Managing psychosocial risk, step three: How to control psychosocial risks

Psychosocial risk management

Try our risk management tools and templates

Fast-track your psychosocial risk management process with our free-to-use resources.

Control effectiveness estimator

If you want to estimate the effectiveness of your controls, try out our interactive tool. It’s designed to help you with this all-important step of the psychosocial risk management process.

Risk control examples

These hypothetical examples show which kind of risk controls might be put in place to manage five common psychosocial hazards.

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Our downloadable risk matrix and list of tools and resources will help you navigate the risk assessment process. Sonder’s VP of Member Support shares his tips on getting the most out of them.

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Implementing proactive risk controls

With recent changes in legislation, it is no longer acceptable to be simply reacting to workplace incidents and identified hazards.

Wherever possible, you should eliminate the risk. If this is not possible, focus on implementing proactive control measures that’ll help you get ahead of psychosocial risks.

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Tailoring risk controls to your industry

While you’ll find some handy examples below, tailoring your risk control strategies to your specific industry, and needs of employees, will give you the best chance to improve control effectiveness – and demonstrate the businesses commitment to employee wellbeing.

Try out our free tool below to help you estimate how effective your control measures might be.

Image description: Katherine Morris, Health and Safety Specialist and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright.
Katherine Morris
Health and Safety Specialist and Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright

The four steps to managing psychosocial risk

Sonder’s free-to-download tools and templates will help you identify, assess, and effectively control psychosocial risks. Use them to support your four-step process, and take proactive steps to support your employees’ psychological wellbeing.

Step one: Identify hazards

Understanding the risks that exist within your organisation is the first step towards managing them and creating a safer environment for your workers. This step often involves reviewing existing data and seeking new information, by talking and listening to your employees.

Step two: Assess risks

Once you have identified psychosocial hazards in your workplace, our risk matrix template will help you assess the risks they create. This will help you determine what is reasonably practicable in managing the risks.

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Step three: Control risks

Once you know which psychosocial hazards are present and you have assessed the risks they create, you are in a position to control them. Try our control suggestion tool and examples to get you started.

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Step four: Review control measures

If a control measure is not working effectively, it must be reviewed and modified or replaced. Our effectiveness matrix and question template will help you determine what’s working – and what should be modified.