~ By Yope Vagenas, LG member
Ahead of new psychosocial regulations being introduced in Victoria and scheduled to take effect from 1 December 2025, it was very helpful to have Pete Jensen expertly guide us through a blueprint for moving beyond compliance and helping employers manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
The new regulations include 17 psychosocial categories and Victorian employers will be expected to assess and manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace in the same way that physical hazards are managed. Pete posed a range thought-provoking questions about what these new regulations meant and what employers need to do to mitigate psychosocial risks, helping us bridge the knowledge gaps we and our clients may have about how to proactively create a workplace safe from psychosocial hazards.
There were a number of points and practical tips that Pete shared during the session that I found particularly helpful. For instance, ‘good safety is the presence of positive behaviours, not the absence of negative ones’. Pete warned that taking a compliance approach to mental health and wellbeing in the workplace can actually undermine safety as it doesn’t tell us about the organisation’s culture. Not all psychosocial risks are reported, nor will compliance checks identify cultural elements such as salary and reward systems that heavily influence employee expectations and subsequently behaviour.
Pete pointed us to research conducted by William Fleming that showed wellbeing interventions across over 200 organisations in the UK were failing because they were addressing symptoms and not the causes. Thinking about psychological hazards as an employee problem can further jeopardise any wellbeing efforts by misunderstanding that behaviours are a “demonstration of deeply held beliefs, which drive where we focus our efforts and emotion, and what we measure.” A great reminder that wellbeing needs to be defined at the organisational level.
Pete’s blueprint for helping employers manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace, included the importance of measuring evidence of positive psychological safety. It was great to break out into small groups during the session and learn about people’s experiences of various engagement surveys that measure positive cultural elements and work being done to create safe and engaging work cultures.
Pete clearly has vast experience in this area and I appreciate him sharing his knowledge and insights with us so generously.
ODA members, note: A recording of Pete’s session, slides and other resources are available to you via the membership portal; just log on to the ODA website. Another great reason to be an ODA member! Join now!