INTHEBLACK July 2025 - Magazine - Page 52
WORK SMART
WHAT ORGANISATIONS CAN DO
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52 INTHEBLACK July 2025
Addressing psychosocial hazards often requires
deep-seated cultural or structural changes.
“Job design is really important,” Page says.
Employers can choose from a range of
frameworks to improve the psychological safety
of the workplace. Page often uses the Prevent,
Promote and Support model, which she
describes as “an integrated approach to
workplace mental health” that builds on
legislative requirements.
“Preventing psychosocial hazards sits under
the first pillar, which is around preventing
harm — things like setting realistic workloads,
making it safe to say no, and improving the
systems and the structure of work,” she explains.
“The second pillar is around promoting
wellbeing: giving people a voice to talk about
what makes work meaningful, having
opportunities to craft their roles and investing
in relationships, giving people that sense
of connection. It promotes the positive aspects
of work, which almost always come down
to autonomy, meaning and connection.
“The third pillar is around responding to
mental health problems — when you start
to see signs of potential mental health
problems, making it a safe environment for
people to say, ‘I’m not okay’, and then providing
pathways to appropriate support.”
Another framework Page recommends
is the SMART Work Design model, developed
by Curtin University’s professor Sharon Parker,
which encompasses themes such as mastery,
agency and tolerable demands.
“It’s a way of engaging with workers and
encouraging them to think about changes to job
design, workflows, systems or structures to
make work more tolerable in terms of demands,
more meaningful and more stimulating,” Page
says. “They’re often small tweaks that can be
made within the control of the work team.”
Adopting these frameworks can feel like
a significant investment, but Page believes
organisations benefit in the long run.
“Creating environments where people thrive
and do their best work not only improves health
outcomes, but it also drives performance,” she
says. “It then becomes something organisations
do because it’s good for business — not just
the right thing to do.” ■
EXAMPLES OF
PSYCHOSOCIAL
HAZARDS
Safe Work Australia defines
psychosocial hazards as
“anything that could cause
psychological harm”. Here are
some examples:
• job demands
• low job control
• poor support
• lack of role clarity
• poor organisational change
management
• inadequate reward and recognition
• poor organisational justice
• traumatic events or material
• remote or isolated work
• poor physical environment
• violence and aggression
• bullying
• harassment, including sexual and
gender-based harassment
• conflict or poor workplace
relationships and interactions.
