Safe Work Australia

✅Once you know which psychosocial hazards are present in your workplace and you have assessed the risks they may create, you can eliminate or control the risks. Once the risk is managed you should review the effectiveness of your control measures to make sure, they’re working as planned.

⚠️Remember – training and policies alone are not effective or reliable controls.

Swipe 👉 to learn about controlling risks and reviewing control measures. Find out more in the model Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards at work: https://bit.ly/3BrnjvZ

🔎On Monday we looked at identifying psychosocial hazards. Once these hazards have been identified, employers should do a risk assessment to assess the risk.

⚠️ Consider the duration, frequency and severity of workers’ exposure to psychosocial hazards and how these hazards may interact and combine.

🧠🌿Find out more on assessing psychosocial risks in the model Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards at work: https://bit.ly/3BrnjvZ

Managing psychosocial hazards is an essential part of creating a healthy and safe workplace. Employers must take proactive steps to prevent harm to workers’ mental and physical health.

Identifying psychosocial hazards is the first step of the risk management process. Workers may talk about their exposure to psychosocial hazards in different ways. For example, they may say they feel stressed, burnt out or emotionally exhausted from their workload.

Download our poster to help you recognise the signs of psychosocial hazards: https://bit.ly/4ofG4ck

🤝Our national effort to make work safer and heathier continues under the Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS) Strategy 2023–2033.

👉All performance updates, Member case studies and key documents are available in one place on our Australian WHS Strategy digital hub. Visit the hub to explore how we’re monitoring progress and supporting safe and healthy work across Australia: https://bit.ly/3S6O6Wa

Do you know if your workers are exposed to psychosocial hazards?

These hazards may not be as immediately obvious as physical hazards like slips, trips and falls, but there are ways you can identify them no matter your workplace, including:
🗨️ consulting with workers and their representatives
📃 using surveys and tools
🔍 observing work and behaviours
🤔 reviewing available information and looking for trends
🗣️ having a reporting mechanism – and encouraging reporting.

Swipe 👉 to learn more about identifying psychosocial hazards and check out our model Code of Practice for more information: https://bit.ly/3BrnjvZ

🧍🏼‍♂️Men’s Health Week is a reminder that safety at work plays a major role in long-term health and wellbeing.

Our WHS and workers’ compensation data shows men are more likely to experience serious injuries and fatalities at work.

This week, we encourage you to start a conversation about what safety improvements could make the biggest difference in your workplace.

Mental stress claims are among the most expensive serious workers’ compensation claims, resulting in the longest time off work, and can have significant personal impacts for affected workers and their families.

Employers have a duty under WHS laws to manage psychosocial hazards in their workplaces and should use same 4 step risk management process used to manage physical hazards – identify hazards, assess risks, control the risks, and review control measures.

Over the next few days, we’ll explore each of these 4 steps in managing psychosocial hazards. Download our managing psychosocial hazards at work infographic here: https://bit.ly/4uiibSS

Understand psychosocial hazards, then manage the risks 🤝

Swipe to bust myths on managing psychosocial hazards at work 💥

Learn more on our website: https://bit.ly/3xgN2ri

📢 Workplace exposure limits (WELs) are coming on 1 December 2026

📌 We’ve released a new stakeholder pack with ready-to-use resources to support the transition to the new WELs and help employers understand what they need to do to prepare.

If you are a:
✅ WHS regulator
✅ Occupational hygienist or WHS practitioner
✅ Union
✅ Industry body or association

👉 Download the stakeholder pack and help prepare for the transition to workplace exposure limits: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/airborne-contaminants/resources -pack

🧠 Psychosocial hazards – the things that can harm mental and physical health at work – are still poorly understood in the WHS context compared to physical hazards.

Over the next fortnight, we’re focussing on psychosocial hazards and sharing some practical tips on how to identify and manage these WHS risks.

Swipe 👉 to learn more about common psychosocial hazards, and visit our website for more information: https://bit.ly/3xgN2ri