LAW REPORT
Work Health and Safety: Psychosocial Hazards
Ingrid Pagura | BA, LIB
Under Work Health and Safety legislation, a PCBU( Person Conducting Business or Undertaking) is responsible for providing a safe workplace for all workers and visitors. All states and territories in Australia, except for Victoria, are covered by the Model Work Health and Safety Act and associated legislation as adopted in their state or territory. Victoria is outside this model legislation and is covered by the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and associated legislation, but many of the requirements are much the same.
A recent change to controlling psychosocial hazards in Victoria made me think it might be time to review this topic.
Most of us are familiar with the common workplace hazards:
• Biological: infection risks such as bacteria, viruses, yeasts, fungi, etc
• Physical: manual handling such as lifting weight incorrectly, poor posture, exposure to noise, temperature, long hours on your feet
• Safety: slipping / tripping hazards, falls from heights and cuts
• Ergonomic: working environment such as repetitive movements, improper set up of workstation, lifting heavy and awkward items.
You may remember that as part of your responsibilities you must identify these hazards, assess how serious they are, control them and then review your chosen control measure to ensure it is working. This is relatively easy for the hazards I’ ve listed, the ones we can easily see.
Since late 2022, however, psychosocial hazards have been in the spotlight and are recognised in the same way as all the others. Since 2022, PCBUs or employers are required to eliminate psychosocial hazards in the same way as they would physical hazards.
Psychosocial hazards are those 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, and social factors such as social interactions and workplace relationships. These are the sorts of workplace issues that lead to chronic stress and its physical manifestations, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, musculoskeletal injuries and chronic diseases.
According to SafeWork Australia, in 2024 mental health and related psychosocial injuries were the fourth largest category of claims. So, to summarise, psychosocial injuries arise from or relate to the way jobs and tasks are managed, organised, or supervised, the working environment or equipment at a workplace, and social factors such as social interactions and workplace relationships. Some examples could be bullying, discrimination, stress, fatigue, violence, time constraints, insufficient training etc.
What are examples of psychosocial hazards?
• job demands too high or too low( e. g., working long hours without enough breaks, not having the right skills to complete the job);
• low job control( e. g., little say or control over how you do your job, or being required to ask permission for routine tasks);
• poor support( e. g., not getting enough information or not having equipment you need to do the job safely or in an appropriate way);
• lack of role clarity( e. g., not being provided clarity on your role and responsibilities or expectations, or conflicting or changing work expectations, such as contradictory instructions);
• poor organisational change management( e. g., changes that are poorly planned, or insufficient thought being given to how a change could affect WHS risks);
• inadequate reward and recognition( e. g., not enough feedback or some
236 | vol31 | no4 | AJNM