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Risk management for sexual harassment
Employers should apply the risk management process to manage risks associated with sexual harassment, so far as is reasonably practicable.
The risk management process involves the following steps:
- identifying psychosocial hazards
- assessing, where necessary, any associated risks to health or safety
- controlling risks to a person’s health or safety associated with psychosocial hazards
- monitoring, reviewing and, where necessary, revising risk controls.
There are certain circumstances where each step of the risk management process must occur.
This page explains how to control the risks of sexual harassment in the working environment. This is Step 3 in the risk management process.
Your duty
Risks must be eliminated, so far as is reasonably practicable. If risks cannot be eliminated, they must be reduced, so far as is reasonably practicable. This must be achieved by:
- altering the –
- management of work, or
- plant, or
- systems of work, or
- work design, or
- workplace environment, or
- using information, instruction or training, or
- using a combination of any of the controls listed above.
You may only use information, instruction or training on its own if it is not reasonably practicable to alter any of the measures listed above at (a).
Where a combination of risk control measures is used, information, instruction or training must not be the predominant control measure.
Diagram 1: Controlling exposure to psychosocial hazards and risks.
When determining which risk control measures to use to control the risks of sexual harassment, you should also consider if there are related or underlying hazards that might increase the risk.
If you identify any related hazards, you must also control the associated risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
You may also have duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 to control certain physical hazards in accordance with specific hierarchies of control for:
- noise
- plant
- hazardous substances
- hazardous manual handling.
For more information on managing specific risks, see the relevant compliance code or guidance at worksafe.vic.gov.au.
Employees under 18
Employees aged under 18 may be more at risk of sexual harassment.
Employers who have employees under the age of 18 must use reasonably practicable risk controls to eliminate or reduce the risks. For example:
- Require relevant employees to have a Working with Children Check.
- Don’t assign young employees to certain tasks or ask them to work alone.
- Provide extra supervision.
- Offer training on harmful workplace behaviour, including sexual harassment. This should cover what to do if someone’s behaviour makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
These controls should be used in addition to other risk controls to reduce the risk of sexual harassment, so far as is reasonably practicable.
See ‘Who is most at risk?’ in What is sexual harassment? for more information.
Management of work
Management of work includes things such as:
- governance, leadership, and decision-making and escalation structures
- workforce planning
- resource allocation and rostering.
Risk control measures related to management of work could include creating a safe, respectful and inclusive organisational culture.
Organisational culture includes:
- leadership
- values
- behaviours
- language
- attitudes
- interactions.
Creating a safe, respectful and inclusive organisational culture helps employers to:
- set the tone for respectful workplace relationships
- build employee confidence and trust that safety is taken seriously
- proactively address the drivers of sexual harassment
- meet ‘positive duty’ requirements that apply under other legislation.
To do this, employers should consider the following.
- Leadership
Appoint a diverse group of leaders who are openly committed to preventing and managing sexual harassment. For example:
- Creating a culture of respect and inclusion.
- Modelling respectful and appropriate workplace behaviours.
- Upskilling leaders in health and safety, including in how to:
- identify hazards and engage employees in the consultation process
- effectively manage complex staffing matters.
- Demonstrating leadership commitment to managing psychosocial hazards. This includes building employee confidence and trust that safety is taken seriously.
- Developing and communicating the organisation’s plan to prevent sexual harassment. This includes strategies to address workplace:
- gender inequality
- lack of diversity
- power imbalances.
- Identifying who will lead the plan to prevent sexual harassment. Giving them the necessary resources to do this.
- Encouraging reporting of sexual harassment. Responding appropriately to all reports of sexual harassment.
- Workplace standards
Develop formal workplace standards that state how all people in the workplace are expected to act. Standards should include behaviours, attitudes and language. They must be developed in consultation with employees and any health and safety representatives (HSRs). They should also be:
- set out in policies and procedures (see ‘Systems of work’ for more information)
- included in induction and workplace training
- modelled by managers and supervisors
- made available and accessible to all employees
- enforced.
- Risk management
Develop and implement a:
- risk management action plan for specific team and/or roles
- related communications strategy.
This should happen once you have completed:
- Step 1: identify psychosocial hazards, including sexual harassment
- Step 2: assess risks
Senior management should oversee implementation of the risk management plan and its outcomes, including:
- necessary risk controls
- who is responsible for each risk control, including:
- who has authority and capacity to deliver
- leadership involvement, where relevant
- defined timeframe for implementation.
- Benchmarks
Develop and implement benchmarks and diagnostics to measure progress. Benchmarks may include the timeliness of:
- investigations
- identification and management of any ongoing physical and psychosocial risks in the working environment following a report of sexual harassment
- implementation of investigation outcomes.
- Support
Support any employees who experience sexual harassment or have allegations made against them. This includes through:
- management/supervisor support
- regular check-ins
- Employee Assistance Program
- leave entitlements
- HSRs
- union representatives
- external support services.
