Psychosocial risks are inherently complex and multifaceted. That’s because each employee’s experience of work is unique, shaped by both their personal circumstances and their workplace environment.
But how can an organisation assess whether they’ve effectively mitigated and eliminated psychosocial risks in their workplace? It all comes down to understanding how to measure the effectiveness of controls and pinpointing what success looks like.
In our third instalment of our three-part webinar series on how to measure the effectiveness of psychosocial risk management strategies, we spoke with Mark Oostergo (Chief Executive & Workplace Psychologist at Australian Psychological Services) and Katherine Morris (Health and Safety Specialist and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright). They discussed:
Watch the full recording here, or catch up on the highlights below.
Psychosocial risk management isn’t just about identifying hazards and implementing strategies to mitigate these risks. In fact, monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of your controls is arguably the most crucial part of the risk mitigation process.
“There’s emerging research that shows that the presence of psychosocial risks can have an effect on other aspects of work. At an individual level, that might be increasing the likelihood of psychological injury, or it can be counterproductive work behaviours, like a rise in an employee’s intent to leave.”
Mark Oostergo
Chief Executive and Workplace Psychologist at Australian Psychological Services
There are many reasons why organisations need to be measuring the effectiveness of psychosocial risk management strategies, including:
“The legal risk in this area is high. It’s essential that organisations are actively considering the effectiveness of controls and are taking action if initiatives aren’t working. The main thing I would encourage people to do is take action, even imperfect action. The regulator will be much more impressed with that than an organisation that has done nothing on a particular issue.”
Katherine Morris
Health and Safety Specialist and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright
According to Safe Work Australia’s framework, the final step in managing psychosocial hazards is regularly reviewing control measures. This involves giving employees channels to provide feedback on wellbeing initiatives and ways to report incidents.
The ultimate aim of reviewing controls is to assess whether an organisation is effectively mitigating and responding to psychosocial hazards in the workplace. Below, our experts share four practical ways businesses can proactively assess the impact of risk controls and interventions.
To measure the impact of risk controls, organisations need to understand what risks are relevant to their workplace.
That’s why it’s crucial to develop a baseline of understanding when it comes to a company’s risks and the key behaviours they’re trying to address. From there, organisations can come up with a tailored strategy to measure effectiveness.
“Psychosocial risk is dynamic. For a physical hazard (such as a fall from height risk), you can put simple measures in place to control that risk, such as barriers, because the risk is relatively static. But for psychosocial risk, there are so many contributing factors that change over time, which is why it’s important to use trend analysis to assess effectiveness over time.”
Mark Oostergo
Chief Executive and Workplace Psychologist at Australian Psychological Services
Importantly, a company’s risk profile might change depending on the workers’ department or job title. For example, frontline workers may be exposed to different risks that may heighten their risk profile, which is why it’s important to not just adopt an organisational view but hone in on each role type.
“From a legal perspective, the key indicator of success is that there is a connection between the control measures put in place and the identified psychosocial risk, and then that there’s a tangible reduction in that risk.”
Katherine Morris
Health and Safety Specialist and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright
Next, companies need to understand what organisational metrics will be used to measure the effectiveness of risk controls.
“Organisations are obligated to respond to the organisational metrics and data that they receive. There needs to be a dynamic engagement with the data and a systematic approach to how the data is received, interpreted and utilised.”
Katherine Morris
Health and Safety Specialist and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright
Crucially, these metrics will vary depending on the identified risks an organisation is looking to address, from concern reporting stats to workers compensation claims and even return to work metrics.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to monitoring organisational metrics. The real challenge I see across many organisations is they’ll have several different systems which makes it difficult to gather that data and put it into practical applications. If an organisation is using an external service, like Sonder, it allows them to map utilisation against the company’s specific psychosocial risk profile to make use of this data.”
Mark Oostergo
Chief Executive and Workplace Psychologist at Australian Psychological Services
A key way to assess the effectiveness of controls is to speak directly with the people involved: employees.
By running regular surveys, focus groups and feedback pathways, companies can gain an understanding of how employees feel about the initiative and strategies that have been implemented, and whether it’s positively impacting their experience of work.
“When collecting employee feedback, it’s important to move away from generic lines of questioning, like ‘did you like X?’ and focus on targeted consultation to understand effectiveness and how certain initiatives have impacted employee’s experience of work.”
Mark Oostergo
Chief Executive and Workplace Psychologist at Australian Psychological Services
Reviewing effectiveness isn’t something that should only happen periodically. In fact, there may be situations when more reactive reviews are needed, such as when an incident has occurred, a new hazard has been identified or organisational change is likely to impact how people work.
But no matter when these reviews occur, it’s essential that companies take targeted action to address the findings of assessments, Rather than avoiding the issue or falling into a ‘sunk cost’ fallacy (a.k.a. Being hesitant to move away from an initiative due to a large investment of time or money), it’s important for organisations to stay curious, ask the right questions and take practical steps to refine and improve their risk mitigation strategies.
“In the eyes of the regulator, there must be a response if an implementation strategy isn’t proving effective. If the data is showing it’s not effective, then continuing to pursue it wouldn’t be defensible from a legal perspective.”
Katherine Morris
Health and Safety Specialist and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright
Guide
Promoting a supportive work environment is crucial to managing psychosocial hazards, mitigating psychosocial risks, and improving employee wellbeing. This can range from cultivating a culture of respect and inclusion, to implementing regular team-building activities, and upskilling leaders to recognise the early signs of burnout.
By addressing psychosocial hazards with urgency, employers can mitigate risks and create a more engaged and productive workforce. Ultimately, investing in the mental and emotional wellbeing of employees is an investment in the larger company, ensuring staff are motivated and able to bring their best selves to work.
With Sonder, personalised support is provided 24/7, so employees can access advice whenever needed. With a comprehensive app that offers a holistic suite of tools, employers can manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace and empower employees to make their health, wellbeing, and safety a priority.
*Source: September 2023, McGregor Tan survey of employees in Australia and New Zealand who were working a minimum of 30 hours per week.
Sonder is a technology company that helps organisations improve the wellbeing of their people so they perform at their best. Our mobile app provides immediate, 24/7 support from a team of safety, medical, and mental health professionals – plus onsite help for time-sensitive scenarios. Accredited by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), our platform gives leaders the insights they need to act on tomorrow’s wellbeing challenges today.
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