The term health was used in Western Australia’s previous OSH legislation. Under the new WHS Act the term health is further described to include “psychological health”.
We can expect to see more guidance and regulatory work take place in the area of psychological health.
In 2021 the Ministers responsible for WHS legislation in each state and territory met to discuss improvements to the legislation.
A result of this meeting was a decision to:
- Review the existing Model WHS Regulations
- Amend the model WHS Regulations to include psychosocial risks and how to control them.
In 2022 DMIRS released 3 new codes of practice to assist people in managing psychological risks:
- Psychosocial hazards in the workplace 2022
- Workplace behaviour 2022
- Violence and aggression at work 2022
These can be found at: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe/approved-codes-practice
DMIRS have also produced a range of guidance material at their Mentally Healthy Workplaces hub. This can be found at: http://dmp.wa.gov.au/Safety/Mentally-healthy-workplaces-25121.aspx
Whilst this is a Resources Safety site most of the information is also applicable to general workplaces.