Employers have always had obligations under Commonwealth and state legislation to provide a workplace that is safe and without risk to health, from both a physical and mental or psychosocial perspective. However, commencing 1 December 2025, Victorian employers now have a positive duty that reinforces the existing obligation under the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025.
Psychological safety is the extent to which workers feel safe and supported without fear of psychological harm. Like all other occupational health and safety hazards, it can result in both physical and psychological impact.
There are a number of key psychosocial hazards, including:
- bullying;
- sexual harassment;
- occupational violence or aggression;
- exposure to traumatic content or events;
- high job demands; and
- poor support
However, psychosocial hazards can also arise from work design, the environment, equipment and interactions. Common hazards include low job control, job demands such as long work hours, frequently working in hazardous conditions, performing demanding work while in uncomfortable protective clothing, not having enough to do, highly repetitive or monotonous tasks, poor organisational change management, poor organisational justice, low role clarity, poor workplace relationships, and remote work.
Consistent with existing legislation, the new regulations require employers to “identify any factor or factors in the work design, systems of work, management of work, carrying out of work or personal or work related interaction that may arise in the work environment and may cause an employee to experience one or more negative psychological responses, that create risk to their health and safety”. Once the hazards are identified, the employer should take steps to control the hazard, eliminate risk so far as reasonably practicable, and review these measures on a regular basis.
Consequences
A breach of the psychosocial safety regulations may be a criminal offence, in the same way as other OHS breaches. Other state and federal laws also cover some psychosocial hazards, such as sexual harassment (the Equal Opportunity Act 2010) and discrimination (the Fair Work Act 2009).
One of the greatest impacts of low psychosocial safety is on employee morale, company culture and the costs of retention and turnover.
What next?
You should ensure your workplace is well-positioned to uphold its positive duty by:
- Revisiting your OHS policy and your hazard assessments, and ensuring you are considering the psychosocial hazard elements of your work and environment.
- Assessing your control measures and improving them as required.
- Considering any particular risks posed by upcoming activities, particular roles or situations, and considering whether your team and your managers are skilled to assess and manage the risks inherent in those situations (and address them where appropriate).
- Keeping records of your activities.
- Diarising a review process so you can revisit your hazard assessments and control measures, how effective they are and what refinements are required.
Contact us
If you are a business seeking legal advice regarding your psychosocial safety obligations or are looking to obtain training for your HR and management teams to inform them of their obligations, please contact a member of our Workplace Relations group.
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