Appendices

Appendices

In this section

Appendix A. Example scenarios for managing psychosocial hazards and risks at work

The control measures you choose must suit the organisational and worker needs and effectively control the risks to the highest level that is reasonably practicable. The sections below outline ten scenarios with common psychosocial hazards and risks, example controls and approaches to maintain, monitor, review and achieve continual improvement of the risk management approach.

Download example scenarios for managing psychosocial hazards and risks at work as a PDF:

Scenario 1. Health Care

Scenario context and work content

An emergency department in a public hospital triages people requiring acute mental health care. Aggressive and violent behaviour is common. Sometimes it’s linked to the patient’s clinical condition or sometimes some behaviours are due to patient frustrations and/or drug and alcohol abuse.

Workplace culture discourages reporting of all but the most serious incidents and accepts patient/visitor aggression as part of the job. Workers regularly witness violent incidents and are part of the response team when incidents occur.

High workloads and/or new policies requiring increased documentation frustrate workers by taking them away from direct patient care.

Many inexperienced workers have not been trained in Violence Prevention and Management (VPM) and rely on hospital security officers to respond.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role overload: not enough workers to manage patient behaviours, particularly when patient acuity is high and there is a poor skills mix with more inexperienced workers on the roster. Increased demands from new systems of work compete with existing workloads.

Exposure to Traumatic Events: workers provide trauma informed care to some patients with extensive histories of trauma. Ongoing exposure to violent incidents has a cumulative effect on workers. Workers responding to incidents are at high risk of injury themselves. Appropriate support may not occur due to role overload.

Occupational violence: workers have regular exposure to both threats and actual violence from patients. Inadequate rostering means there are not enough trained workers available on all shifts to participate in violence prevention if required.

Psychosocial controls

The organisation managed role overload and occupational violence by rostering adequate worker numbers to take into account new systems of work, patient acuity, staff skills mix, and ensure there are adequately trained workers on all shifts to respond effectively to violent incidents. Workers received training in Violence Prevention and Management (VPM) and hazard/incident reporting.

An escalation process was implemented to senior leadership to make quick decisions to respond to early warning signs, and for when there are differing views amongst the clinical team on patient management.

Exposure to traumatic events was managed by regular supervision to allow opportunities to consult (for eg safety debriefing, early referral to support services), as well as a peer support program for workers.

Review and improve

Reported incidents are investigated and feedback on investigations and response to incidents is provided to workers.

Review of all code blacks (assault on workers) is introduced including both clinical and non-clinical workers.

Work is undertaken to improve the incident reporting system and encourage reporting of all incidents and near misses.

A more comprehensive violence risk assessment and profile process is developed, and the design of the waiting area is reviewed to reduce, where possible, the frustration experienced by patients while waiting to be triaged.

Scenario 2. School

Scenario context and work content

A new governmental policy is required to be implemented with little time for consultation.

The school provides for students with complex needs.

The changes mean that teachers will need to add to their current workload. This will increase tasks such as face to face teaching and its preparation and planning, data collection and analysis, ongoing assessment, staff meetings, and communications with parents and community. These requirements make it difficult to continue to manage daily incidents and interactions amongst increasingly complex student cohorts, professional learning and development and compliance activities.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role overload: The change has added to the demand on workers. Workers are concerned that to meet deadlines, tasks such as professional learning, reporting and lesson planning are priorities, and therefore will need to be completed outside standard work hours. Workers are also concerned the changes may require learning new skills at a time when they are experiencing difficulty with the existing role overload.

Poor organisational change consultation, poor support and low job control: Poor change consultation has contributed to the perception that there has been limited consideration of existing workload and poor support to manage the increase in workload from new requirements. Workers have limited say in the decisions about their workload, how the work is done and the changes to their work.

There are no clear guidelines to support re-prioritisation of tasks to meet deadlines within the strict timetables of schools.

