Psychosocial hazards

Information about what psychosocial hazards are, employer obligations, and tools and resources to manage them in the workplace.

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A person pictured from behind addressing a group of workers dressed in corporate attire.
 

What are psychosocial hazards

Psychosocial hazards at work are situations or aspects of work that may cause a stress response. They can lead to psychological or physical harm. Psychosocial hazards can arise from or relate to:

  • the design or management of work (for example, how work is done)
  • the work environment (for example, where work is done)
  • plant and machinery at a workplace (for example, how noisy it can be)
  • workplace interactions or behaviours (for example, how customers speak to workers).

A psychosocial risk is any health or safety risk caused by a psychosocial hazard.

Types of psychosocial hazards

There are 15 common types of psychosocial hazards:

Please note this list is not exhaustive.

How psychosocial hazards impact your business

When workers experience a stress response from a psychosocial hazard, it can have flow on effects to your business. This includes:

  • a reduction in productivity and efficiency
  • a decline in job satisfaction and team morale
  • increases in absenteeism and sick leave
  • increased staff turnover
  • increases in incidents and injuries
  • increases in workplace conflicts
  • increases in health care expenditure and workers’ compensation claims.

Your obligations as a PCBU/employer

Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) have a responsibility under Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 to manage hazards and risks in the workplace.

You must use the hierarchy of controls (PDF, 46.87 KB) and consider relevant workplace matters such as workplace design and systems of work when minimising the risk of harm related to psychosocial hazards. PCBUs play a role in striking a balance between work demands and resources to ensure the health and safety of their workforce. They need to eliminate and minimise the risk of harm from potential stressors in the workplace. This obligation is the same for self-employed people and contractors.

PCBUs have a duty to consult with workers who:

  • carry out work for the business
  • may be affected by a health and safety matter, including any risks or hazards that can impact physical and psychological wellbeing.

How to manage psychosocial hazards at work

Identify hazards

Steps you can take to identify hazards include:

A person pictured from behind on a virtual meeting with other workers.
  • Consulting with workers to share ideas and information about workplace risks. Consultation should also involve discussion about how risks are being controlled and managed by the business. Surveys, direct conversations and health and safety consultation arrangements are examples of consultation.
  • Observing workplace interactions and work practices to identify social or behavioural patterns that could indicate a risk.
  • Talk to workers about their experiences and concerns about work activities. Use our conversation guide ( PDF, 99.32 KB) to talk to your workers about psychosocial hazards, roles and responsibilities and managing changes at work.
  • Review workplace data to identify trends. For example, sick leave and absenteeism, complaints and investigations into harmful workplace behaviour, hazard and incident reporting and workers compensation data.
  • Review workplace policies and procedures regularly to ensure they are procedurally fair, timely and transparent. For example, are grievances resolved within reasonable timeframes.

Assess the risks

A risk assessment may need to be undertaken when:

  • it’s unclear if the psychosocial hazards may result in harm or how they may interact with each other to produce a new or more significant risk(s) of harm
  • changes are planned, or underway that may impact workers and the effectiveness of controls in place.

Assessing the risk will help to determine:

  • the duration, frequency and severity of exposure and risk to any hazards
  • how these hazards may interact or combine with other hazards
  • which workers are most at risk
  • what controls are currently in place (if any)
  • whether the risks are organisation wide or apply to a specific group of workers, a process or work task, and
  • the reasonably foreseeable likelihood workers may experience harm doing the task or jobs. For example, is the hazard and related harm in similar workplaces?

View our tools and resources for completing a risk assessment.

Control the risks

If you can’t eliminate risks, you must minimise them so far as is reasonably practicable, using control measures and following the hierarchy of controls (PDF, 46.87 KB). Control measures are any actions taken to minimise a health and safety risk in the workplace. For example, implementing a zero-tolerance policy and designing the workplace (secure reception areas, duress alarms) to minimise the risk of harmful workplace behaviour such as violence and aggression.

When controlling risks, you must consider all relevant matters in the workplace including:

  • the duration, frequency and severity of exposure to any identified hazards along with how these hazards may interact or combine
  • the design of the work and how the work is organised, managed and supported
  • the physical environment where work is undertaken, including design and layout, environmental conditions and workers’ accommodation
  • the plant, substances and structures at the workplace such as the provision of personal protective equipment
  • workplace interactions or behaviours, including between workers and members of the public
  • the information training, instruction and supervision provided to workers.

When determining the best control measures, you should:

  • identify as many control measures as possible
  • consult with workers to consider which control measures are the most effective in minimising risks, and
  • consider which control measures are reasonably practicable in the circumstances.

View our tools and resources for controlling risks.

Maintain and review control measures

PCBUs must maintain and review control measures to ensure they are effective, being used correctly and working as planned. Control measures must be reviewed and, if needed, changed when:

  • a new hazard or risk is identified
  • a serious injury or incident occurs
  • before any workplace change that could create new risks
  • control measures are not being used correctly or no longer properly working to control the risk,
  • requested by a Health and Safety Representative, or when
  • consultation with workers shows a review is needed.

PCBUs can draw from information and processes used to identify psychosocial hazards and risks to also help them monitor and review the effectiveness of control measures. For example, re-running surveys or reviewing workplace data.

