New Psychological Health Regulations
Draft Victorian OHS (Psychological Health) Regulations are expected to come into force shortly. However, the 2004 OHS Act has long included “psychological health” as part of the definition of “health” e.g., S.5, so what’s new?
The psychological health regulations introduce specific requirements for employers to act pro-actively and not assume they have no related risks, or assume they are adequately controlled.
New Psychological Regs to Apply to Nearly Every Business
The new psychological health regulations will apply to all Victorian employers with 50 or more employees and introduce specific actions in order to be compliant. Therefore, these regulations will impact on virtually every Victorian business, and similar legislation is being rolled-out around Australia.
New Concept of Psychological Hazards
These new regulations follow the usual risk management process e.g., identify hazards, assess the level of risk, and implement controls, with periodic reviews, but also introduces new categories of psychological hazards including:
Aggression and violence;
Bullying e.g., repeated unreasonable behaviour;
Exposure to traumatic content or events;
High job demands; and
Sexual harassment, per definition in Vic Equal Opportunity Act 2010, S.92.
Duty to Act Pro-Actively
Businesses will not be able to simply wait and see if any of these psychological hazards are present or result in incidents or allegations, but will need to act pro-actively e.g., conduct a psychological hazards risk assessment and prepare a control plan appropriate for the organisation and circumstances.
Key Action for Employers
1) Conduct a psychological health risk assessment across organisation with appropriate consultation.
2) Prepare a psychological health control plan designed to prevent such hazards where possible or reduce the risks.
3) Review and update company policies and procedures.
4) Provide prescribed report 6-monthly to WorkSafe Vic, detailing any complaints, or “zero” report.
Control Plans
Control plans to eliminate psychological risks or reduce them by altering:
- Management of work e.g., over-bearing supervision or controls
- Plant or equipment.
- Systems of work;
- Work design; or
- Workplace environment; or
- Using information, instruction, or training; or
NB: Training and instruction must not be the predominant control measure
Psychological Health Code of Practice
WorkSafe Victoria intends to publish a Compliance Code to support the psychological health regulations. However, in the absence of the Vic code employers can use the existing national code of practice published by Safe Work Australia (SWA), entitled Managing Psychological Hazards at Work, dated July 2022.
We will update you on developments when the Vic regulations come into effect, and as other states introduce similar legislation.