Psychosocial controls

Role overload:

The organisation consults with teachers to:

  • Review current tasks and new demands to prioritise.
  • Monitor and review the work hours undertaken by teachers and capacity to incorporate new work load associated with this policy.
  • Employ more permanent teachers to take responsibility for new policy/procedural requirements.
  • Provide system support centrally available for schools to access.
  • Ensure that there are enough resources allocated to manage these risks and undertake effective consultation, coordination and cooperation processes.

To address poor organisational change, poor support and low job control, the organisation will:

  • Consult with workers about the proposed changes.
  • Undertake analysis to inform the re-prioritisation of tasks.
  • Communicate to affected workers how this will change their work and how they might now re-prioritise tasks.
  • Provide support and required professional learning to undertake additional tasks within core working hours.

Review and improve

The organisation will:

  • Review WHS procedures and processes to ensure that psychosocial hazards and risks including role overload and low job control are reported and recorded through the systematic approach to managing psychosocial hazards.
  • Implement cyclical and frequent reviews, both at system and school level, of current task demands of workers.
  • Monitor progress and impact on affected workers and provide responsive support based on consultation.
  • Review timetables to ensure that accommodations are made to reduce remote and isolated work caused by the increase in work demands.

Scenario 3. Government call centre

Scenario context and work content

A government department located in Sydney and a regional city deals with customers’ telephone inquiries, some face-to-face requests for help, and takes complaints.

There are tightly scripted responses, protocols and service standards to deal with the calls or interactions with limited time allocated to spend with each person.

Workers always do the same tasks and their break times are regimented. Customers can become abusive due to long wait times and uncomfortable waiting areas.

A recent restructuring occurred, and workers are unsure about their roles and future workloads. A new IT system with new performance monitoring software is making workers anxious as they have not yet all had training on it.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role overload, emotionally demanding work and role conflict from the constant time pressures and required response times which are not adequate for complex matters and risk of verbal or physical abuse from distressed clients.

Low job control and lack of task variety as work is tightly scripted and roles narrow, generally with poor support and recognition of efforts.

Lack of role clarity and poor change management around new IT systems and the restructure.

Psychosocial controls

The organisation, after consulting supervisors, workgroups and HSRs to reduce role overload and role conflict:

  • is renegotiating service level agreements and response times so they are manageable with existing worker numbers
  • has addressed some of the reasons for the role overload, and customer abuse - improved scripts, provided a concierge who triages and offers customers alternatives if wait times are lengthy, and has installed more comfortable furniture in waiting areas.

The supervisor, to reduce role overload/conflict, emotional demands, low job control, lack of task variety, poor support and change management, is:

  • triaging complex issues – sending these to more experienced workers first or where this is not possible junior workers can flag if they need help
  • providing task rotation so workers can build new skills and get a break from stressful calls/interactions
  • ensuring workers take short breaks, away from their workstation
  • providing emotional support during and following abusive interactions (e.g. ability to escalate the issue to a supervisor, debrief time and to recover away from the general work area if required)
  • developed call monitoring policies in consultation with workers and uses these for coaching
  • ensuring training on the new IT system is provided before it is introduced and relaxes the performance targets until workers are familiar with the new systems.

Review and improve

The organisation:

  • to identify and assess risks and adequacy of controls gets workers to complete the People at Work psychosocial risk assessment survey and monitors and reviews other WHS data
  • ensures the leadership team have all completed training on their WHS duties and good work design and are applying these to future restructures and planned IT upgrades
  • supports workers who want temporary secondments to other parts of the department for two-way learning and a break from the regimented work.

The supervisor:

  • supports workers who want to develop technical or specialist skills, and provides technical and specialist workers with the opportunity to mentor new workers, and
  • became a member of an industry Mental Health Community of Practice to get ideas and support on managing psychosocial hazards and risks from other peers in the industry.

Scenario 4. Construction company

Scenario context and work content

A medium-sized residential construction company is currently managing several projects, some are not on schedule, and there is a backlog of work.

The manager is responsible for organising the contractors, apprentices, ensuring supplies and equipment are delivered to different sites.

