5 Steps to start your Psychosocial Safety journey in Australia

The landscape of workplace health and safety in Australia has evolved, driven by a legislative framework that has placed psychosocial safety at the top of the organisational agenda across sectors. Organisations embarking on this journey, as well as those well down the road, are meeting some daunting challenges. However, the good news is the gains achieved by increasing psychosocial and psychological safety are real and tangible-raising performance, productivity, workforce engagement and wellbeing.

Starting the process of identifying psychosocial hazards and assessing the risks relevant to your workplace doesn't have to be complicated. By taking a structured, step-by-step approach, you can build a strong foundation for managing psychosocial risks and creating a truly healthy and safe workplace.

Here are five essential steps to begin your psychosocial safety journey, keeping Australia's updated WHS laws in mind.

Step 1: Understand Your Legal Obligations

Before you can act, you need to understand the 'why'. In Australia, the WHS Act and its various state-based iterations now explicitly include psychosocial hazards as part of an employer's duty of care. This isn't just about ticking a box; it's a legal requirement. Familiarise yourself with the model WHS laws and your specific state's legislation, as there can be slight variations. Key concepts to grasp are your responsibility as a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) to manage all risks to health and safety, and the importance of a proactive approach to psychosocial hazards. This includes risks related to work design, bullying, aggression, and fatigue, among others. The Mentally Healthy Workplace Gude provided by WorkSafe Queensland is one good reference to help frame requirements and actions.

Step 2: Identify and Assess Psychosocial Hazards

You can’t manage what you can't see. The next step is to identify the hazards present in your specific workplace. Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work that can cause psychological harm. They are often less obvious than physical hazards. Look for factors such as high job demands, low control, lack of support, poor relationships, and organisational change.

Start by reviewing existing data. This might include incident reports, staff turnover rates, and absenteeism figures. The most effective way to gain a true picture, however, is to engage with your team. Conduct surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one conversations to understand their experiences and perceptions. This is a crucial step for gaining buy-in and making sure your strategy is built on real-world data from your own organisation.

Step 3: Implement Control Measures

Once you have a clear picture of the risks, it's time to put controls in place. The best way to approach this is by using the hierarchy of controls. While a physical control like a guard on a machine is straightforward, psychosocial controls are about changing how work is done. Your primary goal is to eliminate or minimise the risks.

Examples of control measures could include:

• Modifying work design to increase autonomy and reduce unreasonable deadlines.

• Providing training for managers and staff on how to have effective conversations, build respectful relationships, manage conflict, and support their teams.

• Developing clear policies on bullying, harassment and workplace behaviour, and ensuring they are regularly communicated and enforced.

• Fostering a culture of psychological safety, where employees feel safe to speak up, ask questions, interact in the workplace and make mistakes without fear of retribution, ridicule or rejection.

Step 4: Consult with Your Workers

This step is so important it's a legal requirement in Australia, and the fundamental foundation of psychosocial risk management. Consultation with your workers, and any Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs), is essential at every stage of the process—from identifying hazards to implementing control measures. Your team often has the best insights into the practicalities of their work and the challenges they face. Involving them ensures that the solutions you develop are practical, effective, and well-received. Consultation isn't a one-off event; it should be an ongoing process, helping you to continuously improve your approach to psychosocial safety.

At the NPSN we recommend your approach integrates psychosocial and psychological safety by establishing a safe communication culture that ensures respectful and productive discussion on areas of psychosocial risk. You can do this by co-creating and agreeing with workers clear principles for safe, constructive communication and considerate behaviour. In this way, matters can be proposed and discussed respectfully--ensuring than important risk areas are addressed rather than avoided

Step 5: Review and Refine Your Approach

Psychosocial safety isn't a set-and-forget task. Your workplace is a dynamic environment, and risks can change over time. Regularly review the effectiveness of your control measures. Are they working as intended? Have new hazards emerged? Use your consultation channels, survey data, and performance metrics to evaluate your progress.

For instance, after implementing new manager training, you might check if incident reports of bullying have decreased or if employee satisfaction scores related to manager support have improved. This continuous cycle of review and refinement ensures your organisation remains compliant with legislation and, more importantly, provides a genuinely healthy and safe workplace for everyone.

By following these five steps, you can begin your organisation's psychosocial safety journey on a solid footing, moving from a reactive mindset to a proactive, preventative one. This not only meets your legal obligations but also contributes to a more engaged, productive, and resilient workforce.