In short
Psychosocial hazards are aspects of how work is designed and managed that can cause psychological harm. Australian WHS law now requires you to identify, assess and control them — the same way you would a physical hazard. A wellbeing program and an EAP are not enough on their own.
Most Australian organisations already have a wellbeing program and an Employee Assistance Program. Far fewer can show a regulator how they identify, assess and control the psychosocial hazards forming in between. That middle layer is now a legal duty, not a nice-to-have.
What counts as a psychosocial hazard?
A psychosocial hazard is anything in the design or management of work that can cause psychological harm. The recognised hazards include:
- High job demands and low job control
- Poor support, or poor change management during restructures
- Role ambiguity and conflicting expectations
- Bullying, harassment and exposure to conflict
- Isolated or remote work
What the WHS duty actually requires
The duty mirrors the familiar physical-safety cycle: identify the hazards, assess the risk, control it with reasonably practicable measures, and review whether the controls are working. The difference is that the evidence lives in conversations, surveys and work design — not in an incident log.
Where most organisations fall short
The gap is rarely a missing policy. It is the absence of a working system: no current risk register, no demonstrable assessment, and no record of acting on what was found. That is exactly the layer a regulator asks about first — and the layer we build.
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Common questions
Isn't our EAP enough?An EAP is reactive support for individuals already in difficulty. It does nothing to identify or control the hazards creating that difficulty, which is what the WHS duty requires.Who is accountable?Officers hold a personal due-diligence duty. They must take reasonable steps to ensure the organisation has processes to manage psychosocial risk.
Sources
- Safe Work Australia — Model Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work.
- ISO 45003:2021 — Psychological health and safety at work.
About the author
Psychosocial risk advisor — BA Psych, MSW(Q), AMHSW, AICD. Twenty years across healthcare, government, community services and corporate, advising Australian executives on psychosocial risk and their WHS duty.