Conducting a Psychosocial Risk Assessment: A Guide for Employers
Understanding psychosocial hazards
Psychosocial hazards are factors or situations that have the potential to cause psychological or physical harm to workers, regardless of whether they may also lead to physical harm. These hazards can stem from various aspects of work, including:
- The way work is designed or managed
- The conditions and environment in which work takes place
- Equipment and machinery used at the workplace
- Interactions and behaviours among individuals in the workplace
Psychosocial risks, on the other hand, refer to the likelihood and severity of harm to the health or safety of workers or other individuals that may result from exposure to psychosocial hazards.
Common psychosocial risks
High/low job demands: Allocating tasks beyond capacity, unreasonable deadlines, lack of resources, dealing with complaints, delivering bad news, supporting distressed individuals, and expressing only approved emotions.
Fatigue: Physical, mental, or emotional exhaustion due to high physical, mental, or emotional demands, unpredictable time arrangements, irregular hours, long work hours, high workload, limited ability to self-advocate, and environmental stressors.
Low job control: No involvement in decisions, tightly managed work, lack of learning opportunities, little say in work, excessive monitoring, insecure work arrangements.
Job insecurity: Unclear length of employment, temporary employment, little or no entitlements or benefits, low levels of control, and the need to work multiple jobs.
Poor support: Lack of instrumental support, isolation, dispersed teams, managers with too many workers, and no time to speak with colleagues or managers.
Low role clarity: Multiple reporting lines, unclear instructions, lack of clarity on priorities and deadlines, responsibilities changed without consultation, duplication of effort.
Poor change management: Neglecting health and safety impacts, disorganisation, lack of consultation, poor communication, inadequate support during transitions.
Low reward and recognition: No positive feedback, lack of performance discussions and goal setting, meaningless or vague recognition.
Poor organisational justice: Inequitable procedures, unfair resource distribution, bias, favouritism, nepotism, individuals not following policies.
Exposure to traumatic events or materials: Working in high-risk occupations, responding to emergencies, providing care to traumatised individuals, and exposure to traumatic materials.
Remote or isolated work: Limited communication, lengthy isolation, excessive monitoring, difficulty in emergency response, potential for violence or aggression.
Intrusive surveillance: Unreasonable level of supervision, tracking work activities, monitoring emails and internet use, covert surveillance, tracking calls and movements, remote access to workers' computers, and GPS monitoring for performance monitoring.
Poor physical environment: Performing hazardous tasks, working in hazardous conditions, uncomfortable PPE, poor workplace conditions affecting concentration, unpleasant workplace conditions, poorly maintained equipment, and work-related accommodation contributing to fatigue.
Violence and aggression: Physical attacks, sexual violence, verbal abuse, threats, online abuse, high-risk occupations interacting with the public.
Bullying: Repeated, unreasonable behaviour creating health and safety risks, including abuse, aggression, belittling, teasing, allegations, rumours, unfair responses, victimisation, criticism, exclusion, and unreasonable demands.
Harassment including sexual harassment: Harmful behaviour based on personal characteristics such as age, disability, race, nationality, religion, political affiliation, sex, relationship status, family or carer responsibilities, sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.
Family and domestic violence at work: Threats, intimidation, or violence by a perpetrator at the workplace, including when working from home, during work-related activities, or between workers at a workplace.
The impact of psychosocial risks
Exposure to psychosocial hazards can result in various negative outcomes, such as:
- Work-related stress and burnout
- Depression and anxiety disorders
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Musculoskeletal injuries and chronic diseases
- Increased absenteeism and reduced productivity
Legal obligations for employers
Australian laws require employers to manage psychosocial risks in the workplace:
- The Fair Work Act prohibits bullying and adverse action against employees
- Work Health and Safety: WHS laws mandate providing a safe working environment
- Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice offers guidance on managing psychosocial hazards
The psychosocial risk assessment process
Conducting risk assessments involves four key steps:
- Identifying psychosocial hazards: Gather data from various sources and risk assessment tools such as worker surveys, incident reports, and workplace observations.
- Assessing the risks: Evaluate the likelihood and severity of harm associated with each identified hazard.
- Implementing control measures: Select the most effective measures to eliminate or minimise risks.
- Reviewing and improving: Continuously monitor the effectiveness of control measures and make necessary adjustments.
Identifying psychosocial hazards
To identify psychosocial hazards in your workplace, consider the following actions:
- Conduct an anonymous work survey to assess your organisation's risk profile
- Review survey results, incident reports, reporting data and workers' compensation claims
- Observe workplace interactions and practices
- Analyse job demands and resources
Assessing the risks
Once you have identified the psychosocial hazards, assess the level of risk associated with each one:
- Determine the likelihood of the hazard causing harm
- Consider the potential severity of the harm
- Evaluate the number of workers exposed to the hazard
Implementing control measures
Based on the risk assessment results, implement appropriate control measures:
- Modify job designs to reduce excessive demands and increase autonomy
- Provide training and support for managers and workers
- Improve communication and consultation processes
- Enforce policies to prevent harmful behaviour, such as bullying and harassment
- Introduce anonymous reporting software to improve reporting rates, case management efficiency and data
Reviewing and improving
Psychosocial risk management should be an ongoing process:
- Regularly review the effectiveness of control measures
- Seek feedback from workers to identify areas for improvement
- Monitor key indicators, such as absenteeism and worker complaints
- Make necessary adjustments to maintain a safe and healthy workplace
Best practices for psychosocial risk management
To optimise your psychosocial risk management efforts, consider adopting the following best practices:
Engage workers in the process: Actively involve your workers in the risk assessment and control process. They have valuable insights into the work environment and can help identify hazards and develop practical solutions.
Provide a safe and confidential reporting mechanism: Implement an anonymous reporting system like Elker to encourage workers to report concerns without fear of reprisal. This can help you identify trends and high-risk areas in your workplace and proactively address them.
Integrate psychosocial risk management with overall WHS systems: Don't treat psychosocial risk management as a separate issue. Integrate it into your WHS policies, procedures, and practices to ensure a comprehensive and consistent approach to worker health and safety.
Invest in mental health support and resources: Provide your workers access to mental health support and resources, such as employee assistance programs, mental health first aid training, and stress management workshops. This can help mitigate the impact of psychosocial hazards and promote worker resilience and well-being.
Foster a culture of psychological safety: Create a workplace culture that values open communication, trust, and respect. Encourage your leaders to model positive behaviours and attitudes and create an environment where workers feel supported and empowered to speak up about their concerns.
Using the People at Work psychosocial risk assessment tool
The People at Work psychosocial risk assessment tool is a free resource for employers looking to assess and manage psychosocial risks in their workplace. This tool can help you identify and assess psychosocial hazards, benchmark your results against industry standards, access guidance and resources for implementing control measures, and monitor your progress over time.
The benefits of anonymous reporting with Elker
Implementing an anonymous reporting system like Elker can significantly strengthen your psychosocial risk management efforts. By providing a safe and confidential channel for workers to report concerns, you can encourage open communication, identify trends and high-risk areas in your workplace, and gather valuable data to inform targeted interventions. Using a platform like Elker demonstrates your commitment to psychological health and safety, helping to foster healthy workplaces.
Book a demonstration of the Elker platform or request a quote. See how Elker can transform your organisational health.
