Pre Reading Exercise Please Read Through This Booklet and Answer Questions Before the Conference Sessions Begin

Risks to Psych Health HSR Conference

Pre Reading Exercise Please read through this booklet and answer questions before the conference sessions begin.

This material is taken from a Safe Work Australia publication, “Work-related psychological health and safety - A systematic approach to meeting your duties”.

The national guidance material is directed to employers (and PCBUs – ‘persons conducting a business or undertaking’) as they have duties under the OHS/WHS Acts to provide and maintain a working environment that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health. This includes a working environment that is free from psychosocial hazards and risks (so far as is reasonably practicable).

When the document refers to ‘you’ or ‘your’, as in the introduction to a systemic approach to ‘“ensure your workers’ psychological health and safety” (p4), this is addressed to the employer.

Keep this in mind: the guidance is for what the employer needs to do, not what you, as the HSR, or other workers need to do.

Creative Commons This copyright work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit creativecommons.org/licenses In essence, you are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work for noncommercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to Safe Work Australia and abide by the other licence terms.

2 Contents

The systematic approach to preventing harm and supporting recovery 4

Preventingharm 6

Causes of psychological injury – psychosocial hazards 10

Managing risks to psychological health and safety 13

How to identify psychosocial hazards 17

H ow to assessriskstoHow 18

How to control risks 20

How to review your control measures 26

What is the role of health promotion? 26

3 The systematic approach to preventing harm and supporting recovery

The systematic approach is illustrated in Figure Using a thorough and systematic approach can 1. This means using the elements discussed in have significant business benefits including: the ‘Preventing harm’, ‘Intervening early’, and ‘Supporting recovery’ phases to methodically • decreasing business disruption and costs from and comprehensively ensure your workers’ work-related psychological injury psychological health and safety. • improving worker motivation, engagement and job satisfaction so increasing productivity, reducing By using this approach it can help you meet your absenteeism and turnover, and ultimately helping legal duties to implement controls that eliminate your organisation achieve its business goals, and or minimise the risk of psychological injuries • enhancing your reputation as an employer of being caused by work but also over time improve choice. your organisation’s approach to preventing psychological injury and supporting recovery.

Take a look at vent ha this diagram Pre rm

Good work design and safe systems of work.

Risk management. Monitoring and review.

Training information and

supervision. I

r n

Leadership and management t e

v commitment. r

Consultation, cooperation e

and coordination.

e t

P g r n om ei o lb te el ge d w neral health an Figure 1. Systematic approach to psychological health and safety

4 What do you think is meant by ‘systematic’?

Why would a ‘systematic’ approach be important?

The guidance lists ‘significant business benefits’. Why?

Would there be benefits to workers? If so, can you list them?

5 work-related psychosocial hazards and risks Prevent harm that may exacerbate the existing work-related psychological injury or cause a new injury, and This element focuses on your duties under WHS laws. To do this you must systematically and • must review the effectiveness of the control comprehensively: measures to ensure further harm or new injury does not occur. • identify work-related hazards and risks • assess risks (where the degree of risk and suitable controls are not already known) Inner circle

• implement effective control measures to eliminate Includes important actions that should be hazards or minimise risks. The main focus on occurring throughout the three stages and on an the good design and effective management of ongoing basis: work, creating safe systems of work and ensuring appropriate communication and behaviour, and • ensuring there is good work design and safe systems of work • consult effectively with your workers, their representatives and others where required. • ensuring you are effectively controlling hazards and risks and monitoring and reviewing controls • ensuring your workers have the training, Intervene early information and supervision to do their job safely and well This element includes some aspects required under both WHS and workers’ compensation laws • consulting with your workers and their health and some which are considered best practice. and safety representatives and consulting, co- Early identification and management of any risks operating and co-ordinating on any health and can help minimise the potential severity of injuries safety risks with all relevant people and time lost from work. These aspects will be • ensuring you, your leaders and management discussed later in this Guide but include that you: commit to WHS, including things required under • must review control measures and, where WHS law and demonstrating due diligence. they are not effective, take action. The review might be prompted by routine monitoring or These actions will assist you ensure psychological by your workers raising concerns about their health and safety risks and RTW in your organisation psychological health and safety. is being adequately managed. • should These can be supported by optional activities to - support workers showing early signs of promote good general physical and mental health. work-related stress and modify their work You are not required to implement workplace health duties to suit their circumstances, and promotion and wellness programs under either WHS or workers’ compensation laws. However, - provide early assistance for individuals implementing appropriate well run programs is who have an increased risk of injury. considered best practice. This could include facilitating access to appropriate mental health services. Fostering a people-oriented organisational culture through supportive management can aid in the prevention, early identification and management Support recovery of mental health conditions in the workplace. This element relates to your duties under workers’ compensation laws. Legislative requirements vary across Australia but there are common elements in each jurisdiction including that you: • should provide early assistance and support to access treatment and rehabilitation services, generally from the time a claim is lodged • must support timely and sustainable recovery at work (RAW) or return to work (RTW) through effective consultation, addressing any remaining

