What are psychosocial hazards and risks?
Workplace psychosocial hazards are hazards that may cause psychological harm, whether they may also cause physical harm. Psychosocial hazards can be related to
- workplace interactions/behaviours,
- the design or management of work,
- the work layout and environment or
- plant, substances and structures at a workplace.
Some key psychosocial hazards in the building and construction industry include:
- bullying and harassment from supervisors, other workers and/or others on site e.g. repeated incidents of harassment, degrading, humiliating or inappropriate behaviours, threatening body language, sexual/gender or racial harassment, intimidation, coercion, singling out, exclusion
- workload e.g. high workloads, unreasonable job demands
- exposure to traumatic events e.g. witnessing a serious or fatal incident
- hazardous physical working environments e.g. unsafe worksites, being told to take safety shortcuts to “get the job done”
- conflict e.g. arguments, violence
- insufficient role clarity e.g. lack of instruction, training and/or supervision.
Psychosocial risks arising from these hazards may include stress, anxiety, physical reactions (e.g. heart
palpitations), burnout, poor mental health that affects the quality of a person’s well-being and life.
Additionally, workplaces with a poor psychosocial culture can affect a business’s viability, reputation and bottom line.
What employers must do
Under the Work health and safety regulation, employers must implement control measures to
eliminate or minimise workplace psychosocial risks.
They can do this by:
- identifying any workplace psychosocial hazards
- putting in suitable controls to manage the risks
- consulting and communicating with workers.
You must also regularly review your controls, and ensure you are equipped to respond to or manage/address poor mental health if it arises. Consultation is required under the legislation and is crucial to establishing long term effective control strategies.
Employers who fail to adequately manage psychosocial hazards and risks in the workplace can face compliance notices and penalties.
What are the benefits?
Looking after the psychological well-being of your workers can improve engagement, productivity, morale and staff retention for your company, as well as reduce sick leave and workers compensation claims.