The 14 Psychosocial Hazards
Understanding the hazards that can cause psychological harm at work and where to find them.
Written by Christian Ratten, Workplace Psychologist
Introduction
Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice identifies 14 specific psychosocial hazards that commonly exist in workplaces. But these hazards don't exist in isolation—they often arise from four key aspects of work.
Understanding the hazards helps you systematically identify what's creating risk in your workplace.
Important: The 14 hazards aren't exhaustive. Anything that has the potential to cause psychological harm is a psychosocial hazard—whether it fits neatly into one of these categories or not.
Use this page to:
Understand what each hazard means
Identify which hazards are present in your workplace
Learn practical control measures for each hazard
Explore The Hazards
Select a category and hazard to learn more
Important
The 14 hazards aren't exhaustive. Anything that has the potential to cause psychological harm is a psychosocial hazard—even if it doesn't fit neatly into one of these categories.
Excessive Workloads
What it means
Workers are required to do too much in too little time, or with insufficient resources. This includes work that's mentally or emotionally demanding, physically demanding, or requires sustained attention or concentration without adequate breaks.
What it looks like in practice
- Unrealistic workloads or deadlines
- Extended working hours without adequate recovery time
- Intense work that requires sustained focus
- Conflicting demands or priorities
- Insufficient time to complete tasks safely or to a high standard
- Being expected to do the work of multiple people
Common examples
Early warning signs
- Regularly working unpaid overtime
- Skipping breaks or eating at their desk
- Reporting feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope
- Increased errors, near-misses, or quality issues
- Difficulty switching off after work
- Fatigue or exhaustion
- Rising absenteeism or use of sick leave
- Increasing complaints about workload
- Tasks consistently taking longer than scheduled
- Quality of work declining
- Higher turnover
How to identify this hazard
- "Do you have enough time to complete your work to a safe and acceptable standard?"
- "Are deadlines realistic?"
- "Can you take breaks when you need them?"
- "What would help you manage your workload?"
- Hours worked (including overtime)
- Productivity metrics and quality indicators
- Absenteeism and sick leave patterns
- Exit interview feedback
- Are workers rushing or skipping breaks?
- Is work being done outside normal hours?
- Are deadlines being missed?
How to control this hazard
- 1Review and adjust workloads to ensure they're realistic and achievable
- 2Increase staffing levels where work demands consistently exceed capacity
- 3Prioritise tasks and remove non-essential work
- 4Set realistic deadlines with input from workers doing the work
- 5Provide adequate resources and equipment to complete tasks efficiently
- 6Improve work processes to reduce unnecessary steps or delays
- 7Limit working hours and overtime
- Schedule regular breaks and ensure workers take them
- Implement fatigue management strategies for shift work or long hours
- Train workers in time management and prioritisation
- Provide flexibility in how and when work is done
- Resilience training or stress management programs
- Employee assistance programs (EAPs)
Are You Meeting Your Legal Duties?
Most businesses have significant gaps in their approach to psychosocial hazards—and don't realise it until a complaint triggers an investigation. Find out where you stand before a regulator does.
- Identify compliance gaps before a regulator does
- Understand your current risk level
- Get tailored priority actions
- Access relevant resources for your situation
No signup required • Results in 2 minutes
Your Compliance Score
How to Use This Information
Identifying hazards in your workplace
Consider Each Category
Go through each of the four categories and ask:
- Is this relevant to our workplace?
- Are any of the hazards in this category present?
Industry-Specific Guidance
Which hazards hit your industry hardest?
While all 14 hazards can exist in any workplace, some industries face particular challenges.
Construction
- High job demands (tight deadlines, long hours)
- Poor physical environment (site conditions)
- Poor support (supervision stretched thin)
- Bullying and harassment (hazing culture)
Mining
- Remote or isolated work (FIFO arrangements)
- High job demands (12-hour shifts, production pressure)
- Traumatic events (high-consequence environment)
- Poor physical environment (extreme conditions)