Plant
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, plant includes:
- any machinery, equipment, appliance, implement and tool; and
- any component of any of those things; and
- anything fitted, connected or related to any of those things.
Risk control measures related to plant may include:
- replacing plant with new plant that presents less risk; for example, using a mobile duress system, rather than a fixed duress system
- making changes to existing plant; for example, modifying CCTV range to improve coverage of grey areas
- regularly servicing and maintaining all plant; for example, regularly testing duress devices.
Systems of work
A system of work encompasses the way that work is planned, organised and done. This may include the interacting set of:
- policies
- procedures
- practices
- equipment
- materials
- environment.
Policies and procedures on their own are not systems of work.
Employers should consider how altering systems of work can reduce the risk of exposure to sexual harassment.
- Tailored systems to reduce risks from customers , clients or patients
Employers should develop a tailored system to reduce the risks of employees being exposed to sexual harassment from customers, clients or patients. This could include:
- Designing the working environment to reduce unnecessary interactions between customers and employees.
- Ensuring employees can see or hear who is coming into the premises. Restricting access when necessary.
- Controlling access to the workplace by installing effective barriers. Ensuring they are used at high-risk times and for high-risk tasks.
- Keeping the workplace secure, maintained and adequately lit and fit for purpose, including car parks.
- Installing CCTV cameras or other surveillance features. If using surveillance devices, develop policies and procedures before installation that make clear:
- the purpose of the surveillance, including how and when it is being used
- how employees and any HSRs will be consulted
- what data will be captured
- how long data will be stored
- who will have access to data.
- Installing, and regularly maintaining and testing, communication and duress alarm systems.
- Implementing a procedure for opening and closing the business.
- Rostering employees so no one works alone where possible, particularly for higher-risk times, shifts or tasks.
- Clearly communicating behaviour expectations to clients, customers and the public.
- Responding to any sexually inappropriate behaviours in a timely manner and following through on any stated actions. For example, immediate refusal of service to a client or customer.
- Using a flagging system to identify and flag high-risk customers with a history of sexual harassment. Developing associated management plans. For example, implementing procedures to:
- ban customers from the workplace
- escalate the response if a banned customer enters the workplace.
- Implementing response procedures, which may include:
- ways to end high-risk contact or escalate a situation to management
- using duress alarms and onsite security.
- Enforcing responsible service of alcohol requirements in workplaces where alcohol is served.
- Introducing an incident reporting and investigation system.
- Providing appropriate training and supervision for employees.
- Providing appropriate support to employees who experience sexual harassment.
- Tailored systems to reduce risks from working in isolation or unpredictable environments
Employers should develop a tailored system to reduce the risks of employees being exposed to sexual harassment associated with:
- remote and isolated work
- working in unpredictable environments.
For example, working in a client’s home. This could include:
- Completing a risk assessment before any work is done remotely.
- Developing a management or support plan for clients, patients or residents who engage in sexually inappropriate behaviours. This should be done in consultation with relevant professionals. Make employees aware of these plans and train them to respond appropriately. Regularly review these plans and communicate any changes.
- Determining the minimum number of employees that should be rostered to shifts in high-risk environments or during high-risk periods.
- Reviewing supervision levels to ensure they are appropriate.
- Implementing a buddy system.
- Enabling access to private and secure work-provided accommodation and facilities:
- for fly-in fly-out or drive-in drive-out employees
- if extended travel and stopovers are required.
- Developing a communications plan.
- Ensuring suitable communications equipment is available.
- Regularly checking in and monitoring to make sure employees:
- feel supported
- are coping with working from their remote or isolated location.
- Developing and implementing check-in procedures before and after travelling or meeting customers or clients off site.
Employers should also develop a system for:
- identifying and responding early to risks of sexual harassment to prevent incidents
- reporting, managing and investigating incidents of sexual harassment
- reviewing and revising risk controls to prevent future incidents.
Policies and procedures to prevent and manage sexual harassment
A workplace behaviour policy and procedure can form part of a broader system of work to prevent and manage sexual harassment. Policies and procedures are not a system of work on their own.
Depending on the size and resources of the organisation, there may be:
- one broad policy and procedure that incorporates various harmful behaviours, such as aggression or violence, sexual harassment and bullying
- specific policies and procedures; for example, a policy specifically about how to prevent and manage sexual harassment.
A workplace sexual harassment policy and procedure must be developed in consultation with employees and any HSRs. The policy and procedure should:
- State the employer’s responsibility to protect employees from the risk of sexual harassment and how this will be done.
- State an employee’s responsibility to take reasonable care for:
- their own health and safety
- the health and safety of people who may be affected by their acts or omissions in the workplace.
- Define sexual harassment. This should:
- describe behaviours that are forms of sexual harassment
- provide examples of verbal, physical, written and online sexual harassment.
