Identifying Psychosocial Hazards In The Workplace
Identifying psychosocial hazards is key to a safe workplace. Find out how to spot risks effectively.
Psychosocial hazards are aspects of how work is designed, managed, and experienced that can cause stress and psychological harm — such as workload pressure, poor support, or conflict at work.
Under WHS laws, businesses must identify, assess, control, and review these risks. This guide focuses on the first step: identifying psychosocial hazards early so issues can be addressed before they impact health, safety, and culture.
Effective identification means talking to workers, reviewing data, and observing work across the individual, team, and organisational levels.
Why Identifying Psychosocial Hazards At Work Matters
Legal duty
Under the WHS Code of Practice, employers must identify, assess, control, and review psychosocial hazards. Proactively spotting risks is a core compliance requirement — not a “nice to have.”
Human impact
Unchecked stress and poor work conditions can lead to burnout, anxiety, reduced morale, and psychological injury, affecting workers and their families.
Business impact
Early identification reduces absenteeism, turnover, workers’ compensation claims, and productivity loss — protecting both your people and your organisation.
How to Identify Psychosocial Hazards
Identifying psychosocial hazards requires looking at how work is actually experienced — not just what policies say. A simple, compliant approach includes:
Consult your workers
Speak directly with employees to understand how work feels day-to-day. Use surveys, focus groups, toolbox talks, and informal conversations to surface concerns early.
Observe work in practice
Spend time on the floor or in the field to see how work is carried out. Look for pressure points, communication issues, bottlenecks, and signs of stress or conflict.
Review workplace data
Analyse absenteeism, turnover, incident reports, complaints, and EAP usage to spot trends. Data helps reveal hidden patterns that indicate emerging psychosocial risks.
Use validated assessment tools
Apply structured tools like COPSOQ or PAW to measure risk factors and benchmark your environment. Completing a psychosocial risk assessment gives a clear, evidence-based view of priority areas.
Overcoming Barriers To Identifying Hazards
A major barrier to identifying psychosocial hazards is whether workers feel safe to speak up. If people worry about blame, consequences, or nothing changing, issues stay hidden — even when stress, conflict, or poor workload balance is obvious.
Building trust is key. Be clear about how feedback is used, act on concerns, and show visible follow-through so staff see improvements. When workers know their voice leads to action, they’re far more likely to raise issues early.
Evidence Based Tools
- COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire)
- PAW (People at Work)
- Psychological safety pulse checks (short surveys)
- Simple internal risk assessment checklists (ideal for SMBs)
These tools help structure feedback and highlight trends — but for smaller workplaces, simplicity wins. Use them to guide conversations, not replace them.
Talk To Us About How To Manage Invisible Hazards At Work
Identification of psychosocial hazards in the workplace are a first step for a business to meet their compliance requirements. This process involves collaboration between different teams, data-driven decision-making, the use of evidence-based tools, and most importantly, worker participation.
By openly addressing these issues and taking proactive measures, businesses can develop a safety culture that encourages the early identification and reporting of hazards, allowing businesses to then take preventative action to protect the psychological health and safety of their staff.
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All counsellors must apply to the role and are interviewed before added to the platform, must meet the criteria as per the below.- We employee counsellors, mental health social workers, mental health nurses and psychotherapists.- Qualifications in Counselling, Psychotherapy or Social Work, minimum Bachelor or Masters qualification- Minimum 3 years direct practice experience post graduation- Registration with appropriate body – PACFA Clinical registration, ACA level 2 minimum, Accredited Mental health Social worker or Clinical Social worker- Broad experience providing individual coaching, counselling and support for personal and work-related issues- How far reaching is your EAP? We have counsellors located in every major city in Australia.
What is the difference between counsellors and psychologists? 1. Qualifications & Training - Counsellor: Typically holds a Diploma or Master’s degree in counselling, or psychotherapy. Their training is focused on practical techniques for supporting mental health and well-being.- Psychologist: Requires a Master’s or Doctorate degree in psychology and must be registered with a AHPRA Their training includes clinical assessments, diagnosis, and therapy.2. Scope of Practice- Counsellor: Provides talk therapy and guidance for life challenges like stress, anxiety, work issues, and relationships. They help clients develop coping strategies but do not diagnose mental disorders.- Psychologist: Can provide therapy like a counsellor but also conducts clinical assessments, diagnoses mental health disorders, and uses evidence-based treatments like CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).3. Who Should You See?- If someone needs support for personal or work-related challenges, a counsellor is often enough.- If someone is experiencing mental health concerns, like depression, PTSD, or needs a formal diagnosis, a psychologist is more appropriate.
- Counsellors only offer f2f after the initial consult.- At Foremind, all face-to-face sessions must begin with an initial online session.- The initial online session gives your counsellor the opportunity to explain exactly how their face-to-face sessions work, what options are available, and to ensure everything is properly scheduled. This helps avoid confusion and makes sure you get the best experience possible.- For sales team info; @Dylan This is because our system currently doesn't allow therapists to list separate locations and availability for face-to-face sessions, and many of our counsellors offer in-person appointments only at specific times or locations.- For example, Skai near Byron Bay provides face-to-face sessions, but only on Thursdays and with enough advance notice to arrange space and travel.- F2F sessions also need a bigger time-buffer between so they cannot be booked back-to-back.- Availability for space -- First session is counted + information to book in counselling to allow make- F2f take 3 sessions to break through pleasing tendencies - therapeutic alliance - online