🧠 Why Every Employer Needs to Understand Psychosocial Hazards Before December 2025

From 1 December 2025, the OHS (Psychological Health) Regulations come into effect in Victoria. They make it clear that psychological health is health under the OHS Act 2004. Employers will now have an enforceable duty to identify, control, and review psychosocial hazards in the same way they manage physical risks.

If your workplace already manages risks such as manual handling, traffic movement, or hazardous substances, you are partway there. The same risk management process applies. The difference is the source of harm.

⚠️ What Are Psychosocial Hazards?

Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work design, management, or environment that can cause a negative psychological response and create a risk to health.

Examples include:

• High job demands or conflicting priorities

• Poor support or supervision

• Bullying or aggressive behavior

• Inadequate systems or unclear roles

• Poor organizational change or fairness

Each of these is now a regulated hazard under Victoria’s Psychological Health Regulations (2025).

🧩 Why This Matters for Employers

The new regulations mean WorkSafe inspectors will look for evidence that employers have identified psychosocial hazards and applied controls so far as is reasonably practicable (SFAIRP). That includes records of consultation, risk assessments, and reviews, not just policies or awareness posters.

Training your staff is one of the first steps to showing due diligence. Awareness builds the foundation for consultation, reporting, and risk control.

🧭 A Practical Starting Point

Many organizations ask, “Where do we even start?”
The simplest answer is to start with awareness.

Understanding the hazards helps everyone, including managers, workers, and HSRs, speak the same language and recognize early warning signs. From there, you can progress to structured risk control planning and system reviews.

To make this easier, RAS-OHS has developed two digital products that align with the new Victorian framework:

• Psychosocial Hazard Awareness Training Pack – Employees
  Ready-to-deliver training slides, facilitator notes, and a participant workbook. Designed to build awareness and confidence across your workforce.

• Psychosocial Risk Management Pack (PSP)
  A complete system for identifying and controlling psychosocial hazards, including a hazard scan, control mapping, consultation templates, and guidance based on WorkSafe Victoria’s Compliance Code.

These are practical, compliant tools to help employers demonstrate SFAIRP and prepare for enforcement from December 2025.

✅ Take the First Step

Awareness is the first control. Equip your teams to recognize psychosocial hazards and contribute to a safer, more respectful workplace.

Start with the RAS-OHS Psychosocial Hazard Awareness Training Pack, a practical foundation for compliance and culture.