Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01380:reg:5:p3
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01380
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 5 (pt 3/6)
Character Range: 64980–68128

in the workplace, their behaviour and relationships can introduce psychosocial hazards. However, supportive leadership, positive relationships and professional and respectful interactions can help to minimise a range of psychosocial hazards.

  Poor organisational culture can hamper efforts to improve work health and safety by preventing workers seeking and providing support and discouraging workers from reporting hazards and participation in consultation. Leaders demonstrating poor behaviour are likely to contribute to poor organisational culture.

    -          information, training, instruction and supervision provided to workers

  Information, training, instruction and supervision may be necessary to implement control measures effectively. They may also assist in controlling some psychosocial risks, for example where low role clarity is creating a risk, information and training on the worker's role will assist in controlling the risks.

5.2                         Eliminating risks

Eliminating risks is the most effective control measure and PCBUs must always consider elimination before anything else. For psychosocial risks, elimination means completely removing the psychosocial hazard and associated risks through good work design and systems of work design.

It may not be reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk, for example, if doing so means a product cannot be made or a service cannot be delivered. Where a risk cannot be eliminated, PCBUs must minimise the risk so far as is reasonably practicable.

5.3
Minimising risks

The hierarchy of controls must be followed if it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate psychosocial risk.

The hierarchy of controls (see below) ranks control measures from the highest level of protection and reliability to the lowest and requires duty holders to minimise risks by one or more of the following methods:

    -          Substitution—minimise the risk by substituting (wholly or partly) or replacing a hazard or hazardous work practice with something that gives rise to a lesser risk.
    -          Isolation—minimise the risk by isolating or separating the hazard or hazardous work practice from any person exposed to it.
    -          Engineering controls—minimise the risk by implementing engineering controls as a physical control measure.

If the risk remains, it must be minimised by implementing administrative controls, so far as is reasonably practicable.

Any further remaining risk must then be minimised with suitable personal protective equipment (PPE), so far as is reasonably practicable. This could include personal distress alarms or hearing protection or headphones used to reduce stress caused by high background noise.

Administrative control measures and PPE do not control the hazard at the source. They rely on human behaviour and supervision and, used on their own, tend to be the least effective in minimising risks.

Step 1 – Substitution, isolation and engineering controls
PCBUs must minimise the risk of psychosocial hazards by either substituting or isolating the hazard from the person or implementing engineering controls, so far