6 Prevent harm. Focusses on PCBU duties under WHS laws. How do these correspond to employer duties under the Victorian OHS Act? To what extent do you think your employer complies?

Intervene early. Why is it important to ‘intervene early’? Which of the actions here are directly related to OHS (as opposed to Workers’ compensation)?

Support recovery. Note the last point: “must review the effectiveness of control measures to ensure further harm or new injury does not occur”. Do you know whether your employer ‘closes’ the loop after someone suffers a psychological injury at your workplace?

Inner Circle. The guidance says these actions “should be occurring throughout the three stages and on an ongoing basis”. Do you think any of these is more important than the others?

What do you think a ‘people-oriented organisational structure’ means?

7 Preventing harm What work health and Other legislative safety laws apply? frameworks

The purpose of the WHS laws is to eliminate or WHS and workers’ compensation laws do not minimise risks to the health and safety of workers. operate in isolation and other laws may also be ‘Health’ is defined as meaning psychological as well relevant. as physical health. The WHS laws set out specific duties to manage risks to psychological health and Criminal laws - where incidents of bullying involve safety which are noted below. It is important to an assault or other criminal behaviour, the criminal remember a person may have more than one duty laws will apply. and more than one person can have the same duty. Anti-Discrimination laws - each Australian A PCBU has the primary duty to ensure, so far as is jurisdiction regulates against the discrimination reasonably practicable, workers and other people of certain groups including sex discrimination. are not exposed to psychological health and safety Under anti-discrimination laws, organisations are risks arising from the business or undertaking. also required to make reasonable adjustments by making changes to allow workers with mental This duty requires you to ‘manage’ risks to disorders to perform the inherent requirements of psychological health and safety arising from the their job. business or undertaking by eliminating exposure to psychosocial hazards so far as is reasonably Fair Work Act 2009 and some jurisdictional practicable. If it is not reasonably practicable to industrial laws contain measures to address eliminate them, you must then minimise those risks bullying at work. A worker who is subject to bullying so far as is reasonably practicable. at work can apply to the Fair Work Commission for an order to prevent the worker from being bullied An officer of a PCBU, has a duty to exercise due at work by an individual or group of individuals. diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with their Under the Fair Work Act 2009 an employer must duties under the WHS laws. This includes taking not take any adverse action against an employee reasonable steps to gain an understanding of the or prospective employee because of their disability psychosocial hazards and risks associated with the (such as for accessing sick leave). State and operations of the business or undertaking, and to territory industrial laws have similar protections ensure the business or undertaking has and uses against discrimination in employment. appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks to psychological health. An Privacy laws – There are a number of Australian officer is essentially a person involved in making laws regulating handling and disclosure of personal decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part information and health care records, including the of the organisation. Privacy Act 1998 (Cth). Responsibilities for handling personal information could also arise under Workers have a duty to take reasonable care for state and territory laws, particularly in relation to their own health and safety and to not adversely state or territory government agencies. Personal affect the health and safety of other persons. information includes information or opinion about Workers must comply with reasonable instructions, an identifiable individual. as far as they are reasonably able, and co-operate with reasonable health and safety policies or Disclosure by an employee during employment procedures that have been notified to workers. – Workers are not required to disclose information about a mental health condition to their manager Other persons at the workplace, like visitors, or supervisor if the mental health condition must take reasonable care for their own health does not affect how they do their job. However, and safety and must take reasonable care not to organisational systems should be in place to adversely affect other people’s health and safety. ensure workers understand the importance of They must comply, so far as they are reasonably getting medical advice when their disability or long able, with reasonable instructions given by the term health condition may affect their ability to PCBU to allow them to comply with WHS laws. carry out the inherent or essential requirements of the job, including working safely. Workers should

