Who's Responsible for Managing Psychosocial Hazards?
Understand the legal requirements for managing psychosocial hazards and what each person or party must do.
Written by Christian Ratten, Workplace Psychologist
Under Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, multiple parties have duties to manage psychosocial hazards.
Key principle: Everyone has a role in managing psychosocial hazards in workplace.
Primary Duty – Businesses (PCBUs)
The primary duty holder under WHS law.
What is a PCBU?
A Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) has the primary duty under WHS law. In simple terms, a PCBU is usually:
The Primary Duty
To ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of:
This includes psychological health and safety.
What this means for psychosocial hazards
As a PCBU, you must:
Identify psychosocial hazards in your workplace
Assess the risks those hazards create
Eliminate the risks where reasonably practicable, or minimise them if elimination isn't possible
Review your control measures regularly to ensure they remain effective
This duty applies regardless of:
Directors and Senior Leaders Duty of Due Diligence
Officers of a PCBU
If you're an officer of a PCBU (such as a director, CEO, or other senior executive), you have a separate duty under section 27 of the WHS Act.
Your duty is to exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with its duties.
What "due diligence" means in practice
You must take reasonable steps to:
Acquire and keep up-to-date knowledge of work health and safety matters
This includes understanding psychosocial hazards and how to manage them
Gain an understanding of the nature of your operations and the hazards and risks associated with them
What psychosocial hazards exist in your workplace? How severe are they?
Ensure the PCBU has appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks
Are systems in place to identify and control psychosocial hazards? Do you have enough staff, budget, and expertise to manage these risks?
Ensure the PCBU has appropriate processes for receiving and considering information about incidents, hazards, and risks
How do workers report psychosocial hazards or complaints? Are you getting that information, and are you acting on it?
Ensure the PCBU implements processes for complying with duties
Are policies being followed? Are risk controls actually in place and working?
Verify the provision and use of resources and processes mentioned above
Don't just assume things are working—check
What this means practically
Officers can't delegate this duty. You can't say "HR handles that" or "the safety manager is responsible."
You need to:
- Understand what psychosocial hazards are
- Know what's happening in your workplace
- Ensure appropriate systems and resources are in place
- Actively verify that risks are being managed
Consequences of failing
Officers who fail to exercise due diligence can be personally liable—including fines and, in serious cases, imprisonment.
Workers' Duties
Everyone at work has responsibilities.
Workers also have duties under WHS law (section 28). As a worker, you must:
Take reasonable care for your own health and safety
Take reasonable care that your actions (or omissions) don't adversely affect the health and safety of others
Comply with any reasonable instruction given by the PCBU to allow them to comply with WHS law
Cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure relating to health and safety
What this means for psychosocial hazards
Workers must:
Follow workplace policies (such as respectful behaviour policies)
Report psychosocial hazards when they identify them
Participate in consultation processes
Not engage in behaviours that create psychosocial risks for others (such as bullying or harassment)
Use any control measures that have been put in place
Important: Workers are not responsible for designing or implementing control measures—that's the PCBU's duty. But workers must cooperate with reasonable controls and not create risks for others.
Other Duty Holders
Additional responsibilities under WHS law.
Other parties may also have duties under WHS law:
Designers, manufacturers, importers, suppliers
If you design, manufacture, import, or supply plant, substances, or structures used at work, you have duties to ensure they're safe—including considering psychosocial risks.
Example: Software that's poorly designed and causes frustration or excessive workload could contribute to psychosocial risk.
Principal contractors
On construction projects, the principal contractor has specific duties to manage health and safety risks for the entire site—including psychosocial hazards.
Labour hire providers
If you provide labour hire workers, you share duties with the host employer to ensure those workers' health and safety.
Other persons at the workplace
Anyone at a workplace must take reasonable care that their acts or omissions don't adversely affect others' health and safety.
Example: A client or customer who behaves aggressively toward workers contributes to psychosocial risk.
Multiple Duty Holders
When more than one party has duties.
It's common for multiple parties to have overlapping duties—especially on sites with contractors, labour hire, or multiple businesses operating.
The principle: Each duty holder must comply with their duties to the extent they have control over the matter.
Example: Construction site with subcontractors
Principal contractor
Manages site-wide systems (e.g., rosters, communication, incident response)
Subcontractors
Manage hazards within their own work (e.g., workload, supervision, team culture)
Workers
Follow policies, report hazards, don't create risks for others
Each party must do what they can, within their sphere of control.
Key point
You can't contract out of your WHS duties. Even if you engage contractors or consultants, the PCBU and officers still retain their legal duties.
What Happens If Duties Aren't Met?
Failing to meet WHS duties—including duties to manage psychosocial hazards—can result in:
For PCBUs
- Improvement notices requiring specific actions within a timeframe
- Prohibition notices stopping work until risks are controlled
- Fines up to $1.5 million (for Category 1 offences)
- Prosecution in serious cases
For Officers
- Personal fines up to $600,000
- Imprisonment up to 5 years (for serious breaches)
- Personal liability even if the company is also prosecuted
For Workers
- Fines up to $150,000 (for serious breaches)
- Disciplinary action by the employer
Importantly
Regulators across Australia are increasingly focusing on psychosocial hazards. Improvement and prohibition notices are being issued, and prosecutions are occurring.
The standard is clear: psychosocial risks must be managed with the same rigour as physical risks.
Are You Meeting Your Legal Duties?
Most businesses have significant gaps in their approach to psychosocial hazards—and don't realise it until a complaint triggers an investigation. Find out where you stand before a regulator does.
- Identify compliance gaps before a regulator does
- Understand your current risk level
- Get tailored priority actions
- Access relevant resources for your situation
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Your Compliance Score
Practical Steps for Compliance
What you should be doing
If you're a PCBU
- 1
Identify psychosocial hazards systematically (don't wait for complaints)
- 2
Assess the risks they create
- 3
Implement control measures using the hierarchy of controls
- 4
Consult with workers throughout the process
- 5
Keep records of your risk management activities
- 6
Review controls regularly and when circumstances change
If you're an officer
- 1
Educate yourself on psychosocial hazards and what they mean for your business
- 2
Ensure your organisation has appropriate systems and resources in place
- 3
Ask questions: What psychosocial hazards exist? How are we managing them?
- 4
Review reports and data on psychosocial risks regularly
- 5
Verify that controls are actually being implemented and maintained
If you're a worker
- 1
Follow workplace policies and procedures
- 2
Report psychosocial hazards when you identify them
- 3
Participate in consultation processes
- 4
Take care not to create risks for others through your behaviour
- 5
Use any control measures that have been implemented
When to Seek Advice
Getting it right matters
If you're unsure whether you're meeting your legal duties, or if you want to verify that your approach would withstand regulatory scrutiny, consider seeking advice.
You might benefit from support if:
You're unclear about what your specific duties require
You've received a complaint or improvement notice
You want an independent review of your systems
You're planning changes that might affect psychosocial risks
You need help developing or implementing control measures
You want to chat to a workplace psychologist to get further understanding
A confidential conversation with someone who understands psychosocial hazards can provide clarity and help you avoid costly mistakes.
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