- List examples of appropriate and inclusive language.
- Tell employees what to do if they experience sexual harassment. This should include:
- Multiple and accessible reporting avenues, both internal and external. This includes circumstances where the report involves a direct manager or member of the senior management team.
- How to access support services.
- Encourage bystanders to report sexual harassment. This should include:
- What is a bystander and an active bystander.
- What to do if sexual harassment is witnessed, including reporting.
- How they can provide support to the person who experienced sexual harassment.
- Outline what the employer will do if an employee reports sexual harassment. This should include the following information:
- Who will be notified of the report.
- How an investigation will be completed in an objective, fair, transparent and timely way, including expected reasonable timeframes.
- How sensitive information will be handled, including issues of privacy and confidentiality. Employers may need to disclose confidential information to investigate whether risks are being controlled so far as is reasonably practicable or where there is an immediate risk to health and safety. They may also be required by law to disclose information. For example, if the employee is under the age of 18, consider whether Child Protection or Victoria Police need to be contacted.
- Options for psychological support for all relevant parties. This may be internal or external support services. For example, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or relevant external agencies.
- How all relevant parties will be kept informed as appropriate.
- How outcomes will:
- be transparently communicated to appropriate parties
- be promptly implemented
- consider any related ongoing risks to health and safety and be incorporated into risk management processes.
- Additional external reporting options available to all parties. This includes options to escalate if a party is dissatisfied with the internal investigation process.
- Outline possible outcomes where a breach of policy and procedure is identified.
For more information, see Managing reports of sexual harassment.
Work design
Work design means the equipment, content and organisation of an employee’s work tasks, activities, relationships and responsibilities within a job or role.
Employers should consider how altering work design can reduce the risk of exposure to sexual harassment. For example:
- Using an automated ordering system to reduce the number of interactions with customers.
- Providing bar service instead of table service in isolated areas away from co-workers.
- Emptying bins into an outside skip the next day rather than in darkness or while intoxicated people may be around.
- Where possible, meeting clients in the office rather than their homes or isolated environments.
- Moving tasks to more visible areas of the workplace.
- Rostering employees so no one works alone where possible, particularly for higher-risk times, shifts or tasks.
- Where possible, preventing or restricting public access to premises where people work alone or at night.
- Allocating tasks based on skill sets and experience, instead of traditional, socially prescribed gender roles.
Workplace environment
The workplace environment means environmental conditions that contribute to psychosocial risks such as:
- lighting
- temperature
- noise
- vibration.
Making alterations to the workplace environment to control the risk of sexual harassment may include:
- Ensuring work-provided accommodation and facilities are private and secure. For example, providing:
- all-gender toilets with separate cubicles
- private change rooms and accommodation.
- Keeping the building secure, maintained and fit for purpose.
- Providing extra visibility by:
- installing ample internal and external lighting, including in carparks
- using mirrors to improve visibility and reduce blind spots
- using transparent panelling for doors and windows
- installing CCTV.
- Installing communication, surveillance cameras, duress and alarm systems. Ensure systems are regularly maintained and tested.
- Separating employees from the public where possible. For example, by providing:
- protective barriers or screens
- secure employee areas and facilities, such as swipe card access and dual entry/exit points.
- Controlling access to the workplace by installing effective barriers. Ensure they are used at high-risk times and for high-risk tasks.
- Ensuring employees can see or hear who is coming into the premises. Restrict access when necessary.
- Where possible, preventing or restricting public access to premises when people work alone or at night.
Provide information, instruction, training or supervision
Employers must provide necessary information, instruction, training or supervision. Where a combination of risk control measures is used, information, instruction or training must not be the predominant control measure.
You may only exclusively use information, instruction or training if it is not reasonably practicable to alter any of the following:
- management of work
- plant
- systems of work
- work design
- workplace environment.
Information, instruction, training and supervision helps to educate employees about controlling the risk of sexual harassment.
Employers should deliver targeted training to employees at all levels. This includes during induction and at regular intervals.
Examples of information, instruction or training that can support risk controls may include:
- Providing information, instruction and training to all employees on the organisation’s sexual harassment policy and procedure. This includes:
- defining what behaviours constitute sexual harassment
- explaining reporting options and how the organisation will respond to the report
- outlining what supports are available to all parties.
- Providing skills training to employees where relevant. For example:
- training on being an active bystander and what to do if sexual harassment is witnessed
- situational risk assessment, such as when visiting homes or working alone
- dealing with customers or clients who are unsafe, violent or aggressive.
- Educating employees about the organisation’s risk management plan and behavioural expectations before work events or travel. For example, responsible consumption of alcohol.
- Providing training on how to identify and respond to other psychosocial hazards and risks that may increase the risk of sexual harassment.
- Providing targeted training to supervisors and managers on how to respond to informal and formal reports of sexual harassment.