8 be encouraged to consult their treating medical a prospective employee on the basis of physical practitioner if they believe the job requirements or mental disability does not apply to action may exacerbate their condition and then discuss taken because of the inherent requirements of a this medical advice with their manager. particular position. If a prospective employee does not disclose a known pre-existing condition when Disclosure during recruitment processes – requested, it may affect their access to workers’ Having a mental health condition does not often compensation if the condition worsens or recurs in significantly affect a person’s ability to perform the that employment. inherent requirements of a job. However, during the recruitment process you may ask an applicant Given the sensitivities around requesting to disclose a known disability or illness, including applicants to disclose their health conditions a mental health condition that might reasonably (and the risk you may be in breach of other laws be expected to impact on the applicant’s ability if you seek this information without considering to perform inherent requirements of the job and its relevance to the role and circumstances). to identify if any reasonable adjustments may be You should get advice from a workplace needed. relations expert before automatically including Under the Fair Work Act 2009, the prohibition on this in your recruitment processes. adverse action by a prospective employer against

Read through the duties of various Other potentially relevant laws - this list workplace parties listed here. Are these highlights that employers must comply the same under the OHS Act? with a range of other laws which may affect what they can ask workers, the sorts Check the OHS Act Section: • PCBU - Section 21 Duties of employers to of protections they must provide and so employees, but PCBUs also includes duty holders on. Read through the list - which were covered by other sections of the OHS Act as they you not aware of? are PCBUs (eg s26, s27, s28, s29) • An officer of a PCBU: - s144 Liability of officers of bodies corporate - s145 Liability of officers of partnerships and unincorporated bodies or associations (don’t worry about this too much!) • Workers - s25 Duties of employees • ‘Other persons at the workplace’?

9 Causes of psychological injury – psychosocial hazards

Psychosocial hazards or factors are anything in the design or management of work that increases the risk of work-related stress. A stress LOW JOB DEMANDS response is the physical, mental and emotional Sustained low levels of physical, mental reactions that occur when a worker perceives or emotional effort required to do the job. the demands of their work exceed their ability Tasks or jobs that where there is: or resources to cope. Work-related stress if pro- • too little to do, or longed and/or severe can cause both psycho- • highly repetitive or monotonous tasks logical and physical injury. (like picking and packing products, monitoring production lines). Stress itself does not constitute a physical or psychological injury.

Workers are likely to be exposed to a combination of psychosocial hazards; some may al- LOW JOB CONTROL ways be present, while others only occasionally. Where workers have little control over Common psychosocial hazards and factors are listed below. aspects of the work including how or when a job is done. Tasks or jobs where: • work is machine or computer paced • work is tightly managed (like scripted call HIGH JOB DEMANDS centres) Sustained high physical, mental and or • workers have little say in the way they do emotional effort is required to do the job. their work, when they can take breaks or Some examples are tasks or jobs that change tasks require: • workers not involved in decisions that • long work-hours affects them or their clients, or • high workloads - too much to do, fast • workers are unable to refuse dealing with work pace or significant time pressure aggressive clients (like police services). • long periods of vigilance looking for infrequent events (like air traffic controllers, during long distance driving, security monitoring) POOR SUPPORT • emotional effort in responding to Tasks or jobs were workers have inadequate: distressing situations or distressed or • emotional support from supervisors and aggressive clients (like paramedics co-workers dealing with difficult patients) • information or training to support their • exposure to traumatic events or work- work performance, or related violence (like emergency workers) • tools, equipment and resources to do the • shift work leading to higher risk of fatigue, job. or • frequently working in unpleasant or hazardous conditions (like extreme temperatures or noise, around hazardous chemicals or dangerous equipment, or having to perform demanding work while wearing uncomfortable protective clothing or equipment).

10 POOR WORKPLACE LOW RECOGNITION AND REWARD RELATIONSHIPS Jobs where: Jobs where there is: • there is a lack of positive feedback • workplace bullying, aggression, • there is an imbalance between workers’ harassment including sexual harassment, efforts and formal and informal discrimination, or other unreasonable recognition and rewards behaviour by co-workers, supervisors or clients • there is lack of opportunity for skills development, or • poor relationships between workers and their managers, supervisors, co-workers • skills and experience are underused. and clients or others the worker is required to interact with • conflict between workers and their POOR ORGANISATIONAL JUSTICE managers, supervisors or co-workers - this is made worse if managers are Workplaces where there is: reluctant to deal with inappropriate • inconsistent application of policies and behaviours, or procedures • lack of fairness and equity in dealing • unfairness or bias in decisions about with organisational issues or where allocation of resources and work, or performance issues are poorly managed. • poor management of under-performance.

LOW ROLE CLARITY POOR ENVIRONMENTAL Jobs where there is: CONDITIONS • uncertainty about or frequent changes to Exposure to poor quality or hazardous tasks and work standards working environments. Examples include: • important task information which is not • hazardous manual tasks available to the worker, or • poor air quality • conflicting job roles, responsibilities or • high noise levels expectations (such as a worker is told one job is a priority but another manager • extreme temperatures, or disagrees • working near unsafe machinery.

POOR ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE REMOTE WORK MANAGEMENT Work at locations where access to Workplaces where there is: resources and communications is difficult • insufficient consideration of the potential and travel times may be lengthy. Examples WHS and performance impacts during include: downsizing or relocations or associated • farmers with the introduction of new technology • real estate agents and production processes • a community nurse conducting visits at night • inadequate consultation and communication with key stakeholders and • night shift operators in petrol stations or workers about major changes, or convenience stores • not enough practical support for workers • off shore mining, and during transitions times. • fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers.

11 ISOLATED WORK Work where there are no or few other people around where access to help from others especially in an emergency may be difficult.

VIOLENT OR TRAUMATIC EVENTS A workplace incident involving exposure to abuse, the threat of, or actual harm that causes fear and distress and can lead to stress and/or a physical injury. This is common amongst groups such as These factors/hazards increase the first responders, disaster and emergency risk of psychological injury (work- services and defence personnel. Examples include: related stress). You will be hearing from our experts and will be taken • robbery through what these are and how • assault to identify these in your workplace, • being bitten, spat at, scratched or kicked and will be given more information • being threatened with a weapon. and tools to do this.

Read through the list and the explanations and tick the ones you SECONDARY OR VICARIOUS think are present in your workplace: TRAUMA There are also risks associated with High job demands witnessing a fatality, or investigating a serious injury or fatality. Some workers such Low job demands as child protection workers, lawyers, police Low job control officers, forensic scientists, journalists and custom officers may as part of their Poor support work need to repeatedly listen to detailed Poor workplace relationships descriptions of very painful and traumatic Low role clarity events experienced by others. Poor organisational change management Low recognition and reward Poor organisational justice Poor environmental conditions Remote work Isolated work Violent or traumatic events Secondary or vicarious trauma

Of course some of these hazards may also lead to physical injury, not only psychological injury.

12 Managing risks to psychological health and safety

WHS laws require you to manage risks from hazards, including work-related psychosocial hazards, so far as is reasonably practicable. A psychologically healthy and safe workplace does not happen by chance or guesswork.

You have to think about what could go wrong at your workplace and what the consequences could be. Then you must do whatever you can (in other words, whatever is ‘reasonably practicable’) to control - eliminate or minimise - psychological health and safety risks arising from your business or undertaking.

The risk management process can be used, this involves the four steps set out below and shown in Figure 2:

Step 01 Identify psychosocial hazards – find out what could cause harm, considering the psychosocial hazards described above. Take a look at Step 02 this diagram

Assess risks if necessary –

understand the nature of the

o i

harm that could be caused by t a

the psychosocial hazards, how u C

serious the harm could be and n n

the likelihood of it happening. C

This step may not be necessary l

a 01 now risks an if you are dealing with known t K d

i c

risks to psychological health o Identify on n t

and safety that have known ro hazards l control measures. Examples of control measures are described 02 in the How to control risks Asses risks section. Management commitment Step 03 04

Control risks – implement the Review most effective control measures control that are reasonably practicable C measures o n in the circumstances and n io s 02 t ensure they remain effective u a Control lt over time. lt u at risks s io on Step 04 n C Review hazards and control measures to ensure they are working as planned. Figure 2. The risk management process

13 What are the four steps in the risk management process? Check page 13.

Step 1Step 2Step

Step 3 Step 4

Where do HSRs fit in this process?

In your opinion, what’s the most important bit of advice given under ‘Leadership and management commitment’? Check page 15.

Do you think anything is missing?

