Psychosocial risk

Launching in Queensland, in April 2023 is a new code of practice: Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work, which aims to specifically address psychosocial hazards or risks to psychological health.

Code of practice (PDF)

What is a Psychosocial hazard?

Psychosocial safety focusses on identifying, and removing or minimizing, factors in the workplace (psychosocial hazards) that have the potential to cause psychological harm.

The new code of practice defines a Psychosocial hazard as: ‘a hazard that arises from, or relates to, the design or management of work, a work environment, plant at a workplace, or workplace interactions and behaviours and may cause psychological harm, whether or not the hazard may also cause physical harm’.

As shown in Figure 1, psychosocial hazards can potentially impact a person’s physical and psychological health through frequent, prolonged and/or severe stress response, where stress is defined as a person’s psychological response (e.g. anxiety, tension) and physiological response (e.g. release of stress hormones, cardiovascular response) to work demands or threats.

Workers are likely to be exposed to a combination of psychosocial hazards; some hazards may always be present, while others only occasionally. While the Code alludes to fourteen common psychosocial hazards that arise from, or are related to, work there are others that may be present.

The fourteen included within the code are:

• high and/or low job demands
• low job control
• poor support
• low role clarity
• poor organisational change management
• low reward and recognition
• poor organisational justice
• poor workplace relationships including interpersonal conflict
• remote or isolated work
• poor environmental conditions
• traumatic events
• violence and aggression
• bullying
• harassment including sexual harassment.

For more information on each of the psychosocial hazards please see the below individual tips sheets: