S08 E09: Psychosocial Hazard Salad

Season 08 Episode 09: Psychosocial Hazard Salad

In this episode, the team discusses the challenges in the contemporary workplace of managing the complexity of psychosocial risks that can cause mental health disorders among workers – disorders like anxiety, stress, low mood, and depression. Sara laments the literature and assessment approaches that reveal the “What?” without explaining the “SO What?” and “NOW What?” Alan loves that level of thinking, acknowledging that without this level of guidance, businesses can spin their wheels, directionless. Sara explains a research paper on necessary condition analysis describing four factors that, in their absence, preclude a diagnosis of depression, offering a unique perspective in occupational health diagnostics. Trajce explains the importance of language in legal dictums, weaving in his concerns about risk management legislative language, such as “as low are reasonability possible,” versus “so far as is reasonably practicable.” He’s passionate about this and wrote about this recently under the framework of the mining industry, in his article, “Mining Work Health, Safety Laws and Serious Industrial Crimes in Australia: Down the Shaft of Jurisdictional Inconsistency.”

Sara introduces the launch of PRAiSETM (Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Integrated Solutions for Employers) – Certified Assessor and Manager programs - and PRA, the new task-based Psychosocial Risk Analyser feature within the ErgoAnalyst software platform. These tools are helping teams visualise, quantify, qualify, and respond to both physical and psychosocial risks in context, merging technical rigour with empathy-driven co-design.