14 Leadership and management improve decision-making about psychological health and safety. commitment Consultation on psychological health and safety Effective management of psychological health and matters involves sharing information on hazards safety risks starts with a commitment from you and and risks, giving workers a reasonable opportunity others who operate and manage your business to express their views, raise issues, contribute to or undertaking. A clear, well communicated the decision-making process, and taking those organisational workplace mental health policy views into account. It is important that you respect is essential to support RTW and stay at work for their privacy and keep information confidential those experiencing work related mental health where this is necessary. Consultation also requires conditions. advising workers of the outcomes. Consultation with workers and their HSRs is legally required, PCBUs and officers of a PCBU have a duty to so far as reasonably practicable, at each step exercise due diligence to ensure they meet their of the risk management process. If workers are WHS obligations. Due diligence includes taking represented by unions, you may wish to seek their reasonable steps to: input during the consultation process. • acquire and update knowledge of work-related psychological health and safety matters Methods for consulting workers can vary according to the size of the workplace and the distribution of • understand the organisation’s operations workers across sites and shifts. Examples include including any risks to work-related psychological pre job start or toolbox discussions, focus groups, health and safety worker surveys, WHS committee meetings, team • ensure there are appropriate resources and meetings and individual discussions. processes to eliminate or manage risks, and these are used to effectively manage risks to By drawing on workers’ experience, knowledge psychological health and ideas, it is more likely the main work-related • ensure there are appropriate processes for psychological health and safety risks will be receiving, monitoring and reviewing information identified and effective control measures selected. on incidents, hazards and risks, and they are Workers should be encouraged to talk about their responded to in a timely way experience, knowledge and ideas, either to their supervisor or another appropriate person (such • ensure the PCBU has processes for complying as an HSR) so the risks can be managed before with any duties or obligations under WHS laws, an incident occurs. Effective consultation with and your workers can also help raise awareness of • verify resources and processes are provided and psychological health and safety. used to manage risk. Collecting workers’ views can be done using When a WHS inspector is considering whether you focus groups or small groups (6–10 people) from are meeting your WHS duties, they will look for across a business or organisation. They can help evidence that you are proactively managing WHS identify common psychological health and safety risks, for example, by taking similar steps to those risks. required for officers to meet the due diligence requirements noted above. Worker surveys, for example People at Work, are another effective tool for consulting workers. When conducting a worker survey consider the size of Consulting workers the group and organisation, how representative the sample will be, and whether individuals can be Consultation is a key element of providing identified. Information should always be reported a psychologically healthy and safe work at group level to ensure individuals are not environment. You have a duty to consult with identifiable. affected workers; if they have a health and safety representatives (HSR) the HSR must be included in the consultation. This duty is described in more detail in the Code of Practice: Work health and safety consultation, cooperation and co-ordination. It recognises workers’ input and participation can

15 Consulting, co-operating and or minimised so far as is reasonably practicable. Further guidance is in the Code of Practice: Work co-ordinating activities with Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and other duty holders Co-ordination. WHS laws require that you do all that is reasonably Information, training, instruction practicable to consult, co-operate and co-ordinate activities with all other persons who have a WHS and supervision duty in relation to the same matter. For example, more than one business or undertaking may You must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, be involved in the same activity or share the workers are provided with information, training, same workplace and so may contribute to any instruction and supervision to protect them from psychological health and safety risks. Consulting, risks to their psychological health and safety while co-operating and coordinating allows you to at work. work effectively together so risks are eliminated

Consulting workers. Apart from the legal duty to consult, why does the guidance say consultation is worthwhile?

Does your employer consult with you regularly?

Has your employer ever consulted with you on psychosocial hazards ?

Information, training, instruction and supervision. Is this a duty under the OHS Act - what section?

NOTE: the section “Consulting, co-operating and co-ordinating...” is not required under the Victorian OHS Act

16 How to identify psychosocial hazards

The first step in the risk management process is if they may need some additional support so they to identify all work-related psychosocial hazards. can do their work safely and well. This involves finding things and situations that could potentially harm people. Psychosocial You should do all that is ‘reasonably practicable’ hazards can arise from organisational factors to identify and control psychological health and (work organisation, job design and poor workplace safety risks including for at risk workers and to culture), environmental factors and individual make adjustments to accommodate their needs factors. Common work-related psychosocial at work. Your regulator will take into account a hazards are listed on page 9. number of factors including your business size and nature when deciding what was reasonably There may be other hazards unique to your practicable for you to do. organisation which should be considered. It is helpful to talk to your industry association, unions More information about what you can do if one of and WHS regulator to find out about your workers is reporting feeling stressed or they hazards and solutions that may be common in your think they have a work-related psychological injury industry. is dealt with in the Intervening early and Supporting recovery Chapters. Psychosocial hazards may be identified by: • having conversations with workers, supervisors Guidance on bullying and fatigue and health and safety specialists • inspecting the workplace to see how work is Specific advice on how to manage risks from carried out, noting any rushing, delays or work bullying and fatigue may be found in the: backlogs • Guide to Preventing and Responding to Workplace • noticing how people interact with each other Bullying during work activities • Dealing with Workplace Bullying – a Workers’ • reviewing relevant information and records such Guide as reporting systems including incident reports, • Guide for Managing the Risks of Fatigue, and workers’ compensation claims, staff surveys, • Fatigue Management – A Guide for workers absenteeism and staff turnover data, and • using surveys to gather information from workers, supervisors and managers. Which of the ways suggested do you think would be most successful? In complex situations you may want to seek advice on specific risk identification and assessment techniques and the help of specialists.