An electrical subcontractor is engaged for all the sites, and the building manager is aware that one of the electricians has been verbally aggressive with a first-year apprentice engaged by the construction business. He tells the apprentice that this is how the industry is, that he does not have time to deal with this and that he needs to toughen up and get on with his work.

The apprentice just wants to learn but makes regular mistakes and is afraid to ask for help. He wants verbal aggression to stop.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Poor emotional and practical supervisor and manager support: The manager does not acknowledge the apprentice’s concerns or have the time to manage the training of apprentices.

Occupational violence and poor workplace relationships: Verbal aggression by the electrician, which could escalate to physical aggression if not stopped, is also having a negative impact on the apprentice’s ability to focus on his work. This is also stopping him from asking for help when he needs it.

Low job control: the apprentice has little say in his work.

Role overload demands: the manager and workers experience a high workload with competing deadlines.

Psychosocial controls

The business owner, after consulting the manager and workers to address poor workplace relationships, support and role overload:

  • meets with the electrical subcontractor to develop behaviour standards for all their workers when undertaking work at the same sites and processes for addressing safety concerns, including violence and aggression
  • informs workers that aggressive behaviour can be reported to him directly
  • speaks with the apprentice to check on his wellbeing and provide information about psychological support services
  • reviews the supervision and support of apprentices
  • decides to reduce the demands on the manager by providing assistance with managing contracts and tenders.

The manager, to improve support and job control:

  • starts daily toolbox talks with all workers, including contractors, to provide relevant information and instructions
  • sets time aside each week to understand the first-year apprentice’s learning requirements, assess his progress, develop learning goals, gets the supervisor to give him responsibility for some tasks he should be competent to do, and allocates a third-year apprentice to buddy the first-year apprentice to support him on various tasks.

Review and improve

After consulting with the manager, the business owner:

  • to identify and assess risks and adequacy of controls gets staff to periodically complete the People at Work psychosocial risk assessment survey
  • implements more regular ‘look and listen safety walks’ multiple times each build
  • integrates support and mentoring of apprentices into their systems
  • checks in with the apprentice to verify that the verbally aggressive behaviour has stopped
  • arranges training for supervisors of apprentices, particularly on managing young and inexperienced workers
  • arranges regular reviews of workplace behaviour grievances and training to be included in the organisations WHS systems
  • ensures the WHS systems are capable of capturing reports of high work demands and harmful workplace behaviour
  • creates (with workers) a safety culture charter displayed prominently in project offices, around the site etc.

Scenario 5. Small consulting firm

Scenario context and work content

A busy consultancy firm is based in regional NSW.

The consultants regularly need to work long work hours and sometimes work alone at night to meet the demanding client turnaround timeframes. However, workers report they are exhausted, and do not have time to adequately prepare material and advice for clients. The culture discourages asking for help and encourages being ‘seen to be at the office’.

In the past two years, workers are increasingly becoming visibly distressed, reporting feeling burnout and experiencing ‘stress headaches’. Several workers have made complaints about unreasonable ‘bullying’ pressure from their supervisor to meet the revenue targets. Four have young children and are finding it hard to balance high work demands with their home life demands.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role overload: high caseloads, demanding clients, and long working hours with inadequate opportunities for recovery

High cognitive and emotional demands: complex technical cases where client’s businesses may have financial problems so at times are rude and abusive to the consultants

Low job control: expectations to be ‘present at the office’

Poor practical and emotional support from the senior partner and allegations the behaviour borders on ‘bullying’

Inadequate reward and recognition: a culture that long hours and high workload should just be accepted as the norm.

Psychosocial controls

The business owner, after consulting with the consultants and office administrator to manage role overload, cognitive and emotional demands, low control, poor support and recognition, now:

  • checks with consultants about their workloads before allocating new cases to ensure they have spare capacity and that these discussions are courteous and reasonable
  • triages and file flags complex cases to better manage role overload and ensure there is extra support where required from a senior partner
  • allows consultants more job control to work from home, at times, to better manage their work-life balance
  • asks about tricky or distressing cases and provides support, recognition and feedback
  • creates opportunities for workers to work on more varied cases and provides opportunities for professional development
  • provides routine mentoring
  • after talking with the consultants about the alleged bullying, instructed the supervisor to ensure that performance targets discussions are conducted in a reasonable manner and the supervisor was provided with additional support to cope with their own workload.

