LAW REPORT
Psychosocial Hazards and your Workplace
Ingrid Pagura | BA , LLB
Safe Work Australia announced a new Model Code of Practice in July 2022 , Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work . A model Code of Conduct is a practical guide to achieving the standards in Work Health and Safety under the Model WHS Act and Model WHS Regulations that have been adopted throughout Australia , with the exception of Victoria . These Model Codes are not enforceable until they have been approved in the state or territory wanting to apply them . Over the course of the last and the next few months most Australian jurisdictions will have adopted both the change to the Regulations and the new Code of Practice .
The Code of Practice will be enforceable in the following states as of the dates below :
• New South Wales , Tasmania , Western Australia and South Australia : October to December 2022
• Commonwealth , Queensland , ACT : 1 April 2023
• Victoria : 1 September 2023
• Northern Territory : late 2023 ( yet to be determined )
So , what does all this mean for you ? In effect , the Code outlines a broader shift in the minimum standards of employers managing psychosocial risks in the workplace . Regardless of the challenges , employers will need to do risk assessments in their workplaces and review their measures for controlling psychosocial hazards .
Let ’ s start at the beginning . These issues aren ’ t new , but they haven ’ t really been addressed in WHS Legislation until now . The Boland Review of WHS Legislation ( Marie Boland , Review of the Model Work Health and Safety Laws , March 2020 ) made several recommendations , two of which related to psychosocial health and wellbeing . One suggested the amendment of the Regulations to ensure they appropriately address psychosocial health risks and include appropriate control measures , and the other recommended the review of incident notification to include notification for psychosocial injuries .
The Model WHS Regulations were amended by Safe Work Australia in June 2022 , and the Model Code of Practice was published in the following month . Each state and territory has adopted them as set out above .
So how does this affect you ? As a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking ( PCBU ), in other words the boss or the business owner , you are responsible for the health , wellbeing and safety of people in your workplace . While you have managed hazards of falls , manual handling , chemicals , and wounds , you now also need to manage psychosocial risks in the same way .
Let ’ s consider what a psychosocial hazard is before we look at how to manage it .
Psychosocial hazards are hazards that may cause psychological and / or physical harm and arise from or relate to the way jobs and tasks are managed , organised , or supervised ; the working environment or equipment at a workplace ; social factors such as social interactions ; and workplace relationships . Another example would be where the task or job itself has inherent psychosocial risks or hazards . These are the sorts of workplace issues that lead to chronic stress and the physical manifestations of that stress , such as anxiety , depression , insomnia , musculoskeletal injuries and chronic diseases .
Examples of psychosocial hazards according to SafeWork Australia include :
• job demands
0 too high ( e . g ., working long hours without enough breaks , not having the right skills to complete the job or the requirement of displaying false emotions , such as being friendly , to difficult customers ),
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