Individual factors

People respond to hazards in different ways. Individual differences that may make some workers more susceptible to harm from exposure Which if any do you think your to the same hazard include: employer has used? • being a new or young worker • having an existing disability, injury or illness • having previously been exposed to a traumatic event, or • workers who are currently experiencing difficult personal circumstances.

By talking to your workers, including these groups, and asking how they are coping you can decide

17 How to assess risks

Assessing risks involves considering what could The level of risk can be assessed by weighing up happen if someone is exposed to a psychosocial the presence of the psychosocial hazards listed on hazard, the degree of harm that may result, and the page 9 and considering the potential of the hazard likelihood of that outcome. to lead to harm.

The complexity of a risk assessment will depend Workers and others may be exposed to more than on the types of hazards present, how workers are one type of psychosocial hazard at any one time. exposed, and the information and resources avail- Psychosocial hazards interact with each other so able. you should not consider these separately. For example, the combination of high job demands, low control, and low support increases the likelihood Exposure to the hazard and severity of physical or psychological harm. The frequency and intensity of exposure to each psychosocial hazard should be considered during How to assess risk from expo- the risk assessment. For example, infrequent exposure to low levels of workplace conflict may be sure to psychosocial hazards unpleasant without causing a risk to psychological First identify who should participate in the risk as- health and safety, while frequent exposure to high sessment. For example your risk assessment might levels of conflict can increase the likelihood of both first focus on those parts of the organisation where physical and psychological injury. psychosocial hazards have already been identified. A risk assessment can help you determine: The most common methods used to assess risks • how severe a risk is - the frequency and duration are consulting with workers and their HSRs, us- of exposure to a psychosocial hazard and pos- ing information from focus groups, interviews, and sible consequences of continued exposure and de-identified surveys and reviewing your organisa- whether existing control measures are effective tion’s records. • how urgently you need to take action, and Important considerations when assessing the risk • options for eliminating hazards or minimising the are: risk- including their effectiveness and availability. • workers’ views of the work-related psychosocial hazards and factors. An assessment based on Many hazards and their associated risks are well observation or other data alone is unlikely to pro- recognised and have well-known and accepted vide accurate results, sometimes it will be helpful control measures. In these situations it may not be to ask work groups or team about the most im- necessary to formally assess the risk if there are portant issues well-known and effective controls measures suita- • the assessment should focus on known psycho- ble to your circumstances. social hazards such as those listed on page 9 and those specific to your workplace, and If, after identifying a hazard, you already know the • using the most suitable risk assessment meth- risk and how to control it effectively, you can im- od. This will vary depending on the nature of the plement the controls without undertaking a risk work, your organisation and workforce. assessment. You can simply then check to confirm these have been effective. For some situations, advice from experienced WHS professionals may be useful to help do the A more thorough risk assessment should be done risk assessment and communicate results to your if exposure to psychosocial hazards could result workers and HSRs or unions. in a psychological injury and there is uncertainty about the: Australian and international WHS authorities have • potential severity of consequences developed a range of free reliable and valid risk • ways hazards may interact to produce new or assessment tools and resources. See for example greater risks, or the People at Work tool kit, the Copenhagen Psy- chosocial Questionnaire or the United Kingdom • effectiveness of control measures. Health and Safety Executive Management Stand- ards Indicator Tool.

18 List the factors which should be considered when identifying hazards and assessing the risks

If workers are exposed to more than one type of psychosocial hazard, what does this do to the risk level?

