Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01380:reg:4
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01380
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4
Character Range: 56561–59442

4                    Assess the risks

4.1                         When should a risk assessment be conducted?

Once you have identified psychosocial hazards in your workplace, the next step is to assess the risks they create. This will help you determine what is reasonably practicable in managing the risks.

You should carry out a risk assessment, in consultation with workers and their HSRs if they have them, for any hazards you have identified. However, if you already know what the risks are and how to control them effectively, you can implement the controls without undertaking a risk assessment and then check to confirm these have been effective.

A risk assessment can help you determine how severe risks are, and therefore what is reasonably practicable in managing the risks.

Further information on risk assessments is available in the Code of Practice: How to manage work health and safety risks.

4.2                         How to assess psychosocial risks

To assess the risk of harm, you need to identify the workers affected and consider the duration, frequency and severity of their exposure. Appendix C may assist you to capture this information.

Once you have identified all the hazards you should assess the risks. To do this, consider:

-                           Duration – how long is the worker exposed to the hazards or risks?
-                           Frequency – how often is the worker exposed to the hazards or risks?
-                           Severity – how severe are the hazards and the workers' exposures?

Consider psychosocial hazards collectively rather than in isolation. Workers and others may be exposed to more than one psychosocial hazard at any time and hazards can interact or combine. For example, a worker exposed to aggressive customer behaviour is more likely to be harmed if at that time they do not have other workers present to support them and do not have the control to alter the way they work to de-escalate the situation. Assessing risks collectively may also assist you to identify more effective control measures.

Psychosocial risks increase when exposure to hazards is more severe (e.g. exposure to a traumatic incident), more frequent (e.g. regularly performing tasks without adequate support) or is longer in duration (e.g. high job demands over weeks or months).

The risks also increase when workers are exposed to a combination of the above mechanisms. For example, short term but severe exposure to a psychosocial hazard (e.g. a violent incident) is more likely to harm workers if they are also exposed to chronic (long duration), but less severe hazards (e.g. ongoing low support).

Psychosocial risks can cause both physical and psychological injuries. The severity of psychological injuries varies, but in comparison to physical injuries, on average, they require longer off work and are more costly.