How to Generate a Psychosocial Risk Analysis

Psychosocial hazards — the things at work that affect people's mental health and wellbeing — are getting serious attention from WHS regulators across Australia. If you're a business owner or manager who hasn't yet done a formal psychosocial risk analysis, now is a good time to start. The good news: it doesn't have to be complicated. Here's how to approach it practically.

What Is a Psychosocial Risk Analysis?

A psychosocial risk analysis is a structured process for identifying hazards in your workplace that could harm workers' psychological health — and then assessing how serious those risks are so you can do something about them.

These hazards aren't always obvious. Unlike a wet floor or an unguarded machine, psychosocial hazards tend to be baked into the way work is designed and managed. Common examples include:

• High or unpredictable workloads
• Low job control (workers have little say in how they do their work)
• Poor support from supervisors or colleagues
• Workplace conflict, bullying, or harassment
• Exposure to traumatic events or content
• Role ambiguity (people not knowing what's expected of them)
• Low recognition or reward

A risk analysis helps you see these hazards clearly, assess their potential impact, and prioritise what to fix first.

Why Bother? The Regulatory Reality

Across most Australian jurisdictions, employers have a general duty to manage risks to psychological health, not just physical health. Regulators have been increasingly active in this space, and some states have introduced specific requirements around psychosocial hazards. Failing to take reasonable steps to identify and manage these risks can expose your business to improvement notices, fines, or worse.

Beyond compliance, there's a strong business case. Workplaces with poorly managed psychosocial risks typically see higher absenteeism, more workers' compensation claims, and higher staff turnover. Getting on top of this saves money.

Step 1 — Identify Your Psychosocial Hazards

Start by gathering information. You're looking for evidence of hazards, not just gut feelings. Good sources include:

• Worker surveys or anonymous questionnaires — ask people directly about workload, support, and relationships at work
• Incident and near-miss records — look for patterns involving conflict, aggression, or stress-related absences
• Exit interview data — why are people actually leaving?
• Sickness absence records — spikes can signal a problem area
• Consultation with workers and their representatives — a conversation often uncovers what data misses

Try to involve workers in this step. They know where the pressure points are, and involving them also builds trust in the process.

Step 2 — Assess the Risks

Once you've identified the hazards, you need to assess each one. A standard risk matrix works well here — consider both the likelihood of harm occurring and the severity of that harm.

Ask yourself for each hazard:

• How many workers are exposed to this?
• How frequently and for how long?
• Could it lead to serious psychological injury (e.g. anxiety, depression, PTSD)?
• Are there any particularly vulnerable workers (e.g. new starters, those with known mental health conditions)?

Rate each hazard so you can prioritise. High-severity, high-likelihood risks need immediate attention. Lower-rated risks still need to be managed — just on a reasonable timeline.

Step 3 — Document Everything

A risk analysis only has real value if it's documented. You need a written record that shows you've identified the hazards, assessed the risks, and assigned responsibility for follow-up actions. This documentation is also what you'd show a regulator if your safety systems were ever scrutinised.

If you're not sure where to start with the paperwork, Solum Safety Consulting has a psychosocial risk assessment template that structures this process for you — and Solly, our AI WHS Agent, can guide you through completing it step by step based on your specific workplace and industry.

Step 4 — Control the Risks

Identifying risks without doing anything about them is worse than useless — it creates a paper trail showing you knew about a problem and ignored it. Controls for psychosocial hazards generally fall into a few categories:

• Redesign work — adjust workloads, clarify roles, build in more autonomy or flexibility
• Improve systems and processes — set clear escalation paths for conflict, create fair performance management processes
• Build capability — train managers in early intervention, mental health first aid, and having difficult conversations
• Provide support — Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), peer support networks, access to psychological services

Like physical hazards, you should aim to eliminate or reduce the hazard at the source where possible, rather than just relying on individual workers to cope.

Step 5 — Review and Repeat

A psychosocial risk analysis isn't a one-and-done exercise. Workplaces change — teams restructure, workloads shift, new people join. Build in a regular review cycle (at minimum annually, or whenever there's a significant change to work arrangements) and revisit your analysis whenever a psychosocial incident occurs.

Managing psychosocial risk is one of the more complex parts of running a safe workplace, but the process itself is straightforward once you break it into steps. Identify the hazards, assess and document the risks, put controls in place, and keep reviewing. Your workers' mental health — and your business — will be better for it.