19 How to control risks The hierarchy of controls

Under WHS laws, work-related hazards that present The Code of Practice: How to Manage Work Health a risk to psychological health and safety must be and Safety Risks refers to the management of both eliminated so far as is reasonably practicable, or if physical and psychosocial hazards. The Code that is not reasonably practicable, the risks must groups the hierarchy of controls into different be minimised so far as is reasonably practicable. types that can be applied when eliminating or minimising WHS risks. Other ways of considering a Some control measures are more effective than hierarchy of effective controls are discussed in the others. Controls can be ranked from the highest psychology, health promotion and public health level of protection and reliability to the lowest. This literature on your jurisdiction’s website or headsup. ranking is known as the hierarchy of control. WHS laws require you to eliminate risks so far as is If your assessment has identified actual or potential reasonably practicable, and if it is not reasonably harm from exposure to psychosocial hazards you practicable to do so, to minimise those risks so far can follow the hierarchy of controls to help you as is reasonably practicable. Further information is eliminate or minimise risks. You should match your available in the Guide: How to determine what is risk control measures to the psychosocial hazards reasonably practicable to meet a health and safety in the specific parts of your organisation you duty.. identified or assessed in steps 1 and 2 of the risk management process.

Highest Most

Eliminate risks Reliability of control measures control of Reliability

Substitute the Isolate the Reduce the risk risk with a safer hazard from through engineering alternative people controls

Reduce exposure to the hazard using administrative controls Levelof health and safety protection

Use personal protective equipment

Lowest Least

Take a look at Figure 3. The hierarchy of risk control this diagram 20 Have you come across the term ‘hierarchy of controls’ before?

In your own words or images, briefly explain or draw what it means you can use a physical hazard if you like.

Why is it important to follow this hierarchy?

21 Eliminating risks (highest level Examples include designing work and work systems: of protection and reliability) • allowing longer for difficult tasks to be completed safely, especially by inexperienced staff Eliminating the risk means completely removing the psychosocial hazard and associated risks. • matching work allocation with appropriate staff This is the most effective control measure and you for example ensuring sexual assault case-load should always consider it before anything else. allocations consider the case type, complexity, numbers of available staff and their skills and Examples include: experience • removing the risk of assault during a robbery by • redesigning work systems to minimise confusion exclusively using remote payment methods by clearly defining your workers’ roles, reporting structures, tasks and performance standards • eliminating excessive work demands by • providing workers with control over their work • setting achievable workloads and performance pace to allow them to take breaks to manage targets with your current staff numbers and skills their fatigue instead of using machine pacing or mix, or automated work allocation • designing jobs to eliminate activities better • increasing the level of practical support during undertaken by outsourced companies with well- peak workloads developed processes for example delivery of products to customers. • consulting your workers about how major organisational changes may affect them and It may not be reasonably practicable to eliminate listening to their views the risk, for example if doing so means you cannot • improving the work environment by make your product or deliver your service. Where a - reducing the physical demands of the risk cannot be eliminated you must minimise it so job by supplying appropriate manual far as is reasonably practicable. handling equipment You may find it useful to consider the information - installing sound dampening technology or in the Principles of Good Work Design: A Work enclosing machinery to isolate the worker Health and Safety Handbook. Good work design from unpleasant or hazardous noise, or considers the work tasks, work systems, the physi- - increasing the lighting in darker areas or cal working environment, and the workers and oth- placing barriers between workers and ers in the workplace. Good work or job design may customers to minimise the risk of assault, involve eliminating hazardous tasks or minimising violence and other crime. their risks by substituting them with less hazardous tasks, using isolation or engineering controls. While you should use work design to minimise the risks so as far as reasonably practicable, Minimising risks where this is difficult to adequately do you should carefully consider ways you can provide more The hierarchy of control model was developed emotional and practical support or increase the to address physical hazards. However it can be level of job control the worker has over their tasks. applied to psychosocial hazards. By increasing support and or job control you can minimise the impact of other psychosocial hazards Work design is used to minimise the risks by and bolster people’s capacity to cope, they may substituting the hazard, isolating the hazard then experience less stress. from the person or putting in place engineering controls. This must be done so far as is reasonably practicable.

For psychological health and safety, substitution means substituting the hazardous ways of working with less hazardous alternatives, this is done by changing the design of the work or the system of work. Isolation and engineering controls may also be used to control physical and psychological risks.

22 Can you think of an example of a control that would eliminate the risk created by ‘Low recognition and reward’?

Minimising risks. Reading through the risks - which, if any, of these might work in your workplace?

23 Administrative risk controls Personal protective equipment

Only after applying substitution, isolation and Protecting the worker through personal protective engineering control measures to minimise risks equipment (PPE) is a last resort and must be so far as is reasonably practicable should you use used where there are physical risks likely to cause administrative controls. They should always be a stress response that cannot be reasonably used in conjunction with higher order controls. minimised using higher order controls.