Review and improve

As part of the process to improve the controls that can be quickly implemented, the senior partner:

  • regularly consults workers, reviews the case management systems to identify psychosocial hazards and risks, ensures controls are working, and looks for opportunities to improve these
  • completes training on workload and mental health first aid.

Scenario 6. Retail store

Scenario context and work content

A small busy retail store which is open all week has an ageing building and poorly designed fit-out. There are three permanent and several casual workers who are mainly young workers.

Customers often complain and have become aggressive about service delays during peak periods. The manager is sometimes short-tempered, yelling at the workers, especially when it is busy, the stock is being unloaded, and customers are waiting. The storeroom is cluttered and disorganised, which makes the quick collection of prepaid orders difficult.

Casual workers often cancel their shift at the last moment, making managing peak periods quite stressful.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role overload: insufficient skilled workers rostered on during peak periods

Hazardous working environment: the layout makes it difficult to access, load and unload stock

Lack of role clarity; new casual workers are often unclear about how to do the work efficiently and do not have the skills to help out, like operate the cash register during busy times

Bullying and occupational violence: from customers and the manager, causing workers to be distressed as they do not know how to respond.

Psychosocial controls

The business owner after consulting workers on role overload, poor working environment and lack of role clarity, now:

  • ensures more workers are adequately trained so they can assist customers and deal with problems
  • ensures adequate number of experienced workers are rostered during peak periods
  • arranges, where possible, for supplies to be delivered outside peak periods or for extra workers to be rostered during these times
  • reorganised the loading dock, storeroom and shop floor to improve safety and efficiency (including dedicated organised space for prepaid orders) and ensured this is maintained by regular safety walks each day
  • releases the rosters well ahead of time so workers can plan better, and pairs young workers with more experienced workers
  • ensures new workers have a thorough induction, given busy time tips and trained to use the cash register to manage bullying and violence risks
  • provided training to all workers, and
  • put up signs displaying designated queuing areas, and that worker abuse will result in refusal of service, etc
  • updated the policy and procedures to address identified gaps such as having a specific “service call” that could be made over the loud speaker system so all available team members come to that location to help. Also ensure workers are offered a short time out after incidents to recover and are checked on before the end of shift.

Review and improve

The business owner also:

  • now has regular team meetings to identify new hazards and risks and check controls are working and visits the store more regularly to talk with and recognise workers for their efforts
  • also conducts regular visual checks during visits of the storeroom and shop floor so changes are maintained and reviewed
  • did a course with his industry association on psychosocial risk management and supporting workers with mental health issues
  • implemented a customer feedback system to understand any causes for their frustration in the store such as unavailable products, long queues.

Scenario 7. Private health care provider

Scenario context and work content

A large private sector organisation delivers health care and social services to disabled adults and children, some with severe behavioural issues. The activities occur in a range of locations, including clients’ homes, and the workers may work alone.

The service level agreement with the funding agency has set evaluation targets with demanding reporting requirements. The workload and the clients’ challenging behaviour makes it hard to recruit and keep workers. To stay competitive, the organisation needs to diversify its services.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role overload, emotional demands and violence: the high caseload and complexity means performance targets are difficult to achieve in the required time with the existing worker numbers and skills mix. The clients often have distressing circumstances, and client behaviours can worsen if service is rushed.

Working environment, isolated/remote work: workers routinely undertake work alone in clients’ homes, which may be crowded and difficult to work in safely.

New and inexperienced workers often lack role clarity.

Psychosocial controls

The Director, after consulting both the professional and office workers to reduce the role overload, violence and isolated work risks:

  • is working with the funding agency, where possible, to adjust the service level agreements and reporting standards, including where required, ensure two workers attend to clients with a high risk of aggression
  • matches the skills and experience of workers to client needs and, where required, allocates two workers
  • has adjusted the performance targets, so they are achievable with the current workers and skills mix
  • backfills workers when they are on leave.

