We’re getting used to the idea that the ‘wicked’ nature of psychosocial risks makes them challenging to deal with, even as it becomes more important to manage them.

It's not always easy for businesses to manage these challenges, even if they have systems in place to protect workers’ health and safety. The regular safety measures might not work as well for psychosocial risks as they do for physical hazards.

A study in Denmark looked at which elements of workplace assessments are most likely to lead to action being taken against physical and psychosocial risks at work. 

About the study

The study interviewed 109,000 workers across all major branches of the public sector. 

Public sector organisations were chosen as a good place to look at whether work health and safety management systems help deal with psychosocial issues effectively because they:

• often face more stress and other psychosocial risks than workers in the private sector due to things like irregular work hours, the responsibility for others' well-being and the risk of violence
• are also expected to follow specific legal rules and processes and more formal procedures and structures. 

The study explored these components of the occupational health and safety management systems to understand how much they predicted that actions would be taken to address both physical and psychosocial risks in the workplace: 

Management support

How much support upper management and the immediate manager of the work health and safety representative provide during the workplace assessment process.

Employee influence and engagement

How much involvement, influence and 'say' different people in the organisation — such as general management, work health and safety reps, workers, immediate managers and consultants — had in the risk management process.

Action plans 

If the organisation had clear action plans in place that outlined the steps that need to be taken to address the identified risks from the workplace assessment.

Use of anonymous data

Whether the organisation used anonymous data collection methods in the assessment process. 

Integration of workplace assessments into organisational processes 

If the assessment findings were integrated into other organisational processes that influenced and shaped the overall functioning of the organisation — like strategy-making and Human Resources policies. 

What the study found

The study found that 2 of these components of work health and safety systems were the most helpful in enabling businesses to deal with psychosocial risks:

• Using anonymous data in assessments — when workers feel safe to share their thoughts without being identified, it can lead to better actions to manage the risks.
• When these assessments were integrated into the company's strategies and Human Resources processes. This showed organisations take the results seriously and have a systematic approach to managing them. 

Unlike psychosocial risks, physical risks often had immediate solutions that didn't require such integrated approaches. Things like temperature control, proper furniture, tools, lighting and noise levels could be addressed directly without extensive organisational involvement.

The takeaway messages

Support from management, getting workers involved in the risk assessment process and having action plans in place are important if workplace assessments are to lead to action against physical and psychosocial risk factors. 

But using anonymous data when conducting workplace risk assessments, taking the results seriously and having a systematic approach to managing them were most effective in helping organisations deal with psychosocial risks.

Acting doesn't guarantee that the solution will be effective. But it’s still a step in the right direction. 

Original research

Dahler-Larsen, P., Sundby, A., & Boodhoo, A. (2020). Can occupational health and safety management systems address psychosocial risk factors? An empirical study. Safety Science, 130, 104878.