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Part 2 – Understanding psychosocial hazards

Part 2 of the Psychological health compliance code explains how psychosocial hazards affect employee health and safety, and why a workplace safety culture matters.

This is page 3 in a series of 11 that comprise the Psychological health compliance code. You must read the whole Code so that you understand how to meet your deemed compliance obligations.

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This is page 3 in a series of 11 that comprise the Psychological health compliance code. You must read the whole Code so that you understand how to meet your deemed compliance obligations.

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How psychosocial hazards affect health and safety

Diagram 3: How psychosocial hazards can lead to harm
  1. If an employee is exposed to one or more psychosocial hazards in the working environment, they may experience a negative psychological response that creates a risk to their health or safety. This may lead to a risk of psychological or physical harm, or both. Harm includes injury, illness and death.
  2. Some people might describe a negative psychological response as:
    • stress
    • distress
    • feeling stressed
    • feeling burnt out.
  3. Stress itself is not a psychological injury. For some people, a dynamic or busy working environment can be motivating, enhance focus and lead to better performance, if exposure to any psychosocial hazards is managed. But experiencing frequent, prolonged or severe periods of stress can lead to psychological or physical harm, or both.
  4. All individuals respond to psychosocial hazards differently. Employers should be aware of the warning signs showing that an employee may be at risk of harm. Table 1 lists some examples.
Table 1: Examples of negative psychological responses and associated physiological processes
Type of response Warning signs of harm
Cognitive
  • difficulty making decisions
  • forgetfulness
  • attention and concentration difficulties
  • memory lapses
  • decreased confidence
  • excessive worrying
  • change in perceptions
  • negative thinking patterns
  • difficulties with multi-tasking or processing information
  • thoughts of worthlessness
  • thoughts of self-harm or suicide
  • inability to fall or stay asleep due to overactive thoughts
  • preoccupation with an event that has recently taken place
Emotional
  • irritability
  • feeling anxious
  • defensiveness
  • feeling useless, insignificant or hopeless
  • anger
  • mood swings
  • feelings of dread
  • crying
  • diminished emotional expression
Behavioural
  • changes in performance
  • angry outbursts
  • changes in physical presentation or appearance
  • absenteeism/presenteeism
  • avoiding work tasks or other employees
  • withdrawal and disengagement
  • interpersonal relationship changes
  • impulsive or erratic behaviour
  • increased substance use, including legal substances such as nicotine, alcohol and prescription medications
  • self-harm
  • difficulties with performing everyday functions, such as eating or getting out of bed
Physical
  • headaches
  • indigestion
  • tiredness
  • slowed reactions
  • aches and pains
  • high blood pressure
  • increased sickness
  • stomach upsets

Fatigue

Fatigue is an acute and/or ongoing state that leads to physical, mental or emotional exhaustion and prevents people from functioning safely.

Fatigue is a common response to, or outcome of exposure to, many psychosocial hazards. These include:

  • high job demands
  • low job demands
  • low role clarity
  • poor organisational change management
  • poor environmental conditions
  • remote or isolated work.

For example, high job demands can cause fatigue if an employee works long hours:

  • with intense mental, emotional or physical effort
  • during some or all the natural time for sleep.

More information on fatigue

  1. A negative psychological response may indicate or lead to a psychological or physical injury or illness, or both.
  2. Psychological injuries or illnesses from exposure to psychosocial hazards can include:
    • depressive disorders
    • anxiety disorders
    • trauma- and stressor-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder and adjustment disorder
    • somatic symptom and related disorders, such as chronic pain and chronic fatigue
    • substance-related and addictive disorders
    • sleep disorders.
  3. Physical injuries or illnesses from exposure to psychosocial hazards can include:
    • cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke
    • musculoskeletal disorders, such as sprains, strains, soft tissue injuries and chronic pain
    • immune deficiency or disorder
    • gastrointestinal disorders
    • physical injuries resulting from lapses in concentration or work-related violence.
  4. Psychological or physical injuries may result in temporary or permanent disability and affect an employee’s capacity to work. In some cases, they may also result in death.
  5. In some cases, an employee may develop both a psychological and physical injury at the same time.
  6. On average, work-related psychological injuries have longer recovery times, incur higher costs and require more time away from work than physical injuries. Eliminating or reducing the risk of psychosocial hazards in the working environment benefits the organisation by:
    • protecting employees from the risk of psychological and physical injuries
    • decreasing the disruption and cost of absenteeism and employee turnover
    • improving organisational performance and productivity.

