Psychosocial Risk Management

Helping workplaces to manage psychosocial hazards and risks

Because mentally healthy workplaces don’t just happen by accident

There has been a lot of activity in the workplace mental health space for a few years now. But things have definitely gone up a notch with the introduction of Codes of Practice for managing psychosocial hazards and risks across many Australian states and territories.

And while it’s positive that there is increasing awareness of the obligation to protect psychological health in the workplace, the increased focus on compliance and regulation can also feel pretty daunting. Many businesses are still trying to understand what “managing psychosocial risk” actually means, what a psychosocial hazard looks like in real life, and whether they are doing enough to meet their workplace health and safety responsibilities.

Completely fair, by the way. The language is a lot. The obligations are important. And the gap between “we know this matters” and “we have a clear, practical psychosocial risk management framework” can feel wider than it should.

That’s where we come in. Head Strong Workplaces can help you make sense of psychosocial hazards, psychosocial risk assessment, psychosocial risk management and workplace mental health in a way that is evidence based, practical and human.

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Here’s how we can help:

Assistance to develop your workplace mental health strategy and psychosocial risk management framework.

Psychosocial risk assessment to identify the psychosocial hazards and risk factors having the greatest impact on the mental health of your employees.

Leadership development that helps build people focused leaders who know how to support their teams and put psychosocial risk management into action every day

Workplace training to help your leaders, HR teams and WHS teams understand the fundamentals of psychosocial hazards, psychosocial safety and risk management

Support to develop and implement interventions to address psychosocial hazards such as bullying, work related violence and aggression, trauma exposure, poor role clarity, high job demands and low support

Implementation of a workplace peer support program, including recruitment and training of peer support officers

Development of policies and procedures for managing psychosocial risks in the workplace

What are psychosocial hazards?

Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work that can increase the risk of psychological or physical harm. In normal human language, they are the things about work design, work systems, workplace relationships or the working environment that can affect how people feel, function and cope at work.Some psychosocial hazards are obvious. Others are sneaky little gremlins hiding inside “that’s just how we do things around here”.

Common psychosocial hazards in the workplace can include:

  • High or unmanageable job demands
  • Low job control
  • Poor support
  • Lack of role clarity
  • Poor organisational change management
  • Bullying, harassment or conflict
  • Exposure to traumatic events or material
  • Poor recognition and reward
  • Remote or isolated work
  • Work related violence and aggression

The important thing to remember is that psychosocial risk management is not about wrapping everyone in bubble wrap or pretending work should never be stressful. Work can be challenging, meaningful and demanding. The goal is to identify and manage the risks that are unreasonable, poorly controlled or likely to cause preventable harm.

 

What does the psychosocial code of practice mean for workplaces?

What does the psychosocial code of practice mean for workplaces?
The psychosocial code of practice helps businesses understand how to identify, assess and manage risks to psychological health and safety at work. Different states and territories have their own requirements, but the overall message is pretty consistent:

Psychological health matters. Psychosocial hazards need to be managed. And “we hoped everyone was fine” is not really a risk management strategy. Annoying, but true.

For workplaces, this means thinking about psychosocial hazards in the same practical way you would think about other health and safety risks. You need to understand what could cause harm, assess the level of risk, implement controls, check whether those controls are working, and keep improving over time.

The good news is that this does not need to be terrifying. With the right framework, psychosocial risk management can become a clear, practical part of how your organisation supports people, leaders and teams.

 How we work: It’s as simple as 1-2-3

Take the time to understand the unique needs, risks and context of your business

Before we start throwing solutions around like confetti, we get to know your workplace. That means understanding your people, your systems, your existing wellbeing activities, your risk profile and the psychosocial hazards that may be affecting your team.

Work collaboratively with you to create solutions that are both evidence based and practical

We bring the psychology, neuroscience, workplace mental health experience and research. You bring the deep knowledge of your workplace. Together, we create practical solutions that make sense for your people, your leaders and your day to day reality.

Implement programs that make a difference to the psychological health and wellbeing of your staff

A good psychosocial risk management framework should not live in a folder that nobody opens. We help you build capability, strengthen systems and implement actions that support mentally healthy workplaces in real life.

