Hi Renata – WorkSafe recently visited our workplace and spoke with our employer about psychological hazards raised by the staff in our bar, hospitality and cleaning crews. They suggested that our employer needed to set up policy, procedure and training to address these hazards. What type of training should we expect, and what policy and procedure does our employer have to put in place?
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 your employer has clear duties and obligations to ensure that they provide a workplace that is psychologically safe and healthy.
Key duties include providing safe systems of work (e.g. policies and procedures) and providing such information, instruction, training and supervision as is required to enable you to do your job safely. The Compliance Code: Psychological Health sets out what that information, instruction and training should include.
You ask about training so my response will focus on this element, but it is important to note that the hierarchy of control outlined in Regulation 15 of the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 requires employers to control risk so far as is reasonably practicable by altering the management of work, plant, systems of work, work design or the workplace environment before defaulting to lesser order controls such as information, instruction and training.
You should expect the training to cover:
- · What psychosocial hazards are and how to identify them in your working environment
- · Which psychosocial hazards and risks have been identified at your workplace and what controls are in place
- · The causes and drivers of psychosocial hazards
- · How to identify early signs of harm or potential injury from exposure to psychosocial hazards
- · How to report psychosocial hazards and incidents, and what happens after a report is made
- · Appropriate workplace behaviours and related policies and procedures
- · Being an active bystander — what to do if you witness harmful behaviours like bullying or harassment
Your employer may also consider providing training for:
- · Conflict resolution, interpersonal skills, and effective communication
- · General workplace health and safety
- · De-escalation techniques and dealing with difficult customers - very relevant for bar/hospitality and events staff
Supervisors and Managers should also be provided with training to equip them to safely perform their roles, for example:
- · How to conduct performance management discussions effectively and fairly
- · How to respond to reports of bullying, harassment, violence or aggression
- · How to deal with difficult customers and conflict resolution when issues are escalated
- · Expected leadership behaviours and proactive risk management
It is important for your employer to ensure that training is provided not just during an employee’s initial induction, but on an on-going basis – the frequency of training should be informed by the type of hazard, how often workers are exposed, and any changes in the workplace. Training must be delivered by a suitably qualified person in accessible formats and appropriate languages for the target audience, taking into consideration the employees’ skills, experience, literacy and age.
The policies and procedures of your workplace form part of the systems of work for managing psychosocial hazards. For your specific workplace, which includes the service of alcohol, hospitality and events staff, and cleaning staff, the following are some suggested policies and procedures to ensure a psychologically safe work environment:
· Harmful workplace behaviours, including bullying, sexual harassment, aggression and violence
· Reporting and resolving complaints/grievances – should specifically include clear information on how to make a report, what information will remain confidential and what needs to be shared, options for protected or confidential reporting including where the report involves a manager, employees’ right to representation, and what support, protection and advice is available to them
· Post-incident support procedures
· Fatigue risk management
· Workload management
· Working alone, remotely or in isolation (relevant for cleaning staff or closing shifts)
· Critical incident management and post-incident support procedures
· Managing exposure to trauma, including cumulative and vicarious trauma
· Flexible work arrangements
· Gendered violence, including strategies to address gender inequality and power imbalances
· Responsible service of alcohol at work-related events, reinforcing expected behaviours
· Uniform or clothing policy – no sexualised uniforms and clothing must be practical to the work being performed
All policies, procedures and training strategies relating to workplace safety must be developed in consultation with employees and HSRs – this is covered at s.35 (Duty of employers to consult with employees) of the OHS Act. They must also be reviewed regularly and updated when necessary.
In workplaces where alcohol is served employers should also ensure that workplace policies and expected behaviour is reiterated before events and that employees know who to turn to if they experience or witness inappropriate behaviours. Management support should be routinely explained and demonstrated for employees to refuse or suspend service if patrons fail to comply with expected behaviour standards.
Talk with your HSR and co-workers about being involved in the development of these policies and procedures. If you don’t already have an HSR, consider beginning the process to elect one as soon as possible – your union can help you with this process.
And, of course, remember that we provide some of the best union-based training available at our Victorian Labour College. All refresher course participants will receive one of VTHC’s Annotated OHS Act - Psych Health Edition. Alternatively, you can purchase your own copy HERE.
If you have any questions about OHS we encourage to fill out an Ask Renata query and one of our officials will get back to you shortly. Alternatively give Ask Renatabot a try!