Leaders: the new duty is not more forms. It’s smarter work design. A 30‑day plan inside.
- Belinda Mann
- Nov 7
- 2 min read
Workplaces are shifting from awareness and e‑learning toward redesigning how work is structured, led, and resourced. From 1 December 2025, under Victoria’s new Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations psychosocial health regulations, “information and training” alone won’t cut it if better, higher‑order controls are reasonably practicable. The good news is smarter work design is not only compliant, it lifts performance, retention, and customer outcomes.
This article walks through what’s changed, how to explain it to your leaders, and the practical moves that create safer, more effective work. A 30‑day implementation plan is included at the end.
What changed (in plain English)
Psychological health is now regulated like physical safety.
Employers must identify psychosocial hazards, implement controls that actually change how work is done, and regularly review effectiveness.
Training and comms help, but cannot be the predominant control if better design, system, or management controls are reasonably practicable.
Quick definitions:
Psychosocial hazards: features of work that can harm mental health, like high job demands, low role clarity, poor change management, bullying or sexual harassment, exposure to traumatic material, low control, or poor support.
Controls hierarchy (applied to psychosocial risks): prioritise work design and system changes first, then supervision and support, then information and training.
The old approach of controlling psychosocial hazards includes policies, posters, and one‑off training. The new approach is to redesign the work so the hazard is less likely to arise, or has lower impact when it does.
Leaders should be asking their people in every review meeting:
What in our work design is creating the pressure, confusion, or conflict?
What can we change about goals, workflow, resourcing, or decision rights to reduce the hazard at the source?
How will we know it’s working?
What “good” looks like in practice
Hazards mapped to real work: roles, queues, peaks, systems, interpersonal dynamics.
Controls that change the system: rosters, staffing, prioritisation rules, escalation pathways, role clarity, limits to in‑progress work, cooling‑off steps for conflict.
Consultation and iteration: HSRs and teams provide input on feasible controls and test them in sprints.
Evidence of review: simple dashboards on workload, queue age, errors, sick leave, turnover intent, complaints themes.
Common pitfalls to avoid
Rebranding training as a “program” without changing the workflow.
Running surveys without closing the loop with visible action.
Overcorrecting with more forms and approvals that add load but not safety.
Treating every issue as performance instead of testing the work design first.
FREE - Download the PeopleWorx 30 Day Implementation Plan
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