Psychosocial hazards and mental health

  • Working in construction can involve exposure to psychosocial hazards and risks to mental health.

Psychosocial hazards can create stress in the form of psychological or physical harm. If workers are stressed often and over a long time, or the level of stress is high, it can cause harm. Psychological harm may include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep disorders, while physical harm may include musculoskeletal injuries, chronic disease and fatigue related injuries.

Common psychosocial hazards which could cause harm while undertaking construction work, include: 

Safety measures to control psychosocial risks include: 

  • having regular breaks
  • staying in regular contact with workers in remote or isolated locations
  • giving workers the things they need to do their work safely, such as safe equipment and sufficient training 
  • outlining key tasks, responsibilities and expectations clearly
  • regularly consulting with workers to keep them informed and protected
  • avoiding exposing workers to traumatic events, and
  • preventing workplace violence and aggression, bullying and harassment, and controlling harmful behaviours.

As a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), you must eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks in the workplace so far as is reasonably practicable.
See Part 3.2, Division 11 of the model WHS Regulations for more information.

decorative

PCBU duties
decorative

Worker duties

You must eliminate or minimise, so far as is reasonably practicable, the psychosocial risks that arise from psychosocial hazards. This can be done by following the risk management process. For more information, click here.

You must also consult workers, any health and safety representatives about WHS.

You must consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders.

Your PCBU has a duty to keep you and your workplace safe from risks associated with psychosocial hazards.

You also have a duty to take reasonable care of your own psychological safety and physical health and safety and that of others in the workplace including ensuring your acts and omissions don’t adversely affect others health and safety.

Comply with any reasonable instructions, policies and procedure given by your PCBU at the workplace, so far as is reasonably able to.

Risk management

As a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), you must eliminate psychosocial risks if it is reasonably practicable or if it is not reasonably practicable, to minimise psychosocial risks in the workplace so far as is reasonably practicable.

To manage psychosocial risks, PCBUs must:

  • Identify reasonably foreseeable hazards
  • Assess the risks
  • Implement control measures, and
  • Monitor and review control measures to ensure they are effective.

See Part 3.1 and Part 3.2, Division 11 of the model WHS Regulations for more information.

Identify the hazards

Common psychosocial hazards which could cause harm while undertaking construction work, include: 

Assess the risks

Assessing the risk will help you work out what is reasonably practicable to control it. To assess the risk of harm, you need to consider the following:

  • Duration – how long is the worker exposed to the hazards or risks?
  • Frequency – how often is the worker exposed to the hazards or risks?
  • Severity – how severe are the hazards and the workers’ exposures?

Control the risks

You must eliminate WHS risks if it is reasonably practicable to do so. If it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risks, you must minimise risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

In determining what control measures to use, the PCBU must have regard to all relevant matters under Regulation 55D(2). This includes:

  • the duration, frequency and severity of exposure to hazards
  • how psychosocial hazards may interact or combine
  • the design of work and systems of work
  • the design, layout and environmental conditions of the workplace including providing safe means of entry and exit, and facilities for the welfare of workers
  • plant, substances and structures at the workplace
  • workplace interactions or behaviours, and
  • information, training, instruction and supervision provided to workers.  

Safety measures to control psychosocial risks include: 

  • having regular breaks
  • staying in regular contact with workers in remote or isolated locations
  • giving workers the things they need to do their work safely, such as safe equipment and sufficient training to minimise the risk of poor support
  • outlining key tasks, responsibilities and expectations clearly
  • regularly consulting with workers to keep them informed and protected, and
  • preventing workplace violence and aggression, bullying and harassment, and controlling harmful behaviours.

Monitor and review control measures

The last step of the risk management process is to review the effectiveness of the implemented control measures to check they are working as planned. If a control measure is not working well, it must be changed or replaced.

Reviewing control measures should be done regularly and is required:

  • When the control measure is not eliminating or minimising the risks so far as is reasonably practicable
  • Before a change at the workplace that is likely to have new or different WHS risks that the control measure may not effectively control
  • If a new hazard or risk is identified
  • If the results of consultation indicate a review is necessary, or
  • If an HSR requests a review because they reasonably believe one of the above has occurred and it has not been adequately reviewed already.

For more information

Model Codes of Practice

Other resources

External resources

  • Did you know

    The WHS regulator in your state or territory can provide practical advice, resources and tools to help you be safe when working in construction. They can also let you know which WHS laws apply to you.