Our framework

We anchor our approach within an integrated model¹ of workplace mental health that is drawn from research and best practice. The framework has four pillars that contribute to mentally healthy workplaces:

    • Promote health: with a comprehensive mental health strategy and effective leadership. Embed mental health in your policies and procedures and implement interventions focused on reducing stigma, building capability and supporting resilience and wellbeing.
    • Prevent harm: by identifying and managing psychosocial hazards and risks to psychological health and safety in your workplace. This includes building leader capability, strengthening psychological safety and making sure managers understand their role in preventing harm.
    • Intervene early: by supporting staff who are exposed to psychological hazards and effectively identifying the early warning signs of stress and mental ill health. Implementing a workplace peer support program and increasing capability across your workforce can help people engage in supportive conversations earlier.
    • Support Recovery: with a return to work and rehabilitation approach that is appropriate for psychological injuries and mental ill health. This means supporting people with dignity, structure and care when they are recovering or returning to work.

Through this framework we can assist organisations to consider how their current workplace mental health activities fit within an overarching psychosocial risk management strategy. Or, if your organisation has only just begun, we can help identify the most practical place to start.

Mentally healthy workplaces model

¹Source: Workplace Health & Safety Queensland and LaMontagne, A. D., Martin, A., Page, K. M., Reavley, N. J., Noblet, A. J., Milner, A. J., … & Smith, P. M. (2014). Workplace mental health: developing an integrated intervention approach. BMC psychiatry, 14(1), 131.

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And we always keep our values front and centre in everything we do:

Evidence-based

At Head Strong, everything we do is based on research and a sound evidence base. We draw from psychology, neuroscience and employment law to make sure the services and programs we deliver are based on solid principles and consider relevant workplace legislation.

Practical

While we love research and a strong evidence base, we never forget that the programs we deliver have to actually work in the real world. That’s why we work hard to understand the unique context of every organisation we partner with and tailor our programs to ensure they are fit for purpose and practical.

Connected

At Head Strong, we emphasise collaboration and take the time to genuinely connect with you to understand your organisation, your goals and your needs. We develop programs that are truly interactive, helping your staff connect with us, with the learning, with the program content and with each other.

Empowering

Safe and healthy workplaces that support mental health and wellbeing are less about compliance and more about culture. And that isn’t something you can buy off the shelf. That’s why our focus is on building organisational capability. We can’t do it all for you, but we can empower you to develop the systems, processes and skills you need to do it for yourself.

Psychosocial risk management FAQs

What are psychosocial hazards in the workplace?

Psychosocial hazards are work related factors that can create a risk to psychological or physical health. They can include high job demands, poor support, low role clarity, bullying, harassment, trauma exposure, poor change management or conflict. The goal is not to remove all challenge from work, but to identify and manage risks that could cause preventable harm.

What is psychosocial risk management?

Psychosocial risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, controlling and reviewing risks to psychological health and safety at work. In practical terms, it means understanding what might be affecting your people, putting effective controls in place, and making workplace mental health part of how your organisation actually operates.

What is a psychosocial risk assessment?

A psychosocial risk assessment helps identify which psychosocial hazards are present in your workplace and how they may be affecting your team. It can help you understand priority risks, focus your actions and develop a clearer psychosocial risk management framework.

What are examples of psychosocial hazards?

Examples of psychosocial hazards can include excessive workloads, poor support, unclear roles, remote or isolated work, conflict, bullying, exposure to traumatic events, poor recognition, low job control and poor organisational change management. These hazards can look different depending on the workplace, which is why context matters.

What does the psychosocial code of practice require?

The psychosocial code of practice provides guidance for managing risks to psychological health and safety at work. While requirements vary across states and territories, the general expectation is that workplaces identify psychosocial hazards, assess risk, implement controls and review whether those controls are effective.

How can Head Strong Workplaces help with psychosocial risk management?

Head Strong Workplaces can help with psychosocial risk assessment, workplace mental health strategy, psychosocial risk management frameworks, leadership development, workplace training, peer support programs, and practical interventions to address psychosocial hazards. We help you make sense of the requirements and turn them into actions that fit your workplace.

Is workplace mental health doing your head in?

 

If psychosocial hazards, workplace mental health obligations or risk management frameworks are starting to make your brain do that little spinning wheel thing, we can help.

Let’s make it clearer, calmer and a whole lot more practical.

Time to get head strong!

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