Psychosocial Risk Assessment Australia

What counts as a psychosocial hazard under the Code

 

The SafeWork SA Code of Practice and the Safe Work Australia Model Code identify a broad set of workplace conditions as psychosocial hazards. The most common categories:

• High or low job demands. Workload that is unsustainable, or work that is so under-stimulating it creates harm. Both ends of the spectrum count.
• Low job control. Workers with limited say in how their work is done, when it is done, or under what conditions.
• Poor support. Workers without adequate supervisor or peer support, or without access to the information, training, or resources they need.
• Lack of role clarity. Workers unclear about responsibilities, performance expectations, or reporting lines.
• Poor change management. Restructures, system changes, or process changes handled without adequate consultation or support.
• Inadequate reward and recognition. Workers whose effort, skill, or experience is not acknowledged through pay, advancement, or feedback.
• Poor organisational justice. Decisions made about workers without transparency, consistency, or fair process.
• Traumatic events or material. Exposure to events, content, or situations that cause psychological harm (emergency services, healthcare, social work, content moderation, customer-facing roles in volatile environments).
• Remote or isolated work. Workers physically isolated from colleagues or in low-population areas with reduced support access.
• Poor physical environment. Workplace conditions that compound stress: noise, heat, poor lighting, overcrowding.
• Violence and aggression. Physical or verbal aggression in the workplace, including from customers, patients, or members of the public.
• Bullying. Repeated unreasonable behaviour directed at a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health or safety.
• Harassment, including sexual and gender-based harassment. Now covered by its own commenced Code of Practice in SA. Treated as a distinct psychosocial risk that all PCBUs must manage.
• Conflict and poor workplace relationships. Interpersonal conflict, team dynamics, and relationship breakdowns that affect health or safety.
• Job insecurity. Uncertainty about continued employment, contract terms, or business viability.
• Fatigue. Including from shift patterns, excessive hours, or cumulative workload.

Most workplaces have several of these operating simultaneously. The Code asks employers to consider them together, not in isolation, because psychosocial risk typically comes from interactions between hazards rather than from any single one in isolation.

How a WLSS psychosocial risk assessment works

 

WLSS uses the four-step framework SafeWork SA publishes, adapted to the operational reality of the business being assessed.

Step 1: Identify hazards

Structured consultation with workers, supervisors, and management to identify which psychosocial hazards are present. Methods include facilitated workshops, anonymous surveys, focus groups, document review (incident reports, complaints data, exit interviews, absenteeism patterns), and one-on-one interviews where appropriate. The output is a documented list of hazards specific to the workplace, not a generic checklist.

Step 2: Assess risks

For each identified hazard, WLSS assesses the level of risk based on: who is exposed, how frequently, how severely, and what protective factors are already in place. The assessment considers the interactions between hazards (a worker exposed to high demands AND low control AND poor support faces compounded risk, not three separate risks). Risk-rated and prioritised for the controls phase.

Step 3: Control risks using the hierarchy of controls

Psychosocial controls follow the same hierarchy as physical controls. Eliminate the hazard where reasonably practicable. Substitute it with a lower-risk alternative. Apply engineering or work-design changes (workload redistribution, role clarification, scheduling changes). Apply administrative controls (training, policies, procedures, supervision arrangements). Use PPE-equivalent measures (EAP, peer support, debrief processes) as a last layer, not a substitute for higher-level controls. WLSS documents the control hierarchy applied to each risk, the justification for the chosen control, and the implementation pathway.

Step 4: Review and improve

Psychosocial risks change as the business changes. New leadership, restructures, system changes, market pressures, and team composition all shift the risk profile. WLSS builds a review cadence into the management system, including incident review, periodic re-assessment, and integration into broader WHS management system review cycles.

The output of an engagement is a documented psychosocial risk assessment, a risk register, a controls implementation plan, training and consultation evidence, and a management system update. This is what an inspector or investigator expects to see, and what a credible compliance position looks like.

Frequently asked questions about psychosocial risk assessment

 

Do these obligations apply to my industry?

Yes. The Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) applies to every PCBU regardless of industry. The psychosocial regulations and the SafeWork SA Code of Practice are not industry-specific. Construction, transport, healthcare, education, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, professional services, government, not-for-profit — all are covered.

We already have an EAP and a bullying policy. Is that enough?

No. EAP services and policies are useful, but they are not a risk-management system in the WHS sense. The Code requires identification of psychosocial hazards, assessment of risks, controls applied using the hierarchy of controls, and ongoing review. An EAP is a worker-support measure that sits low in the hierarchy of controls. A bullying policy is part of an administrative control. Neither replaces the documented risk-management process the Code expects.