They commonly include your organisation’s policies Examples include providing: and standard operating procedures. These outline • personal distress alarms for example your expected workplace behaviours and how you will manage unreasonable behaviour • outdoor workers with eye and face protection including by your supervisors, workers, clients or from the sun and glare customers. • police with body armour and face protection • gloves, gowns, and face shields to protect child They may also include specific instructions on how care workers, emergency workers, nurses and to manage foreseeable serious risks and how to personal care workers from contact with body respond if an incident occurs, including providing fluids, and assistance to your workers. This is very important where there is a higher likelihood of exposure to • high quality hearing protection or headphones psychosocial hazards, for example emergency to reduce stress reported from excessive or responders. annoying background noise.

Administrative controls include: Administrative controls. Read through • using job rotation for repetitive or highly the list - why are these controls less demanding tasks, to reduce exposure time such as rotating workers who need to deal with effective than redesigning the work? aggressive clients • having clear expectations about psychological health and safety in your organisation including on bullying and sexual harassment and that you check these are put into practice • ensuring your workers have the right tools, information, training and supervision to do their job safely and well you have a workplace values and rewards system that supports collaboration and teamwork in your organisation • you consult and train your workers to prepare for the introduction of new equipment, software or PPE. How effective do you think these production techniques, and examples of PPE are in reducing the • providing your supervisors with appropriate risk of psychological injury? training in people and work management, and on the job support, and • you train your workers and supervisors to recognise early warning signs of psychological injury.

Your expectations about workplace behaviours can be outlined in policies and procedures or your value statements.

24 Combining risk controls Combining risk controls. How likely is Workers may be exposed to multiple psychosocial it that a number of controls will need to hazards. Some of these may always be present be used in a workplace with a range of while others only occasionally. You should also psychosocial factors? Why? always consider how hazards interact.

In most cases, a combination of control measures will most effectively minimise the risk. For example, in customer service there may be work pressure, aggressive customers and supervisors who are not readily available to provide support. In this circumstance a combination of control measures could include: • automating the service • redesigning the work environment to introduce barriers between workers and clients • job rotation to reduce exposure to distressed customers • administrative procedures to prioritise customers showing signs of aggression, and • training supervisor and workers to improve team communication • providing training in de-escalation for aggressive customers, and Does your employer formally review • reviewing difficult incidents to identify control measures? Why should this be improvements to existing controls. part of the systematic process? When implementing controls, you should always check you have not inadvertently introduced new hazards. Further guidance on controls specific to each of the psychosocial hazards can be found in Where to go for help. For more information to help you decide what you should consider when deciding what control measures are reasonably practicable see the Interpretive Guideline: The Meaning of ‘Reasonably Practicable.

25 How to review your control measures

You must maintain, monitor and review and then Consultation with your workers and their if necessary revise control measures for risks to representatives is required throughout the risk psychological health and safety to make sure they management cycle. This includes when you are remain effective. Reviews must occur: reviewing control measures. • where a new hazard or risk is identified You can use the same method you used during the • if a control measure is not adequately minimising initial hazard identification and risk assessment the risk process. Further guidance is in the Code of Practice: • before a significant workplace change occurs for How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks. example a change to the work environment or systems of work • where consultation indicates a review is necessary, or • if a HSR requests a review.

What is the role of health promotion?

General and mental health promotion is the process they can lead to better worker wellbeing and can of enabling people to increase control over and mean workers feel more comfortable reporting improve their physical and mental health. Health work-related psychosocial hazards and accessing promotion in the workplace refers to the combined professional counselling services if issues do arise. efforts of employers, workers and society to improve the health and wellbeing of people and Senior management commitment and input can include focusing on healthy lifestyles, personal from workers is required to ensure strategies development and learning, and non-work-related are appropriate and meet specific needs. More factors in the general environment. information on integrated approaches to mental health which include the incorporation of health A best practice approach to developing and promotion see the resources on WHS authorities’ sustaining a psychologically healthy and safe websites. workplace should focus on mental illness prevention and mental health promotion. It is important you do not adopt a health promotion strategy as an alternative to managing the psycho- You are not required under WHS laws to provide logical hazards and risk associated with the work health promotion initiatives. However, well run undertaken in your organisation. However health initiatives can have positive effects on general and promotion can work in conjunction with the sys- mental health. These initiatives can help managers tematic approach. For information on best practice and workers better understand physical and mental integrated approaches and health promotion see health, and build a supportive workplace culture. your WHS authority’s website or contact the or- When these types of strategies are combined ganisations listed in Where to go for help.

26 What do you think of ‘health promotion’ programs?

What are some of the dangers?

Extra notes: