Consultation on Psychosocial Hazards & Risks

Weekly WHS Article 15th June 2023

WHS law in NSW requires that a PCBU (business, corporation, organisation) consult with its workers on matters relating to health and safety in the workplace. That includes physical and non-physical hazards. Non-physical risks and hazards come under the classification of psychosocial hazards and risks. (see WHS Regulation, Clauses 55a-55d.)

Business owners and company directors must ensure this happens. WHS duties are non-delegable. This means a duty holder cannot transfer or subcontract their legal liability to another party. Even if the task is delegated, the original party remains responsible for ensuring it is performed correctly. Thus, representatives of the PCBU must consult with other PCBUs that share the same premises, sub-contractors, and landlords. (see WHS Act, Section 46.) They must talk to all staff in their employ who are or may be affected by a WHS matter. (see WHS Act, Section 47.)

Consultation is the key to bringing WHS matters to light and proposing solutions.

Consultation can be achieved in many ways

• Consult with workers directly, i.e. one-on-one discussions between business owners or their management team and workers through toolbox talks, scheduled safety meetings, and psychosocial surveys. Any method whereby representatives of the PCBU can talk to staff directly and hear what they have to say is valid. (see Section 47 of the WHS Act)
  

• Have groups of workers represented by a health and safety representative and consult directly with the HSRs for each workgroup. (See Section 70 of the WHS Act.) This is the recommendation in the WHS Act for formalized consultation arrangements.
  

• Get help from the health and safety committee. Although a health and safety committee addresses broader issues across the workplace and may consist of multi-departmental personnel, (not necessarily all WHS-related) the committee can also be used to facilitate communication to and from workers about WHS matters as long this is agreed between management and the committee. (see Section 77c and Section 47(3) of the WHS Act.)

The SafeWork NSW Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work

This Code covers examples of psychosocial hazards and risks and specific actions that can be taken to manage those hazards and risks, should they be suspected to exist. It gives a broad spectrum of work scenarios and suggestions that can be implemented to resolve psychosocial hazards and risks, from the more obvious such as the risk of physical or mental harm from unstable or violent customers, or bullying in the workplace, to more subtle risks such as the mental effects on staff from poor management and toxic workplace culture.

Should HSRs be trained on psychosocial hazards & risks?

The answer is yes. The SafeWork NSW Code of Practice, Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work, at page 11 states that:

“A HSR should:

• undertake training on psychosocial hazards and risks, their duties and risk management, and

• talk to workers they are representing about any psychosocial hazards and work-related risks and monitor actions taken to address concerns, and

• raise concerns about psychosocial hazards and risks in relevant meetings with the PCBU and provide feedback to the affected workers whilst protecting privacy and confidentiality where required.”

What about directors, managers, and supervisors?

Company directors, business owners, CEOs and others in executive positions have legal duties to keep themselves informed of any changes to WHS law and to ensure that measures are in place for the business to operate successfully. Supervisors and managers deal with staff every day and should be aware of the different kinds of non-physical hazards and risks that may surface in a business. The management team may benefit from specific training in psychosocial hazards and risks and may be able to use the evidence of this training for audits, continuous improvement programs, or general evidence of complying with the requirements of the WHS Act and Regulation.

Note

© the Department of Customer Service, State of New South Wales is the owner of the copyright of the code of practice that is quoted above. This publication is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. For more information, visit www.nsw.gov.au/copyright.

15th June 2023

Copyright © 2023 Courtenell ("the pinnacle of WHS training") All rights reserved.