How is psychosocial risk different from regular WHS risk?

The risk-management framework is the same. The hazards are different. Psychosocial hazards arise from how work is designed, organised, and managed, and from workplace relationships. Physical hazards arise from physical work activities and environments. Both require identification, assessment, control, and review. The Code makes clear that psychosocial risk should be managed using the same process applied to physical risk.

What if our workers don’t want to talk about it?

Consultation is required, but it does not have to be a single forum where workers are asked to speak publicly. WLSS uses a mix of anonymous surveys, small-group focus groups, one-on-one interviews where appropriate, and document review. The methodology is designed to surface hazards in ways that protect workers and produce usable data. Refusal to consult at all is not an option under the Act.

Can we do this assessment ourselves?

Some businesses with experienced in-house WHS capability can. Most cannot, because the assessment requires specific facilitation skills, awareness of how psychosocial hazards present, and the independence to surface issues workers may not raise with their own management. WLSS is engaged in part because the external position is itself a control: workers consulted by an external party will often raise issues they would not raise internally.

What happens if we don’t manage psychosocial risk?

SafeWork SA can issue improvement notices, prohibition notices, and infringement notices for failure to manage psychosocial risk. For serious breaches, the regulator can prosecute. A Victorian employer was fined close to $380,000 in late 2023 for failing to assess and control psychosocial risk; enforcement nationally has been increasing year-on-year. Beyond regulatory exposure, businesses that do not manage psychosocial risk see higher absenteeism, higher turnover, higher workers compensation claims (psychological injury claims now carry longer recovery times and higher costs than most physical injury claims), and a measurable productivity hit.

How does psychosocial risk fit with Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment compliance?

The two Codes commenced together on 19 February 2026 for related reasons. Sexual and gender-based harassment is a psychosocial risk, and the obligations sit alongside each other. WLSS treats them as related parts of the same risk-management exercise rather than separate compliance programs.

How long does an engagement take?

For a small to mid-sized business with single-site operations, a psychosocial risk assessment engagement typically runs six to eight weeks. For multi-site businesses with larger workforces, ten to sixteen weeks. The timeline includes consultation design, fieldwork, assessment, controls planning, documentation, and the initial integration into the management system. Ongoing review then becomes part of the business’s WHS cycle.

Are these obligations the same across Australia?

The national model regulations apply across the harmonised jurisdictions. South Australia has the Code of Practice that commenced 19 February 2026. Victoria has separate psychosocial regulations under its OHS Act with its own framework. Other states are at various stages of alignment. WLSS works to the relevant state framework for each engagement and tracks regulatory change across the country.

Why WLSS for psychosocial risk assessment

 

• Triple ISO certified. ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety), ISO 14001 (Environmental). We hold the standards we help others implement.
• SafeWork SA Code-aligned methodology. Assessments built directly to the framework SafeWork SA published in February 2026, not a generic wellbeing assessment relabelled as compliance work.
• 80+ years of combined team experience across SA and Australian workplaces in every sector.
• 500+ South Australian businesses and organisations supported.
• Cross-sector capability. The psychosocial framework is the same, the implementation differs by industry. WLSS delivers across construction, transport, education, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, government, and not-for-profit.
• Integrated with broader WHS work. Psychosocial risk does not sit on its own. Where the business has wider WHS or compliance needs, WLSS delivers the psychosocial work as part of an integrated engagement.

Talk to a WLSS advisor about your psychosocial risk position

 

Book a free 30-minute advisory call. WLSS will:

1. Walk through your current psychosocial position, including any existing wellbeing program, EAP, and policies.
2. Identify the most likely psychosocial hazards present in your workplace and the gaps in current controls.
3. Scope a Code-aligned psychosocial risk assessment that fits your industry, workforce size, and operating model.

Related WLSS services

• WHS Management Systems, the core engagement that delivers integrated WHS systems including psychosocial risk management.
• Risk Assessments, structured risk assessment across physical and psychosocial hazards.
• WHS System Audits Adelaide, independent reviews and gap analyses of your current WHS position.
• WHS Advisory Services Adelaide, ongoing advisory support across psychosocial and broader WHS.
• On-Site WHS Support Adelaide, on-site WHS resourcing where required.
• WHS Training Adelaide, safety awareness and induction training including psychosocial modules.
• Incident Investigation Adelaide, structured ICAM and equivalent incident investigation for psychosocial and physical incidents.
• Specialised WHS / OHS Services, specialised WHS services across sectors.

Authoritative sources

• SafeWork SA: Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace, the regulator’s published guidance.
• SafeWork SA Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice (February 2026), the operative code.