Since the COVID pandemic, working arrangements have fundamentally changed — hybrid and remote models are common and there is a greater focus on employee mental health and wellbeing.
With National Safe Work Month spanning October, we take a deep dive into understanding psychosocial hazards at work and how to manage the risks.
What are psychosocial hazards?
According to Safe Work Australia, a psychosocial hazard is anything that has the potential to cause psychological harm (e.g. harm to someone's mental health). However, they can also cause physical harm. Psychosocial hazards are hazards which arise from, or are related to:
- the design or management of work;
- a work environment;
- plant at the workplace; or
- workplace interactions or behaviours.
Under Work Health and Safety laws, psychosocial hazards and risks are treated the same as physical hazards and risks, meaning the spotlight is on employers and what you're doing to protect your employees from harm not only physically, but also psychologically.
“Proactively managing psychosocial hazards at work not only protects workers, it also benefits businesses by improving organisational performance and productivity,” says Safe Work Australia CEO Marie Boland in a recent report on psychological health and safety.
The report found serious claims for mental health conditions in 2021-22 resulted in 584,029 working weeks of time lost from work. And the median compensation paid for mental health conditions was $58,615 per serious claim compared to $15,743 per serious claim for all injuries and diseases, according to the report.
Examples of psychosocial hazards
Common psychosocial hazards at work include:
- job demands
- low job control
- poor support
- lack of role clarity
- poor organisational change management
- inadequate reward and recognition
- poor organisational justice
- traumatic events or material
- remote or isolated work
- poor physical environment
- violence and aggression
- bullying
- harassment, including sexual harassment, and
- conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions
This is not an exhaustive list and employers must consider if there are any other psychosocial hazards within their workplace to manage.
While some psychosocial hazards may seem easy to manage when isolated, the level of impact or risk increases when a combination comes into play.
Psychosocial issues can be easier to hide than physical injuries, but there are a number of strategies that can help you spot them including:
- Observing workplace interactions and behaviour, and gauging workplace culture;
- Reviewing organisational structure;
- Observing how work tasks are completed;
- Consulting with workers, and safety and health representatives;
- Inspect the physical workplace;
- Analysing workplace data, such as incident reports; and
- Reviewing work arrangement and job design.
Your WHS legal obligations
Under the WHS Act 2020, the definition of “health” was updated to include not only the physical state of workers, but also their psychological state.
By extension, the obligation of a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) also extended to ensure the psychological safety of workers.
The WHS Act stipulates the PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and the health and safety of others is not put at risk. This is known as the primary duty of care.
Under the WHS Act, workers have a duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and to not adversely affect the health and safety of others. They must also comply with reasonable instructions, as far as they are reasonably able, and co-operate with reasonable health and safety policies or procedures that have been notified to workers.
Benefits of a psychosocially safe workplace
In addition to the legal requirement, there are plenty of benefits to creating a psychosocially safe workplace.
- Increased productivity;
- Better talent attraction;
- Decreased turnover;
- Increased engagement;
- Decreased workers’ compensation claims; and
- Decreased absenteeism.
Managing psychosocial risks
To manage psychosocial risks, an employer must:
- Identify reasonably foreseeable hazards;
- Eliminate risks, so far as is reasonably practicable;
- Minimise the risks, so far as is reasonably practicable;
- Maintain implemented control measures; and
- Review, and revise control measures.
There are many effective control measures, some include:
- Psychosocial risk strategy facilitation and development;
- Work redesign;
- Strengthening leadership capability; or
- Enhancing organisational policies, systems and processes.
“Creating an workplace with positive psychosocial health and safety is the right thing to do for employees and contributes to WHS compliance,” says Epigroup’s Psychologist and WHS Lead Consultant, Lesley Brown.
"However, selecting effective psychosocial controls is not a one-size-fits-all solution, set and forget process. Businesses must tailor their approaches to the unique risks of their workforce, embedding mental health and well-being into the core of their regular operations."
Brown said that improving employee mental health is also good for business, with research showing that the return on investment per dollar invested into workplace health promotion interventions is estimated at $2.86 for small-medium enterprises, and $4.01 for large employers.
For more information on how Epigroup’s services can help your business, call 1300 414 313 or email [email protected].
