Psychosocial risk is the likelihood of psychosocial hazards causing harm to a worker’s health, combined with the potential severity of that harm. “Psychosocial” refers to the mental, emotional, and social aspects of a person’s experience within the workforce—which includes employees, contractors, and volunteers. These risks can manifest as psychological or physical injuries; for example, chronic stress is linked to significant medical issues, and fatigue frequently leads to physical and mechanical workplace accidents.

This ten-day initial engagement is structured to provide the necessary time to conduct background audits, deliver substantive work product, and establish the specific workforce needs required for a long-term compliance strategy. It allows for ten billable days of work to be done; it does not mean that the work will be completed in ten calendar or working days. Timeframes and the precise audits and deliverables are negotiable to allow for tailored and flexible service delivery.

Not at all, I am happy to discuss smaller contracts, with modified work to be done. While ten-day contracts suit the development of plans for large projects and allow both parties to get to know each other, they still form a substantial commitment. At the core of every contract, I aim to be clear on the work you can expect from me, including services and deliverables in a specific timeframe.

Most of my services will include background research and reading, plus follow-up work such as report writing or post meeting actions, which is better addressed with a day-rate. If you require advice on a potentially straightforward issue, such as ideas for accommodating a particular need or assistance navigating a diversity aspect of a specific hiring process, I am certainly open to discussing a fractional rate on a case-by-case basis.

Any serious risk that is identified will be reported to the identified internal stakeholder(s) in the contract, and a discussion of immediate mitigation of risk will occur. The ten-day initial contract in-part exists because there are many unknowns prior to initial audits. It allows for more accurate long-term contracts that better predict the amount of work needed to become compliant. As long as psychosocial safety is being handled appropriately and my services are wanted, I will work with you to find a way to make your workplace safe.

The consultation plan including an assessment of what communication strategies and approaches suit your workforce, work product associated with conducting the consultation itself, the data collected, records of how the data influenced the risk mitigation work, and a final consultation report will form robust documentation. This will demonstrate that a thorough and meaningful consultation process occurred, aligned with ISO 45003 and mapped to the Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022, providing clear evidence of compliance for WHS Auditors.

Contracts for comprehensive compliance work include provision for up to two hours of remote consultation with inspectors or regulators, in order to address any questions relevant to the work I conducted, within 24 months of completing the contract. Should your needs exceed this, and your safety officer feels unable to manage the psychosocial safety aspects of the audit or investigation unaided, I would be happy to discuss if we can form a new contract to complete this service.

A “standard” HR policy, or even a whizz-bang psychosocial risk policy is just a list of values, usually with process documents subordinate to the policy with instructions for how staff are to manage an issue. I love policy. I love writing policy, I love the development process and the idea that these documents can be used to neatly communicate important concepts and processes is something I find exciting. I am also acutely aware that this makes me very strange. Most people don’t look at policy documents without being forced to, and they are rarely used for their intended purpose. Because of this, the WHS Act 2011 (Qld.) does not consider policy documents to be a complete, proactive or meaningful part of managing psychosocial risk in the workplace. I think it is still important to ensure that workers have a clear set of documents they can go to when they want guidance in writing, however, a policy does little to impact behaviour or address real world hazards in day-to-day operations.

Under the WHS Act 2011 (Qld.) officers are required to exercise due diligence in protecting workers and other persons against harm to their health, safety and welfare; regarding my work – in a psychosocial context. Part of how they do this is through acquiring and keeping up-to-date knowledge of work health and safety matters and gaining an understanding of what is actually happening in their workplace. The initial ten-day engagement makes a good-faith start on establishing what is happening regarding psychosocial risk and safety in your workplace and will generate a clear picture of what work will be needed to meet compliance. It may fulfil the requirements regarding Division 4 (27)(5)(a) and (b) of the act, however, every organisation is unique and depending on what I find in the initial data gathering, it may become clear that more information gathering is required to provide a comprehensive and compliant reporting of current operations.

My training services are separate to my initial contracts. I am able to provide training as part of implementation of the compliance plan. I also deliver diversity training from a range of perspectives. I love delivering training, it is rewarding and engaging work. The reason it isn’t the primary focus of my website is that I am focused on psychosocial risk as an urgent and important issue facing the business community.

The specific work product at the end of the ten days will depend on what was agreed on and included in our contract. I will provide process documents and reports summarising the work completed, recommendations for further work, and typically a full report of what I have established is needed for compliance.

I would love to answer your question personally. Please reach out via the contact form so that I can assist you.