The team manager to manage role overload, emotional demands, lack of role clarity and risk of violence is now:

  • conducting regular work reviews to ensure caseloads are manageable, providing more emotional support to workers, and extra training
  • ensuring information about the client’s home and previous history is considered when developing new care plans
  • ensuring, before workers first visit the client’s home, they check with other service providers to get information on clients’ needs and circumstances
  • ensuring whenever a risk of disturbed or aggressive behaviour is identified, adequate workers and additional time are allocated to provide care, and where possible, care during the high-risk period is provided in a controlled environment.

Review and improve

The business

  • to identify and assess risks and adequacy of controls gets staff to complete the People at Work psychosocial risk assessment survey and monitors and reviews other safety data
  • introduces flexible work arrangements and a mentally healthy workplace policy and program
  • provides information to all workers about the free counselling service and other employee assistance programs.

Scenario 8. Manufacturing business

Scenario context and work content

A medium sized manufacturing business produces frozen food for sale in supermarkets across Australia. The plant is based in regional NSW and is one of the major employers for the town.

To meet the increasing production demands most workers are required to undertake shift work and there have been recent changes to the production software. The main tasks involve monitoring largely automated plant to ensure the cooking and packing processes are running smoothly. Workers always do the same tasks and their break times are regimented.

A new production system with new quality software is making workers anxious as they have not yet all had training and are worried about making mistakes. A significant number of the workers are migrant workers and do not speak or read English fluently.

There are rumours there are to be changes in the upcoming rosters.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role underload - frequent repetitive and monotonous work but with the need to stay vigilant especially around dangerous areas of the plant.

Low job control and lack of task variety as specific tasks and processes need to be followed to ensure quality standards.

Low job control - inability to take breaks when required.

Lack of role clarity and poor change management consultation around new software and rosters.

Psychosocial controls

The organisation, after consulting supervisors, workgroups and HSRs to discuss the role underload, low job control, lack of task variety and role clarity is:

  • arranging for workers to rotate every few hours to a new task in the plant allowing more opportunities to learn new skills, reduce boredom and fatigue (so to improve their ability to detect errors), and allow more flexibility to take toilet breaks
  • ensuring all workers have had training on the new software
  • introducing a software champion on each shift who speaks the same language as the majority of that shift.

Change management consultation: The supervisor is ensuring all affected workers have reasonable and equal opportunities for input on the options for changes to rosters. These consultations also brought up suggestions from workers on how to improve some of the packing processes to make them more efficient and save money.

Review and improve

The organisation:

  • to identify and assess risks and adequacy of controls gets workers to complete the People at Work psychosocial risk assessment survey and monitors and reviews other organisational data
  • ensures the leadership team have all completed training on their WHS duties and good work design and are applying these to future restructures and planned software upgrades

The supervisor:

  • supports workers who want to develop skills where possible to move to different areas of the plant, and
  • became a member of an industry Mental Health Community of Practice to get ideas and support on managing psychosocial hazards and risks from other peers in the industry.

Scenario 9. Very small trucking company

Scenario context and work content

Bob has been a truck driver for over 10 years and he generally enjoys driving. He and two other drivers contract solely to a large manufacturing company. The scheduling is done by the manufacturer’s dispatch manager. The manufacturing company’s customers are small retail businesses across NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

Over the last two years the manufacturing company has grown and the demand for more frequent and faster deliveries has increased. The number of drivers in Bob’s company has not changed.

Bob worries about the delivery schedule and has skipped rest breaks to deliver goods on time. On occasion he and other drivers have been delayed due to heavy traffic and abused by angry business owners who then complained to the dispatch manager. Bob has tried raising scheduling concerns without success and thinks if he raises them again, he might lose the contract. He would like to have a say in how deliveries are scheduled but these are arranged between the manufacturing company and their customers.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Role overload - delivery deadlines are unachievable and the truck driver is skipping rest breaks to meet those deadlines.

