Psychosocial hazards and workplace wellbeing
What this domain tests
This domain - psychosocial hazards and workplace wellbeing - tests organisational causes of stress and mental ill health, psychosocial risk assessment, and controls that change work rather than blame individuals. Expect questions on bullying, violence, workload, job control and wellbeing programmes.
Core rules
- Hazards are organisational. High demands with low control, low support, unclear role, poor change management, effort-reward imbalance, organisational injustice, violence, bullying and harassment are work-related hazards.
- Framework. ISO 45003 gives guidance on managing psychosocial risks within an OSH management system. The HSE Management Standards cover demands, control, support, relationships, role and change.
- Assessment. Use surveys, focus groups, absence and turnover data, and incident reports. Assess by work group and task, not only by individual.
- Controls. Redesign work, adjust staffing and schedules, clarify roles, train managers, set behaviour standards, provide confidential reporting and support. Employee assistance programmes are support, not a primary control.
- Confidentiality. Mental health information is sensitive; collect only what is needed and separate support from disciplinary processes.
Worked example
A call centre has rising absence, high turnover and complaints about aggressive customers. A wellbeing poster campaign and resilience training are proposed. The reasoning should reject these as the main control: they place the problem on individuals. A psychosocial assessment shows high emotional demands, low task control and insufficient recovery between calls. Controls include call-volume limits, scheduled breaks, a clear escalation process for abusive callers, manager training, and confidential incident reporting. Evaluation uses absence, turnover, reported incidents and survey scores before and after, not attendance at the training session.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating stress as individual weakness or a medical issue only.
- Relying on resilience training and EAPs as the main control.
- Ignoring work design, staffing and management behaviour.
- Assessing the whole organisation but not high-risk groups.
- Breaking confidentiality or mixing wellbeing disclosures with discipline.
- Failing to evaluate whether the control changed exposure.