazard identification and control, and the most effective ways to approach and support their workers.
set reasonable workloads and timelines
encourage skills and career development
lead by example – take regular breaks, finish on time, and take care of their own mental and physical wellbeing.

Workers can:

be aware of the signs and symptoms of work-related stress and reach out for support
be educated in their legal rights regarding psychosocial hazards
offer support to colleagues who don’t seem themselves
encourage their organisation to be proactive about mental wellbeing