Poor Environmental Conditions

Poor Environmental Conditions

Numerous environmental factors might affect a worker’s psychological health. Hazards such as noise, vibration and cold workplaces aren't just physical, they can have a severe effect on workers psychological health and wellbeing. Your employer must consult you when addressing environmental hazards in your workplace and consider both the psychological and physical health impacts of these conditions. 

Poor environmental conditions present serious psychosocial hazards. Examples of this hazard can include: 

  • Poor air quality
  • Poor lighting 
  • Poor ergonomics
  • Extreme temperatures in the workplaces
  • Unsanitary or insufficient workplace hygiene facilities
  • High or disturbing noise levels 

But really, many more exposure or physical hazards can have psychological impacts. Considering this, controlling the psychological hazard of poor environmental conditions overlaps with many physical and exposure controls. For example, The OHS Regulations require employers to control certain hazards in line with specific hierarchies of control e.g. noise, plant, hazardous substances and hazardous manual handling. However, the regulations for hazards such as noise are often focused on the physical harm they present, which may be quite distinct from the psychosocial hazards they can create – e.g. noise can contribute to the psychosocial hazard of poor environmental conditions without exceeding the level of 85dB, which is the accepted level at which noise becomes a physical hazard that may cause hearing loss.

Your employer has a duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 to " provide and maintain so far as is reasonably practicable for employees a working environment that is safe and without risks to health." [Section 21(1)]

The new Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 also require your employer to eliminate or mitigate psychosocial hazards – working alone or in remote and isolated conditions can present psychosocial hazards in addition to physical hazards.

Some risk signs to look out for in your workplace are: 

  • physical work health and safety procedures, including audits and regular risk assessments, are not done
  • workers aren’t given the equipment and resources they need to do their work safely
  • the work environment isn’t monitored to test for decibel levels, air quality, and so on
  • workers do not receive information, instruction and training on how to perform hazardous tasks or how risks can be eliminated or appropriately controlled


Some additional ways to control poor environmental conditions include:

  • A dedicated space away from the poor environment where workers can take a break 
  • Optimise lighting, temperature and use noise reducing barriers. 
  • Ensure good ventilation and air quality see our ventilation page for more information.
  • Provide ergonomic equipment and furniture
  • Maintain clean and well-maintained facilites
  • Address issues such as unpleasant odours, cleanliness, and functioning amenities
  • Regular equipment maintenance
  • Consult workers on the layout and conditions of the workplace.

OHS Reps resources

 

Other useful Union publications

 

WorkSafe resources:

 

Safe Work Australia resources:

 

 

Updated May 2026