Taking proactive steps: Psychosocial risk assessment
Understanding employer obligations
Under WHS legislation, employers have an obligation to take proactive steps to create a psychologically safe workplace. That means identifying parts of the job or workplace which might create stress and working with business leaders and the wider team to think about ways to protect them.
The process might sound simple, but we know it can be overwhelming to work out where to begin. We help businesses follow a clear, practical process, here’s how we supported one client to do just that.
3 minute read.
The Challenge
About our client
Our client, a boutique family law practice, wanted to take a proactive approach to psychosocial safety. The legal profession is known for demanding workloads, and family law in particular often involves supporting clients through emotional situations and challenging life transitions.
Our client wanted to support their team and stay compliant with WHS obligations. We worked with them over several months through four key project stages.
Our Solution
Stage 1: Initial review
We kicked off with a desktop review to get an understanding of the business. This step is part of the process for every business, though the documents we review can very.
For this client we looked at:
- Case studies which showed the type of situations employees encountered on a regular basis.
- Organisational structure and position descriptions.
This helped us understand the unique work environment and likely psychosocial hazards. A consultation with the executive team also helped us pinpoint priority areas to discuss with the wider team during training and consultation.
Depending on the businesses, during this stage we might also review exit interviews, team survey data, or records from workplace incidents and disciplinary processes.
Stage 2: Training
We delivered in-person training at the team’s office, creating a relaxed environment that encouraged open discussion. The session focused on psychosocial safety in the context of their roles and workplace. We made sure to communicate this project was a proactive initiative, not a response to any problems or risks.
Stage 3: Team consultation
Using insights from the initial review, we identified key hazards and risks to share with the team during the in-person consultation session.
The team were encouraged to share their thoughts on psychosocial risks identified and share others, even if they were not identified in the initial assessment. The consultation created space for an informal discussion, where the team were able to share their experiences and suggest additional control measures to support wellbeing.
Stage 4: Implementation
We wrapped up the project by delivering the finalised register, along with practical guidance on incident reporting, review processes, and proactive strategies to support psychosocial safety.
Psychosocial risk register
The register brought together everything from the assessment process into one clear, practical document. It included:
- Description of each hazard
- Examples relevant to the team
- Benefits when managed appropriately & risks when not managed appropriately
- Ratings: Severity, likelihood, and priority level (with and without controls)
- Existing controls and risk migration strategies
- Additional recommendations.
Over 25 hazards were recorded in the register, with an overwhelming majority rated as low to medium risk.
The Results
What hazards were found?
One common psychosocial hazard across many workplaces is job demands (the mental and emotional effort required to do the job). While this looks different in every business, it was identified as a priority hazard for our client.
Example risk register details: Job demands
We tailored the risk register to reflect how this hazard was relevant to the team.
What does this look like for the team?
- Dealing with emotionally heightened clients, hearing about emotional situations or events.
- Managing high workloads under short timeframes and deadlines.
- High-pressure work demands.
Benefits when managed appropriately:
Employees have a sense of purpose in the workplace and feel emotionally supported by the business.
Risks when not managed appropriately:
High emotional demands can contribute to anxiety and depression.
Current controls:
- Supportive team environment and proactive guidance from senior leaders
- Four "Me Days" per year – additional leave to support team wellbeing
- Provided Law Care memberships.
Additional Recommendation:
Targeted training focussed on managing workloads and wellbeing.
Tailored recommendations for a proactive approach
While many of the hazards identified throughout the assessment arise from the nature of working in the family law, we identified additional ways to reduce psychosocial risks overall. Here’s a couple of the recommendations we shared.
Internal development: Build resilience and self-leadership into performance frameworks and create progression plans with tailored initiatives.
Client pre-assessments: Match emotionally complex cases with senior lawyers who have the additional experience to manage them, reducing psychosocial risk for less experienced staff.
Want to support your team’s wellbeing and stay compliant?
If you're curious about how a Psychosocial Safety Assessment could work for your business, we can help.
Whether you need support with one part or the whole process, we make it simple and tailored to your team.
Reach out to team to find out more.