Tools Down Talk: Understanding Psychosocial Risk
A practical one hour workshop for business owners, managers, supervisors and HR and WHS professionals.
Psychosocial risk is now a core workplace health and safety issue for organisations of every size.
Every workplace has psychosocial hazards. High workloads and competing priorities, tight deadlines and workforce shortages, poor communication, conflict, unclear roles and poorly managed change can all create risks to workers' psychological health and safety.
Tools Down Talk - Understanding Psychosocial Risk cuts through the jargon and helps you understand what psychosocial hazards are, what your responsibilities are as an employer or manager, and what practical steps you can take to identify and manage these risks in your workplace.
Led by Total HRM HR Business Partner, Lucie Wallis, this practical one-hour session will help you better understand psychosocial risk and what good psychosocial risk management looks like in practice.
What you’ll learn
During the session, we'll explore:
- What psychosocial hazards and risks are
- Common psychosocial hazards in the workplace
- The difference between psychosocial safety and mental health
- Employer obligations for managing psychosocial risks
- The role managers and supervisors play in identifying and responding to risks
- Practical actions you can take to create a safer and healthier workplace.
Practical and workplace focused
This session is designed to make psychosocial risk practical and relevant to the workplace. Using real-world examples and discussion, participants will explore how psychosocial hazards can arise in day-to-day work and what practical steps can be taken to identify, assess and manage those risks.
The focus is on giving participants greater confidence to recognise psychosocial hazards and understand what effective risk management looks like in practice.
Who should attend?
This workshop is ideal for:
- Business owners and employers
- Managers and supervisors
- HR professionals
- WHS professionals
- Anyone with responsibility for managing people or workplace safety.
No previous HR or WHS experience is required.
Cost
$30 + GST per person, including light refreshments.
Venue
The Training Space, Albury's purpose-built venue for business events and workshops located at 409 Tribune Street.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wondering if this workshop is right for you?
If you employ people, manage a team or have responsibility for workplace health and safety, this session will help you understand the practical implications of psychosocial risk management for your workplace. You don't need to be an HR or WHS specialist to attend.
Does psychosocial risk apply to small businesses?
Yes. Psychosocial hazards can exist in workplaces of every size. Small businesses also have obligations to identify and manage risks to workers' psychological health and safety.
What are psychosocial hazards?
Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work or the work environment that may cause psychological or physical harm. They can include high job demands, poor support, workplace conflict, bullying, lack of role clarity, poorly managed change and exposure to traumatic events.
Is psychosocial safety the same as mental health?
No. Psychosocial risk management is about identifying and controlling hazards arising from work that could cause harm. It is not about diagnosing or managing an individual's mental health condition.
What are my responsibilities as an employer?
Employers have a responsibility to identify psychosocial hazards, assess the risks they create and put appropriate controls in place, just as they would for physical workplace hazards.
What role do managers and supervisors play?
Managers and supervisors are often well placed to recognise emerging risks within their teams. Understanding what to look for, how to respond and when to escalate concerns is an important part of managing psychosocial safety effectively.
Do I need previous HR or WHS experience?
No. The session is designed to make psychosocial risk easy to understand and practical for people with a range of roles and experience.
Will I leave with practical actions I can take?
Yes. The focus is on helping you understand what psychosocial risk management looks like in a real workplace and identifying practical steps you can take within your own organisation.