Psychosocial Hazards and Safety in the Workplace

Don't let stress at work cause harm and injury to workers. Address psychosocial hazards early and maintain a healthy workplace culture and environment.

More recently, there has been a significant rise in awareness around psychosocial safety and hazards in the workplace. Organisations across Western Australia are recognising that workplace health and safety involves more than just performing or managing physical tasks and duties; it requires leaders to identify and address hazards that may impact employee psychological wellbeing.

There are several factors that have contributed to this increasing focus. Modern workplaces are often faced with higher workloads, major organisational change or restructure and complexities around inter-personal relationships and environments. At the same time, workplace regulations and government departments are placing a stronger emphasis on managing psychosocial hazards as part of the broader health and safety responsibilities for both employee and employer. As a result, they are now expected to consider how work is to be best designed, managed and monitored, and whether these factors can contribute to psychological or psychosocial injury or harm.

Recognising when psychosocial hazards maybe affecting your workplace

Psychosocial hazards impact on our physical and mental wellness and ability to function and are not always immediately obvious. Examples include excessive work demands, working in isolation, lack of job autonomy or role clarity, poor organisational change management, bullying, sexual harassment, threats or conflict. They can also result from current or historical exposure to stressful or traumatic experiences which can be completely unrelated to the workplace.

Often, there are early signs that employees or teams may be experiencing unhealthy pressures. If it is acute or longstanding, they can cause harm such as:

• anxiety

• depression

• sleeping disorders

• feeling burnt-out

• thoughts of self-harm

• headaches

• chronic disease

Often these issues develop gradually over time and if left unmanaged they can affect both the individual’s wellbeing and the organisations culture.

For employees, this may look like:

• ongoing stress and emotional exhaustion

• difficulty concentrating or reduced productivity

• experiencing increased irritability or conflict with fellow workers

• feeling unsupported or isolated at work

• a reluctance in going into work or increased absenteeism.

For departments and organisations, long-term symptoms may include:

• increasing workplace complaints

• unresolved interpersonal conflict

• higher staff turnover

• declining morale or engagement

• a pattern of stress-related leave

Recognising these warning signs allows organisations to address these concerns before they continue to escalate into more serious workplace issues. Organisations and business owners have a duty under the WHS Act to eliminate a risk or risks to psychological health and safety or if that is not possible, to minimise the risks, to being as low as is reasonably practicable (ALARP). Failure to do so can expose you to an improvement notice or in severe cases criminal prosecution.

Why choose Brennans & Associates to help?

We will gather information through a structured engagement process including policy reviews and interviews with employees to identify the psychological hazards in your workplace, assess the level of risk in the workplace, identify existing control measures and provide recommendations to reduce the risk to ALARP. Reducing psychosocial injury offers “potential high returns” to employers including:

• lower absenteeism

• increased productivity

• reduced workers compensation claims

• improved decision making

• lower insurance premiums

• lower turn-over costs

A final note

A positive, supportive company culture enhances its reputation, studies show that for every dollar invested in employee mental health, businesses and departments can see a return of up to five dollars. The cost of psychological injury claims is typically 2.5 times greater that the cost of other workers compensation claim and involves 2.5 times more time off work.