Low job control - not being able to influence the delivery schedules despite being an experienced driver and understanding the regular reasons for delays.

Poor support from managers - raising concerns with management has seen no change in the increasing demands of the work.

Occupational violence - drivers experiencing verbal aggression as customer expectations for supply of goods have not been managed.

Psychosocial controls

The manufacturing company, after consulting with the drivers, to address role overload, low job control, poor support from managers and occupational violence is:

  • managing customer expectations by incorporating revised delivery timeframes into their customer online and phone ordering processes
  • contracting an additional three drivers and distributing interstate deliveries across all drivers to manage risk of fatigue
  • providing drivers with training in de-escalation techniques for dealing with aggressive customers
  • providing fatigue management information to all workers.

The manufacturing company, after consulting customers, to address role overload and occupational violence will be communicating to customers:

  • company policy on delivery timeframes
  • notifying them in writing that verbal aggression is not acceptable and goods may not be delivered if truck drivers are exposed to such behaviours
  • requesting that delivery concerns should be directed to the manufacturing company directly.

The trucking company manager:

  • checks in with drivers before agreeing to delivery schedules to ensure these are realistic and encourages early feedback on delivery issues
  • introduced a system to alert the dispatch manager and retail business if delivery delays are likely.

Review and improve

The manufacturing company:

  • includes a truck driver representative in the relevant WHS committee discussions
  • trains all dispatch managers in consolidating orders so that unnecessary trips are eliminated or minimised.

The trucking company manager completes training on fatigue management and the effects of psychosocial hazards on health and safety.

Scenario 10. Mining workplace

Scenario context and work content

A trainee truck driver with nil previous mining experience has commenced work with a large open cut mine. The trainee has just been signed off to drive solo in the haul truck and works twelve hour shifts on a rotating roster of day and night.

Recently the trainee operator has been asked to drive in the rain by the supervisor to meet production demands. The trainee has indicated they do not feel confident about this, but the supervisor instructs them to start driving no matter the conditions. The trainee operator has asked for additional support from the trainer for driving in wet conditions, but this has been ignored. The trainee is not sure what to do in this situation and is not able to find any guidance in the induction material they were given. They have noticed some conflict in the workplace and do not want to make things worse for themselves.

Psychosocial hazards and risks

Low job control - The trainee has only recently commenced at the mine and does not feel empowered to speak up in fear of losing their employment.

Poor role clarity - the trainee is not aware of the responsibilities and the requirements of their position at this stage of their training.

Poor support - the supervisor appears dismissive of the trainee’s concerns about operating in the wet, and there appears to be little information on additional training and support when driving in wet weather.

Role underload - The task of driving a haul truck is monotonous and repetitive.

Poor workplace relationships - the trainee wants to avoid any additional conflict with their supervisor as there is already conflict in the workplace.

Psychosocial controls

To manage low job control, poor role clarity and poor support, the mining operator reviews the overall performance of its safety management system including training and supervision to ensure:

  • all workers are empowered to seek assistance and help if they need more help to learn and or complete a task.
  • all workers are aware of the escalation processes if they feel that they are not resolving an issue with their supervisor.
  • supervisors of trainees receive additional training on managing young and inexperienced workers, including on support networks available.
  • supervisors and trainees are aware of the requirements of their position during training.
  • a system is available for mentors or ‘buddies’ to provide additional support and clarity to trainees.

Role underload was reviewed in combination with the mine’s WHS management plan to develop a specific learning and training program which sets goals and progression.

Review and improve

The organisation will:

  • review and update the mine safety management system, and health control plan to ensure information on the management of psychosocial hazards is up to date and regularly reviewed.
  • seek and review feedback from trainee operators about what could be done to improve the training process for trainee truck drivers and operating in wet conditions. This review will consider whether role clarity and expectations of trainees has improved.
  • undertake a review of workplace behaviour grievances to identify areas of conflict.

Appendix B. Example of a risk register

View an example of a risk register (PDF, 61.35 KB).