National Safe Work Month – mental health

October is National Safe Work Month, so we’re asking you to take five and think about safety in your business. This week, partner Belinda Winter looks at managing psychosocial hazards and risks in your workplace.

Video transcript

Hi, I’m Belinda Winter. I’m a partner at Cooper Grace Ward in the Workplace Relations and Safety Team. October is National Safe Work Month. So, each week we are going to ask you to take five and think about safety in your business. This week we are going to ask you to consider psychosocial workplace hazards and risks. Psychosocial hazards are like any other risk in a business in that a PCBU must ensure so far as reasonably practicable the health and safety of its employees. This means psychological health and physical health. Psychosocial hazards are anything that could put somebody’s psychological health at risk, that can include hazards such as the way in which work is designed, the equipment in which people use in performing work or workplace behaviours of others, such as bullying, sexual harassment, or other behaviours that could be damaging to one’s psychological health. Safe Work Australia has developed a model code of practice to assist employers understand the risk of psychosocial hazards and how to manage that risk. We also offer employers a range of workshops that can help them manage psychosocial risks, such as half day training in managing occupational health and safety risks, focusing on an office environment, mental health first aid courses that I run, that assist employers manage psychological health in the workplace as a first responder and also a half day workshop in managing ill and injured employees, which has a large proportion of that course talking about mental health and how we manage that in the workplace. If you would like more information about any of the courses or about managing psychosocial hazards in your workplace, please give one of the members of the Workplace Relations and Safety Team a call.