Quick answer: In Queensland, a business covered by the state's WHS laws must manage psychosocial hazards, the work-related factors that can harm psychological health, in the same way it manages physical hazards: identify them, assess the risks, control them so far as is reasonably practicable, and review the controls. Workers and health and safety representatives must be consulted along the way. It's an extension of the normal WHS risk process, not a separate wellbeing program.
A lot of businesses have a solid system for physical hazards and little or nothing for the psychological ones. That gap matters, because WHS law treats both in the same way, and WorkSafe Queensland's Code of Practice sets out what that looks like in practice. The good news is that the process is one most businesses already use.
Related: Queensland WHS Codes of Practice Changes: What Brisbane Businesses Need to Know
What counts as a psychosocial hazard
A psychosocial hazard is something in the way work is designed, managed or experienced that can cause psychological harm. WorkSafe Queensland lists the common ones as high or low job demands, low job control, poor support, low role clarity, poor management of organisational change, low reward and recognition, poor organisational justice, poor workplace relationships including interpersonal conflict, remote or isolated work, poor environmental conditions, traumatic events, violence and aggression, bullying, harassment (including sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment) and fatigue.
What these hazards look like in practice
The hazard names can sound abstract, so it helps to picture them. These are illustrative examples, not descriptions of particular businesses.
A transport business sets delivery schedules that leave drivers no realistic time for breaks. That combines high job demands with fatigue, and the control is changing the schedule, not offering a wellbeing session afterwards. A construction company where supervisors aren't clear about who is responsible for what has a role clarity problem, which can also affect how safely work is run on site. A small business where the same few people regularly work excessive overtime to cover staffing gaps has a workload and fatigue risk, and the useful questions are about how the work is allocated and resourced.
The four steps
The process follows the same pattern as any other WHS risk, which is why it fits into the systems you already have.
- Identify. Look for the hazards in how work is actually done: workloads, rosters, role clarity, how change is handled, how people treat each other. Observe the workplace and look at information you already hold, such as incident and complaint reports and staff turnover. Workers and health and safety representatives must be consulted.
- Assess. For each hazard, work out what risk it creates, for whom, and how serious it is.
- Control. Eliminate the risk where that's reasonably practicable. Where it isn't, minimise it so far as is reasonably practicable, using the hierarchy of controls. That means changing the work, such as the workload, roster or role design, before relying on support offered afterwards.
- Review. Keep the controls working and review them when required. The same situations apply as for any other WHS risk, such as when a control isn't working, before a change that could create a new or different risk, or when consultation or a health and safety representative points to a problem. Our guide to when risk controls must be reviewed covers them in full.
Consultation runs through all four steps, not just the first. Workers will generally know which parts of their work create pressure and may have practical ideas for managing it.
What evidence to keep
There's no need to overcomplicate the paperwork, but being able to show what you did matters if a regulator, auditor or client asks. Sensible records include evidence of worker consultation, the risk assessment itself, an action plan with named people responsible for each action, and a record of reviewing the controls once they're in place. Keeping these together turns good intentions into something you can demonstrate.
Where businesses go wrong
Two patterns come up repeatedly. The first is treating it as a wellbeing initiative, such as an employee assistance program or a mental health day, without looking at the work design that is causing the problem. Support services have a place, but the law is about managing the hazard at its source. The second is a one-off survey that nobody acts on. Like any other risk, a psychosocial risk needs controls, someone responsible for them, and a review date.
We covered the September 2026 update to Queensland's codes of practice, which brought several codes into line with the psychosocial requirements, in an earlier post.
Frequently asked questions
Does this apply to small businesses?
Yes, for businesses covered by Queensland's WHS laws, whatever their size, and the approach should suit the size and nature of the work. Some workplaces, such as mines and Commonwealth workplaces, operate under separate regulatory arrangements, so it's worth checking which laws apply to you. A small business can often do this with a short, well-run conversation with its team and a simple record of what was decided.
Do we need a separate psychosocial policy?
Not necessarily. What matters is that psychosocial hazards are identified, assessed, controlled and reviewed through your normal risk management process, with workers consulted. A policy can support that, but it doesn't replace it.
Is a staff survey enough to identify hazards?
It can help, but it isn't enough on its own. Combine it with observing how work is done, reviewing incident, complaint and turnover information, and talking to workers and their representatives, then act on what you find.
Getting started
Not sure whether your current risk assessments cover psychological hazards properly? Overwatch Safety Solutions offers a Psychosocial Risk Review. We look at how your business manages psychosocial risk today, run the identification and assessment with your workers, and give you a prioritised action plan with the consultation and risk assessment records to back it up, and our WHS consulting team can then help build it into your existing system.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022.