Key message: If you have a duty under the Work Health and Safety Act to manage workplace psychosocial risks, from 22 August 2025 you must implement control measures in the order set out in the hierarchy of controls.
Background:
The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 commenced on 22 August 2025, bringing NSW in line with Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, South Australia and the Commonwealth jurisdiction on how to manage psychosocial risk at work.
The regulation applies the hierarchy of control measures, which already applies to physical risks.
What is psychosocial risk?
Psychosocial risk is the risk of physical or psychological harm arising from hazards which create stress. They arise from or relate to:
- The design or management of work – e.g. excessive workload, poor job clarity
- The work environment or plant – e.g. noise, isolation, equipment
- Workplace interactions or behaviours – e.g. bullying, harassment, conflict.
What you need to do:
If it is not reasonably practicable for you as a duty holder to eliminate a risk or risks to psychosocial health and safety, you must minimise risks, so far as is reasonably practicable, by doing one or more of the following—
- substituting, wholly or partly, the hazard giving rise to the risk with something that gives rise to a lesser risk,
- isolating the hazard from a person exposed to it
- implementing engineering controls (i.e. physical barriers or controls).
If a risk still remains, you must minimise the remaining risk, so far as is reasonably practicable, by implementing administrative controls. Administrative controls include:
- organisational policies
- standard operating procedures
- information, training and instruction.
If a risk still remains, you must minimise the remaining risk, so far as is reasonably practicable, by ensuring the provision and use of suitable personal protective equipment (PPE). Examples of PPE include:
- personal distress alarms, mobile phones or other communication devices for staff exposed to the threat of aggression
- hearing protection to reduce stress from noise.
Other examples of controls provided by SafeWork Australia include:
- changing the design of work (e.g. changing role descriptions or tasks)
changing the system of work (e.g. rostering, working hours, task rotation and breaks to