Psychosocial risk assessment tools are designed to identify and evaluate potential psychosocial risks and stressors in the workplace. They aim to help organisations and employers assess the psychological and social aspects of work that may affect employees' mental well-being and overall health. 

By understanding and addressing these risks, organisations can create a healthier and more supportive work environment, which leads to better morale, productivity and retention.

These tools commonly include these things:

• A survey or questionnaire that’s designed to assess various psychosocial factors — like workload, job control, interpersonal relationships, organisational culture and support systems.
• Ways to identify potential psychosocial risks that may lead to stress, burnout or other mental health issues among workers. Identifying these risks allows employers to focus on areas that need improvement.
• Data analysis to give a comprehensive overview of the psychosocial risk factors in the organisation. 
• General recommendations or guidelines to help organisations reduce identified risks. These may include interventions, policies or initiatives that can improve workplace well-being.
• Educational resources or training materials to increase employers’ and workers’ awareness about psychosocial risks and their impact on mental health.
• Benchmarking data that allows organisations to compare their results with industry standards or other businesses in similar sectors.

Paid tools may offer more sophisticated analysis, tailored recommendations and ongoing support. 

But free psychosocial risk assessment tools can be a useful starting point for organisations that are looking to address psychosocial risks in the workplace.

The best free tools for Australian workplaces

People at Work 

This psychosocial risk assessment tool is a validated and evidence-based tool for all Australian businesses. It will help you identify psychosocial hazards in the workplace and practical ways to manage them. It’s accompanied by a factsheet with more information about the tool and answers to some FAQs. 

Workplace Wellbeing Assessment 

You can use this digital tool to survey your leaders and workers. It will reveal how your business is performing in areas critical to workplace mental health, such as leadership and culture, and recommend actions to improve your workplace based on your results.

Other resources

The Psychosocial Safety Climate

Another tool for assessing the workplace is the psychosocial safety climate (PSC) survey. It measures employees’ perception of whether senior management prioritises their mental well-being by creating a psychologically healthy workplace.

The survey explores employee perceptions of management commitment, the priority of mental health in the organisation, communication and employee participation and involvement. It can predict:

• future work conditions, psychological health and engagement with other workers
• the likelihood of injury and under-reporting of work injuries
• sickness absence
• prosocial procedures (like job design and social relations) that prevent bullying
• loss of productivity
• future work absence after work injury.

The Leaders Lab has free tools like the Your Leadership Blueprint and the Leading with Safety and Care survey toolkit that help organisations assess and minimise psychosocial risks and build psychological safety at the individual, team and organisational levels to enhance safety, well-being and performance. 

In 2018 the University of South Australia published a document called Fact Sheets: Psychosocial Risk Assessment Tools. 

This was the outcome of a project that located psychosocial risk assessment tools around the world and then developed fact sheets about them. It describes each tool, but it doesn’t evaluate their effectiveness.

Stress indicator tool

This tool from the UK Health and Safety Executive measures workers’ attitudes to, and perceptions of work-related stress. It contains a survey of 35 questions that ask about 6 six areas of work that, if not managed properly, can be causes of workplace stress. It gives organisations a quick and easy way to identify the scale of the problem and the likely root causes. It also has guidance on managing work-related stress as part of a prevention culture.

Guarding Minds

Guarding Minds is a free online resource that helps employers assess workplace psychological health and safety. Tools include an organisational review, employee questionnaire and comprehensive survey.

Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire

This tool can be used to assess the psychosocial work environment and implement practical interventions at workplaces. Three versions of the questionnaire are available: a long version for research use, a medium-length version for use by work environment professionals and a short version for workplaces.