Legal: It’s time the rubber hit the road for Queensland’s psychosocial hazards code
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 128 No 8, 2 November 2023, page no. 21
It is now six months since Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice (the code) came into force.
In Queensland, pursuant to section 26A of the WHS Act, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) (in our case, the Department of Education) must comply with an approved code of practice; or provide an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety than the standard required in the code.
According to the code, the department has a duty to do all that is reasonably practicable to either eliminate or control psychosocial hazards. At least in theory, senior executives within the department could face a criminal prosecution under the WHS Act for a failure to comply with the code. They could face large financial penalties and, in the worst cases, even a prison sentence.
This should be a strong incentive to ensure the code’s effective implementation. While we are yet to see many prosecutions, the very active prosecutions unit within the Office of Industrial Relations suggests that such prosecutions are almost certainly on the horizon.
Psychosocial hazards
Psychosocial hazards are hazards that may cause psychological harm. They arise from or in relation to:
- the design or management of work
- the working environment
- plant (i.e. machinery or equipment)
- workplace interactions or behaviours.
These hazards can generate a psychosocial risk, i.e. a risk to a health or safety.
Many facets of work could qualify as a psychosocial hazard, including job demands (sustained high or low levels of physical, mental, or emotional effort), low job control, remote or isolated work, and exposure to traumatic events.
There is also the possibility of psychosocial hazards arising from the management of a person’s employment. This may include poor support, lack of role clarity, poorly managed organisational change, inadequate reward and recognition, and poor organisational justice.
What does the code require?
The code requires no more than the general model framework of managing any other WHS risk. What is significant however, is how the code applies this framework to managing psychosocial hazards.
1. Identify the psychosocial hazard(s). Employers must proactively identify work aspects or situations that could potentially harm workers or others in the course of conducting the business or undertaking. The code not only provides highly detailed examples of common psychosocial hazards, but also suggests how novel hazards could be identified. These include simply observing the workplace (e.g. for isolated workers), the quality of work (as rushed or delayed), or how people interact with each other (noting harmful behaviours).
2. Assess the risks to health and safety. Where a psychosocial hazard exists, this creates a risk. A risk assessment should be conducted to identify the workers or others affected, taking into account the duration, frequency, and severity of their exposure to the hazard (or hazards). In a psychosocial context, the code provides examples, including whether an incident was particularly traumatic (for severity), whether tasks are regularly performed without adequate support (for frequency), or whether high job demands are prolonged over weeks or months (for duration).
3. Controlling the risks. Once psychosocial hazards are identified and the risks are assessed, an employer is in a position to control the risks. If it’s reasonably practicable to do so, the risk must be eliminated. If it’s not, the risk must be minimised as far as reasonably practicable. Workplace policies provide an effective measure for directly managing workers’ behaviour (and the risks that may arise from that), as well as encouraging compliance with an organisation’s systems and practices (which may even be directed towards managing the risks from other psychosocial hazards). A workplace policy, however, will not cure all ills. In relation to high cognitive job demands for example, an organisation could consider providing quiet workspaces for mentally demanding work, implementing appropriate automatic systems to reduce human error, providing additional support, or a combination.
4. Reviewing the control measures. Employers should regularly review the effectiveness of the control measure(s) to ensure they are working as intended.
One practical thing members can do is to use the MrHR WHS incident notification system to record the psychosocial hazards they encounter. Psychological injuries often develop over time, and teachers may not realise the harm until it is too late.
By using MyHR, you are identifying a hazard and potentially creating the catalyst for a control measure that could protect yourself and your colleagues in the future.
The Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022 can be found at https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/104857/managing-the-risk-of-psychosocial-hazards-at-work-code-of-practice.pdf