Is psychosocial risk hiding in your operations?
Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work that can harm people’s mental, social and physical health. These include excessive workload, poor rosters, isolation, workplace conflict, or limited support from leaders. In high-risk and remote environments, many of these hazards are inherent to the way work is done – long swings, demanding and noisy living and working conditions, cultures where bullying can take hold, and extended time away from family.
In operationally risky environments we have made extraordinary gains in physical safety, yet psychosocial safety is still catching up. We now have in-car alarms that are triggered automatically to alert the driver if a moving vehicle exceeds 10km in a designated low-speed zone. What would it take to achieve the same level of sophistication and consistency in managing psychosocial risk?
Regulators now expect organisations to proactively identify psychosocial hazards and demonstrate how they are being controlled. A practical psychosocial risk management system doesn’t have to be complex, but it does need to be deliberate, embedded and visible across your organisational process.
What does good psychosocial risk management look like?
Effective psychosocial risk management is a continuous process of identifying hazards and assessing and controlling risks. At the organisational level, this means fostering a culture that prioritises psychosocial safety and building leadership capability to support it. At the job level, it includes monitoring and managing workloads, and using job design to promote well being and performance and to address risks. We also need awareness of personal factors such as non-work stressors or vulnerabilities that may heighten someone’s risk of harm.
Are you looking for support to strengthen your approach?
If your organisation is aiming to improve how it manages psycho social risk and supports mentally healthy, high-performing teams, I can help you review your current position and work with you to design a practical roadmap for implementing your strategy.
