Psychosocial hazards arise from the psychological and social conditions of the workplace, including stress, fatigue, and burnout. These risks can stem from organisational factors such as poor leadership practices and workplace culture, lack of role clarity, and excessive work demands. A recent case has highlighted a risk to employers that arises specifically where employees are required to work long hours, cover multiple roles, and work over different time zones.
Recent enforceable undertaking accepted from Cobar Management Pty Ltd
The NSW Resources Regulator has recently accepted a $1 million-plus enforceable undertaking from Cobar Management Pty Ltd (Cobar) in relation to safety incidents that occurred on its CSA Mine.
In this case, two Accountants suffered psychological injuries due to excessive workloads, lack of support and unclear job roles. The Accountants were required to report to executives that were based in Switzerland, resulting in excessive working hours to meet deadlines.
After complaints were made to the NSW Resources Regulator, the Regulator launched proceedings against Cobar, alleging that Cobar failed to take reasonably practical steps to eliminate or minimise the risk of employees being exposed to psychosocial hazards, and by failing to do so, exposed the two employees to a risk of serious injury or death.
The Regulator alleged that the employees were exposed to:
- Role overload due to a lack of support staff, long working hours & demanding tasks, time pressures, time-zone issues, inadequate rest opportunities and inadequate fatigue management;
- Role conflict and lack of role clarity due to a lack of project coordination and resourcing, short notice arrangement of meetings, lack of clarity on post-job opportunities and lack of clarity around managerial responsibility for WHS issues;
- Poor support from supervisors and managers; and
- Poor procedural justice.
The Regulator withdrew the charges after accepting Cobar’s application to enter into an enforceable undertaking with a financial commitment of over $1 million. Some enforceable initiatives from this undertaking include:
- Engaging an external consultant to design and conduct comprehensive survey targeting all workers with a focus on safety perceptions, mental health concerns and team interactions;
- Implementing psychometric testing to the recruitment process for roles “requiring high mental acuity”; and
- Implementing training that focuses on hazard identification through visual literacy, teaching workers to recognise potential safety risks through visual cues.
Key takeaway: this case highlights the risk of not addressing psychosocial hazards and compliance issues early. Employers should be aware that reactive compliance will not reverse a breach; proactive compliance is best and can be enforced even before the recruitment process for a role is commenced.
What should employers be doing?
Employers should take proactive steps to identify, assess, and mitigate psychosocial hazards within their workplace. The steps taken by Cobar after the alleged breach are insightful actions for you to consider. Employers should ensure they are:
- Being mindful of roles reporting to supervisors and managers in different time zones, as well as remote or isolated roles that have limited access to resources and face communication difficulties;
- Regularly reviewing and updating policies and processes, such as fatigue management plans; and
- Conducting risk assessments and creating risk assessment plans that address psychosocial hazards.
Additionally, implementing initiatives in the recruitment process, such as psychometric testing, can help identify potential risks early and ensure candidates are well suited for roles that may carry heightened psychosocial risks.
If you are concerned whether your recruitment processes, policies and procedures, and/or risk assessments are sufficient to meet your health and safety obligations, please contact us.
This article was written by Danielle Flint, Partner, Audrey Ooi, Solicitor and Shanay Fairbairn, Law Graduate.
