Australasian Journal of Natural Medicine Summer 2025 (Members Version) | Page 45

LAW REPORT

people getting rewarded and not others);

• poor organisational justice( e. g., being inconsistent, unfair, or discriminatory in decisions, or directing unjustified blame at workers);

• traumatic events( e. g., workers being exposed to a traumatic event such as a workplace incident or fatality, an assault, a natural disaster such as a bushfire, or situations of extreme risk);

• poor physical environment( e. g., working in uncomfortable conditions which make it hard to concentrate due to noise or temperature, having to wear poorly fitting PPE, or being provided with malfunctioning equipment);

• harmful behaviours( e. g., being exposed to violence, aggression, bullying or sexual harassment; discrimination based on race, culture, disability or age; or conflict in workplace relationships).

As I mentioned earlier, the identified risk must then be controlled so that it doesn’ t happen. Risk control means your taking action to eliminate health and safety risks so far as is reasonable and practicable, and, if that is not possible, minimising the risks so far as is reasonable and practicable.

The various ways of controlling risks are ranked by effectiveness and reliability. The Hierarchy of Controls provides different control measures that can be used to minimise the risk created by a hazard. If one control can’ t be implemented, move onto the next one. A PCBU must do what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to manage risks and maintain a safe workplace.

The steps of the Hierarchy of Controls are: eliminate the hazard; substitute the hazard; isolate the hazard; reduce the hazard through engineering methods; reduce the risk through administrative measures; and use PPE. A PCBU must always start with eliminating the risks and must not jump straight to providing PPE as a solution. PPE is the last resort.

For controlling risks from psychosocial hazards, use the Hierarchy of Controls in the same order. Aim to eliminate, but if that is not reasonably practicable then minimise risk by substituting, isolating, reducing the hazard through engineering methods, reducing the risk through administrative measures and using PPE. More than one control measure can be used at one time.

For Victoria, from 1 December 2025, there is a different way of controlling psychological hazards. Identifying

hazards and assessing the risks are done in the same way, but when controlling risks, the employer must first consider if it is reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk. If it’ s not, then the employer must reduce the risk so far as is reasonably practicable, by:

•‘ altering the: i. management of work ii. plant iii. systems of work iv. work design v. workplace environment, or

• using information, instruction or training, or

• using a combination of the above controls.’

It is no longer enough to use information, instruction or training as these must no longer be the predominant controls.

For more information, see SafeWork Australia Managing Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace Code of Practice Appendix A in particular, which has lots of examples of how to control hazards. For Victoria, please see Compliance Code Psychological Health 2025, in force from 1 December 2025, particularly Appendix C, which also has a lot of practical examples of how to apply control measures to different psychosocial hazards.