Examples of how exposure to a psychosocial hazard can lead to harm

Exposure to a traumatic event

An employee is exposed to a traumatic event while carrying out their work. It may cause them to experience negative psychological responses, including:

  • attention and concentration difficulties (cognitive response)
  • irritability (emotional response)
  • angry outbursts (behavioural response)
  • increased substance use (behavioural response)
  • strain on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular system (physical response).

The employee may develop:

  • a psychological injury, such as post-traumatic stress disorder
  • a physical injury, such as chronic pain or heart disease
  • both a psychological and physical injury.

High job demands

An employee is experiencing high job demands because of the sustained mental, emotional and physical effort required when their workload regularly exceeds the time allocated to do the work. They may experience negative psychological responses, including:

  • inability to fall asleep because of overactive thoughts (cognitive response)
  • feeling anxious (emotional response)
  • presenteeism (behavioural response)
  • stomach upsets (physical response).

The employee may develop:

  • a psychological injury, such as an anxiety disorder
  • a physical injury, such as a gastrointestinal disorder
  • both a psychological and physical injury.

Low job control

An employee is experiencing low job control. Their work is repetitive, they have little control over how it is done and there is excessive monitoring of tasks. They may experience negative psychological responses, including:

  • difficulties with motivation during and outside of work (cognitive response)
  • feeling aimless (emotional response)
  • taking shortcuts and not following procedures (behavioural response)
  • migraines and muscular pain (physical response).

The employee may develop:

  • a psychological injury, such as a depression disorder
  • a physical injury, such as sciatica or other musculoskeletal disorder
  • both a psychological and physical injury.

Frequency and duration of exposure

  1. Whether exposure to a psychosocial hazard causes harm depends on many factors. This includes how often and for how long the employee is exposed.
  2. Acute exposure to a psychosocial hazard can result in harm. For example, a single violent or traumatic workplace incident could cause a psychological injury such as:
    • adjustment disorder
    • acute stress disorder
    • post-traumatic stress disorder.
  3. The effects of exposure to psychosocial hazards can also accumulate over time.
  4. Some psychosocial hazards might always be present at work. For example, exposure to aggression or violence where the nature of the work involves interaction with customers, clients or members of the public. Others may occur only occasionally. For example, high job demands for 2 weeks per year during an organisation’s peak period.
  5. In working environments where the nature of the work involves ongoing exposure to psychosocial hazards (for example, emergency services), it may not be possible to eliminate risks associated with those hazards. Employers must reduce risks associated with the hazards, so far as is reasonably practicable. The most effective risk control measure or combination of risk control measures will vary for each workplace.
  6. Short-term or infrequent exposure to a psychosocial hazard may not cause harm if an employer manages the risks. For example, an employee is exposed to high job demands from a temporary increase in workload. An employer controls the risk with extra support and resources. This means the employee is unlikely to experience long-term health effects.
  7. Employers also need to consider how psychosocial hazards combine and interact. Employees may often be exposed to a combination of psychosocial hazards, which can increase the risk of harm.

For more information about selecting the most effective risk controls, see paragraphs 129–140 in Part 3, Step 3.

How workplace safety culture affects health and safety

  1. Effective management of OHS hazards and risks requires leadership commitment to prioritise a workplace safety culture.
  2. Workplace safety culture refers to the shared practices, behaviours, norms and values that people within an organisation or workplace have towards health and safety.
  3. A strong workplace safety culture is particularly important when managing psychosocial hazards and risks. It can also set the tone for workplace relationships, and build employee confidence and trust that safety is being taken seriously.
  4. Employers need to put systems in place to support a workplace safety culture.
  5. A strong workplace safety culture may include:
    • Leaders demonstrating their commitment to managing both psychosocial and physical hazards through support and involvement. For example, actively reviewing risk registers and assessing the effectiveness of risk controls.
    • Clear accountabilities for leaders in identifying and managing psychosocial hazards and risks.
    • Responding to safety concerns in a timely manner.
    • Consulting with employees at all levels of the organisation when identifying psychosocial hazards and making decisions about managing risks.
    • Leaders role-modelling positive working relationships and actively responding to potentially harmful behaviours and reports of psychosocial hazards.
    • Providing an environment where employees feel safe to raise concerns and are confident those concerns will be addressed in a fair and timely way.
    • Ensuring all employees receive information, instruction and training about workplace safety that is relevant to their role.

For more information about training and support for supervisors and managers, see paragraphs 126–128 in Part 3, Step 3.

This is page 3 in a series of 11 that comprise the Psychological health compliance code. You must read the whole Code so that you understand how to meet your deemed compliance obligations.

Next page

This is page 3 in a series of 11 that comprise the Psychological health compliance code. You must read the whole Code so that you understand how to meet your deemed compliance obligations.

Previous page