Creating a mentally healthy workplace: The interplay of psychosocial risk management and organisational culture
A mentally healthy workplace is built on three essential pillars: responding to illness, preventing harm, and promoting thriving For organisations to take a proactive approach, the practice of effective psychosocial risk assessment and organisational culture reviews is required. Though distinct, both are interconnected and play an important role in preventing harm and promoting thriving.
Creating mentally healthy workplaces not only enhances employee engagement and performance but also mitigates the significant costs associated with psychological injuries. Workers’ compensation claims for psychological injuries average $45,900, five times higher than those for physical injuries and result in an average of 44 days off work, highlighting not only the ethical and legal but also economic rationale for creating a mentally healthy workplace.
Achieving this requires a dual approach through both psychosocial risk assessments to identify and mitigate hazards and organisational culture reviews to examine the broader work environment, values and systems that shape employee experience. Since 2022, the demand for psychosocial risk assessments has increased following WHS regulations that equate psychosocial risks with physical hazards. In contrast, culture reviews have seemingly been around longer and although not legally required, some organisations conduct them as part of annual reporting.
Despite their shared goal, organisationscan struggle to prioritise and integrate the two treating them as seperate WHS or HR functions. However, to create a mentally healthy workplace requires both to work together as they are interconnected.
How do psychosocial safety and organisational culture impact each other?
Culture and psychosocial safety are deeply interconnected; a positive organisational culture cannot thrive without effective psychosocial risk management, and vice versa. This diagram illustrates the reciprocal relationship between psychosocial risk management and organisational culture. The results of effective psychosocial risk management and good work design provide the foundation for a positive culture and an organisation’s culture additionally informs how psychosocial risks and controls are managed.
How culture influences psychosocial risk management
Organisations with a positive culture prioritise the wellbeing and safety of employees, demonstrated through senior management commitment, greater organisational participation, effective communication and change consultation. These organisations are more likely to have reduced psychosocial risk as they have greater job resources, employee resilience, and fewer job demands.
However, addressing psychosocial risks without the foundations of good culture – trust, transparency, communication and leadership commitment – can leave employees disengaged and sceptical of change. When employees don’t feel safe to seek support, report hazards, or raise concerns, psychosocial risks go unnoticed and unresolved.
How psychosocial risk management influences culture
Organisations that effectively manage psychosocial risks such as excessive workloads, unclear roles and lack of support, lay the groundwork for a positive culture to grow. If an organisation tries to build a positive culture without addressing structural issues, it can lead to employee frustration and burnout. Exposure to ongoing psychosocial stressors such as excessive workloads or poor management can fuel frustration and toxic workplace behaviours, further eroding culture. If negative behaviours like harassment or exclusion are tolerated, they not only harm individuals but also reinforce the very risks organisations should be preventing.
To create a truly healthy workplace, both must be managed together. A psychosocial risk assessment and an organisational culture review are not interchangeable, and each takes a separate approach towards the shared goal of creating a psychologically healthy workplace. However, both are essential as they are interconnected and continuously influence one another in a reinforcing cycle.
The process of measuring psychosocial risk and organisational culture
A psychosocial risk assessment involves identifying, assessing and controlling the risk of psychosocial hazards at work (Safe Work Australia). Whereas an organisational culture review is an assessment of the values, behaviours and norms that shape how work is done within the organisation. The table below highlights the similarities and differences between the two processes.
| Psychosocial Risk Assessment | Culture Review | Similarities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Identifies psychosocial hazards and determines level of risk (severity, duration and frequency). | Measures values, beliefs, behaviours, and practices that shape the work environment. | Both aim to create safer, healthier workplaces for employees. |
| Purpose | To prevent psychological harm by identifying risks and implementing controls to mitigate these hazards. | To understand how the culture impacts employee engagement, satisfaction, and performance. | Both contribute to employee wellbeing, psychological safety, engagement and retention. |
| Requirements | Is a legal requirement under Work Health and Safety Act 2022. Psychosocial hazards are required to be managed the same as physical hazards. | Not a legal requirement, however some organisations require annual reporting. | Both require management commitment and action to implement recommendations as well as ongoing maintenance and review. |
| Data collected | Predominately measures psychosocial hazards e.g. role overload, job control and supervisor support, as well as factors such as bullying and workplace violence. | Includes a wide array of workplace factors beyond work design e.g. leadership styles, trust, organisational values, and communication. | Both involve similar data collection points (surveys, focus groups and interviews) to provide insight into the current state. |
| Process owner | Work Health and Safety | Human Resources or Organisational Development | For best practice both teams should be aligned to a common purpose rather than operating independently. Neither process should be used to target or investigate individual employees’ behaviour. |
| Outcome |
Provides actionable insights to improve workplace safety and health by addressing specific psychosocial risks. Recommendations might include changes to work design, support programs, and policies to reduce stress and improve mental health. |
Provides insights into areas such as leadership effectiveness, communication patterns, and the alignment of organisational values with practices. Recommendations often focus on improving cultural aspects to enhance overall workplace morale and productivity. |
Both include actions, controls and recommendations to improve the work environment. Initiatives should be aligned across the organisation for the greatest impact. |
In summary, to create a mentally healthy workplace, organisations must recognise the interconnected nature of psychosocial risk management and organisational culture. Conducting culture reviews and psychosocial risk assessments in tandem provides a comprehensive understanding of employees’ experiences, offering insights that enhance the effectiveness of both processes. If managed in isolation misalignment can occur, particularly when implementing initiatives, actions and controls.
Ultimately, effective psychosocial risk management and a strong organisational culture go hand in hand, one can’t thrive without the other. By integrating these processes organisations can take a proactive approach to building a healthy work environment.