Reviews ensure:

  • the approach to systematic work health and safety management is effective
  • hazards and risks are being effectively controlled
  • the organisation is meeting its WHS obligations, including for due diligence, and
  • there are opportunities for improvement.

Tools and resources

Consulting your workers

  • Consultation at work – SafeWork NSW. Information, including translated resources, about how to undertake consultation.
  • Consulting your workers about psychosocial hazards and risks – SafeWork NSW. Guidance for small businesses on consulting workers about psychosocial hazards in the workplace. It outlines common challenges and solutions and provides practical advice and tools for consulting with employees on how to improve psychological health and safety at work.
  • People at Work survey – A psychosocial risk-free digital assessment tool that is available digitally to Australian organisations.
  • Conversation guide (PDF, 99.32 KB) – SafeWork NSW. A guide to aid conversation with workers about psychosocial hazards, roles and responsibilities and managing changes at work.

Managing risks

Completing a risk assessment

Implementing control measures

Responding to an incident

Tools for small and regional business

  • Preventing psychological harm: first steps for small business – SafeWork NSW. This fact sheet outlines first steps for small businesses to prevent psychological harm by focusing on fixing work conditions rather than workers.
  • Small business resource kit – NSW Government. This resource kit offers practical tools, tips, and support to help small business owners and their teams manage mental health risks and build a positive, resilient workplace.
  • Regional business resource kit – NSW Government. Resource kit providing tailored strategies and tools to help regional employers promote mental wellbeing and build resilient, connected workplaces.

Guidance for specific industries or sectors

  • Building and construction – SafeWork NSW. This resource highlights key risks and offers practical steps to foster a safer, more supportive workplace.
  • Agriculture – SafeWork NSW. This guide provides tailored advice and resources to help farmers and rural businesses support mental health on the land.
  • Health care and social assistance (HCSA):
    • Industry action report addressing burnout (PDF, 1886.71 KB) – SafeWork NSW. A practical guide to preventing burnout in the NSW HCSA sector.
    • Hospitals – SafeWork NSW. This resource provides practical guidance, case studies, and toolkits to help hospital leaders and staff identify hazards, prevent injuries, and foster safer, healthier workplaces.
    • Working in people’s homes:
      • Home safety checklist (PDF, 135.48 KB) – SafeWork NSW. Designed to be used by participants (their nominees) or clients to make their home safer for workers.
      • Home safety risk assessment (PDF, 205.97 KB) – SafeWork NSW. Designed to be used by workers, sole traders, supervisors, managers, providers, PCBU’s primarily to identify and control common health and safety risks in the home.
      • Working in people’s home webinar – SafeWork NSW. Designed for stakeholders to learn about WHS obligations when providing care and services in someone’s home and explains how to use the home safety risk assessment.
  • Manufacturing resource kit – NSW Government. This resource kit identifies sector-specific risks and offers tools to help employers and workers build a mentally healthy environment.
  • Transport, postal and warehousing resource kit – NSW Government. This kit provides practical strategies and resources to help businesses and workers address these challenges and promote wellbeing.
  • Arts and entertainment resource kit - NSW Government. This resource supports arts and entertainment workplaces to recognise mental health risks and take positive action for staff wellbeing.
  • NSW Government workers:
    • NSW Government resource kit – NSW Government. Resource kit to support agencies in identifying mental health risks and implementing strategies to foster a psychologically safe and productive workforce.
    • Risk Education eXpress (REX) - icare NSW. Resources for NSW Government agencies programs to build capabilities that protect the people, assets and services of NSW.

Research

Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model

The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model is a framework used to understand worker well-being and performance by comparing job demands and job resources.

  • Job demands refer to aspects of a job that require sustained physical or mental effort, such as workload, time pressure, or emotional strain and can cause physical and psychological harm.
  • Job resources are aspects that help achieve work goals, reduce job demands, or stimulate personal growth, such as support from colleagues, support from leaders, autonomy, job control, or opportunities for reward and development.

The model suggests that high job demands can lead to burnout, while ample job resources can boost motivation, worker engagement and performance. Crucially, it highlights how the balance between these demands and resources influences employee health, safety and productivity.

Further information can be found Psychosocial Hazards, Core Body of Knowledge for the Generalist OHS Professional – Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS).

Case studies

SafeWork NSW has committed to launching new initiatives to raise awareness by developing and promoting case studies showing how to use good work design principles to prevent psychological harm.

Managing psychosocial hazards at work code of practice

Designing work to manage psychosocial risks

Translated resources

SafeWork NSW has committed to building capability and supporting businesses in NSW by translating resources to reach and support culturally and linguistically diverse workers – a high-risk worker category for psychological injury.

View our translated resources.

Legislation

  • Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 – NSW Government. The Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulation 2025 includes essential elements of the work health and safety regulatory framework, setting out detailed requirements to support the duties in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act). The WHS Regulation also prescribes procedural and administrative requirements to support the WHS Act.
  • Work Health and Safety Act 2011 – NSW Government. The WHS Act is the primary legislation governing workplace health and safety in NSW. It establishes the legal framework for protecting the health, safety, and welfare of workers and others in the workplace. The WHS Act outlines the general duties of employers, workers, and other parties, and provides the foundation for supporting regulations and codes of practice to ensure safe and healthy work environments.
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