The People at Work Survey Is Being Decommissioned

The People at Work (PaW) survey is being decommissioned. If you've been using it to manage your psychosocial hazard obligations, you need a plan.

We'll cover the survey tools that replace PaW. Whilst consultation with your workforce in relation to psychosocial hazards is a legal requirement, there is no stipulation in relation what specific survey must be used.

Immediate first steps

If you still have access, we would recommend downloading all available data, summary reports and documents. Once the platform closes, the data will no longer be available. Once the platform closes, that data is gone and can't be reconstructed.

This data will form part of your psychosocial risk evidence base and will be needed for trend analysis, due diligence and/or regulator enquiries. Therefore, it is very important to retain this information.

What PaW offered

Paw was a free validated survey tool. However, it no longer adequately covers all hazards in the Model Code of Practice. Users also reported limited ability to translate outputs into targeted action. 

It identified psychosocial hazards that were present and how significant they were. However, newer tools now exist that are more accurate and concise.

The survey tools most commonly recommended as replacements

COPSOQ III – The closest like-for-like replacement. Internationally validated, covers all major psychosocial hazard domains, includes benchmarking capability. Start here.

HSE Management Standards Indicator Tool – Free, practical, action-oriented. This is slightly narrower than COPSOQ III, although it is easier to implement.

Guarding Minds at Work – Recommended if you are earlier in your psychosocial risk management journey and would like implementation guidance alongside the survey.

All three surveys are free or low-cost and will give you defensible hazard identification data.

The problem none of them solve

Every survey tool has the same limitation: it identifies hazards and stops there.

The Code of Practice requires four steps: identify, assess, implement controls and monitor and review. A survey assists with step one. 

You will also need live risk registers, WHS/OHS management systems, support systems, to redesign work, to redesign systems, to redesign plant, to have ongoing monitoring in place, to have governance in place, policies and procedures and spreadsheets to track improvement.

How Foremind can assist

Most organisations have been piecing things together - risk registers buried in spreadsheets, a standalone EAP that nobody uses, and no real way to know if any of it made a difference. That's exactly the gap Foremind closes.

Foremind brings workplace wellbeing and compliance into one place. All psychosocial hazard domains are covered continuously — through anonymous incident reporting and regular wellbeing check-ins - rather than a once-a-year survey that's out of date before the ink dries.

When a stressor surfaces, employees get same-day access to an Australian-based counsellor directly through the platform. No waitlists, no red tape. Managers get real-time visibility into which teams are under pressure, controls get documented, and the platform tracks whether things actually improve after you act.

When regulators come knocking, you have audit-ready evidence of the complete psychosocial risk management process - not just a survey report from over a year ago and a risk register nobody's opened since.

Your immediate checklist

1. Export your PaW data as soon as you can – before access closes
2. Document what hazards you'd already identified – It is important to retain all data and information 
3. Assess your current compliance honestly – are you covering all four steps?
4. Feel free to book a call with one of our friendly Foremind team
5. If you want to see how Foremind handles the complete workflow - Book a call

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