Breaking down psychosocial hazards in the workplace

Work health and safety amendments legislating an employer’s responsibility to eliminate or reduce workplace psychosocial risks have been in effect since April and Mental Health Month is the perfect time to address your responsibilities.

This is the first time psychological hazards have been recognised in the Work Health and Safety Regulations, elevating them to equal importance alongside physical hazards and risks. As a result, employers may be in a position where they have not previously had detailed policies and procedures in place for responding to psychosocial hazards in the workplace. 

By providing a person-centred approach, the new legislation is designed to ensure all incidents are documented and assessed, with employers legally responsible if incidents of non-compliance occur. However, like all regulations, the legislation should be seen as a supportive guidebook, explained Deborah Shand, Psychological Services Manager Rehab Management.

“Employers are having to scramble to make sure they are across [the guidelines], they know of the psychosocial hazards in their workplace and they have the appropriate assessments and documentation in place to make sure their workers are protected,” Ms Shand said.

“There’s a high emotional demand in any healthcare role and the people who tend to work in the industry are caring. They can be quite sensitive and give a lot of themselves which certainly makes psychosocial hazards more relevant.”

Hazards, risks and control measures

There are several key components to managing psychosocial risks, including understanding the difference between hazards and risks. Ms Shand described psychosocial hazards as the thing that could harm mental well-being, and the risk as the result of that hazard.

“As with assessing anything work health and safety related, we’re thinking about what could happen and the potential harm. A psychosocial hazard could be bullying in the workplace. The risk is the harm that could come from that hazard, for example, a risk of bullying is that somebody may develop depression,” she said.

Not only do employers need to be aware of the psychosocial hazards and risks in the workplace, but appropriate control measures must be documented, implemented and reviewed over time. It’s no different to how physical work health and safety measures are documented. 

Given the legislation is relatively new, there is a chance you may not have the appropriate resources in place to identify, minimise or eliminate hazards. There are several ways to strengthen your approach to managing psychosocial hazards, including:

• Recruiting or appointing a human resources manager with experience in dealing with psychosocial hazards
• Establishing strategies and policies in line with the legislation
• Recording and assessing psychosocial hazards and risks
• Establishing a series of control measures to eliminate or reduce the risk of hazards
• Documenting responses to incidents, including outcomes and scope for improvement
• Regularly reviewing control measure outcomes and new hazards or risks
• Collaborating with staff to identify hazards and solutions
• Developing clear lines of reporting to encourage staff communication when incidents occur

Keep up the conversation

Psychosocial hazards are harder to spot than physical ones; quick remarks in a hallway may not be heard by anyone else, while an employee could be masking their burnout after working too many overtime shifts. It’s essential for employers to constantly ask questions and reflect on the work environment to determine what could be causing problems and how they can be addressed.

“The idea of making sure psychosocial hazards are managed is to ask yourself ‘What could be a hazard in our workplace?’, ‘What are the potential hazards?’ and ‘What risk might come about from it?’,” Ms Shand explained.

“When you’re looking at the hazard, they might increase in risk when combined. If someone is bullied but their workload is too heavy and they’re already feeling quite stressed, it’s looking at how the different hazards might interact.”

Ms Shand said when it’s not possible to eliminate psychosocial hazards in the workplace, therefore the focus should be on minimising them.

“With bullying, you can’t ensure that no one ever bullies. So it might be a no-bullying policy to ensure it’s taken seriously by staff as they know the organisation won’t tolerate it and if someone has been found to be bullying others they may be fired. Or it might be about education and training for the staff on how to interact with colleagues,” she added.

Employers looking for a starting point for assessing psychosocial hazards and risks in the workplace should visit the Government’s People at Work website. It provides a free psychosocial risk assessment survey for employers and it can help you understand how to take action.