Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace
Published on Posted onDuring National Safe Work Month this October, where we urge all workers to recall, and prioritise safe work habits and preventative measures to decrease work relates injuries, this week the focus turns to psychosocial hazards. These risks epitomise a variety of hazards not commonly known yet are prevalent amongst a multitude of different places of work. That is why it is essential you can not only recognise psychosocial hazards, but have the proficiency to understand risks, and combat these dangers. In 2021-22, a total of 584,029 working weeks were lost in Australia as a pure result from serious claims for mental health. A large number such as this is indicative of the vast need for workers to increase their ability in avoiding and preventing serious risks so that it does not occur to you.
From the outset, psychosocial hazards have two elements. They are anything that can create psychological harm, such as harm to someone’s mental health – however they have capacity to likewise be a source of physical harm.
Identifying Psychosocial Hazards
Psychosocial hazards encompass a range of working aspects in practically all environment, stretching from poor support to the highest forms of harassment. They can be formed from:
- Poor physical environment
- Conflict between workplace relations
- Harassment, including sexual harrasment
- Lack of role clarity
- Traumatic events
- Poor organisational justice
- Inadequate reward or recognition
- Violence and aggression
- Bullying
Common indicators suggestive of psychosocial hazards can sound like workers expressing they feel stressed, overwhelmed, and unsure of completing tasks, burnt out, unable to work or stating they can’t sleep thinking about it.
Psychosocial risks
When determining how to control and combat psychosocial risks, essential factors that must be taken into account include:
- Duration, severity, and frequency of the exposure of workers and other to the hazards.
- How differing psychosocial hazards may interact and combine, where they may have a direct correlation where the presence of once act to intensify the presence of another.
It also becomes of critical significance to consider what can be changed to control the risks of psychosocial hazards in the workplace, of which may include any of the following:
- The design of work, including job demand and tasks
- The systems of work, considering how work is supported, organised and managed
- The layout and design of the workplace conditions, incorporating workers accommodation
- Workplace interactions or behaviours
- Information, training, instruction, and supervision provided to workers.
It has been shown that psychosocial hazards have the power to harm anyone. Consequently, it is more effective that rather attempting to change how workers react to their environment, it is the actual work or environment itself that needs to be changed.
One of the most effective ways to do so is engaging is effective and constant consultation with workers. Successful consultation with workers acts to ameliorate transparency and clarity about working situations, improving ability to make decisions about health and safety matters and reducing injuries or illness. Workers can be given a space, where they have the opportunity to identify tasks or aspects of their work which may give rise to psychosocial hazards. They also have the ability to suggest ideas and potential solutions to those hazards that they may find to be effective.
Psychosocial risks have had a large impact on a number of working sectors, affecting workers in different ways constantly. The importance of Safe Work Month is to highlight these risks which can often fly under the radar for many businesses, as we look to minimise the number of work-related accidents occurring in Victoria.
Zaparas Lawyers have an experienced team that deals with both physical and psychological injuries. We can guide you through the whole claims process to ensure that you receive the best access to compensation that you can.