Psychological Safety and Risk Management

This policy is the overarching policy for the management of psychosocial risk in the workplace. Further information regarding specific hazards and supports can be found under the related policies section at the bottom of this page and in the Resources tab.

Policy

This policy outlines the practical steps schools can take to proactively protect, manage, and support the psychological safety of all school staff.

Summary

• Creating psychological safety in the workplace can greatly improve an individual’s experience of work and increase individual mental health and wellbeing. When people feel safe at work, issues are more likely to be understood and addressed before they cause an injury.
• It is the responsibility of all staff to contribute to a psychologically safe workplace.
• Principals or their delegates must consult on, and communicate about, psychosocial risks and controls in the workplace.
• Regularly reviewing data, including staff feedback, staff indicators and workplace data can support school leadership in identifying areas of concern (refer to Identifying psychosocial hazards in the procedure).
• A checklist is available to school leaders to assist school principals or their delegate in reviewing their current school environment, including strengths and areas for improvement, to proactively implement the foundations of a psychologically safe workplace.
• Schools can have some of the most dynamic and challenging work environments. Therefore, it is important to note that a work environment completely free of psychosocial hazards can be difficult to achieve.
• Principals are not responsible for managing hazards outside of the workplace, however there are a range of supports they can refer or provide to staff, such as the Employee Wellbeing Support Services.
• The Psychological safety and risk management procedure explains how to identify, assess, control and monitor psychosocial hazards and risks in the workplace.

Details

A psychologically safe workplace is one that promotes staff mental health and wellbeing by reducing work-related risk factors and psychosocial hazards, and actively prevents and addresses psychological injury and illness.

Working can be seen as generally beneficial to a person’s mental health and wellbeing, as it can provide structure, purpose and a sense of identity and belonging. By creating psychologically safe workplaces, schools not only contribute to improving the mental health and wellbeing of their staff but may also create healthier environments for students and the school community.

The department aims to support staff to be healthy and safe, reduce the stigma of mental health in the workplace and support staff to remain at work and engaged with the school community wherever possible. It’s important that everyone at the department works together to create psychologically safe workplaces that promote and protect mental health and wellbeing (refer to the Health, Safety and Wellbeing policy and the Safe and Well in Education Framework (PDF) for further information).

Work-related psychosocial hazards in schools can include, but are not limited to:

• students with challenging behaviours
• work-related violence and aggression
• sexual harassment
• bullying
• discrimination and racial, religious or cultural vilification
• poor support
• poor organisational change management
• high and low job demands
• poor workplace relationships
• exposure to traumatic events.

This policy does not cover student mental health and wellbeing. Refer to the Mental Health in Schools policy for information regarding student mental health and wellbeing.

For more specified information on the risk management methodology for preventing, managing and responding to health, safety and wellbeing risks posed by work-related violence and other unsafe behaviours in schools, refer to the Work-Related Violence in Schools policy, Workplace Bullying policy, School Community Safety Orders, Behaviour – Students and Sexual Harassment – Employees policy.

Roles and responsibilities in promoting psychological safety

Under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act 2004 (Vic), managing the risks related to mental health and wellbeing and psychological safety is a shared responsibility between the department, the principal or their delegate and school staff.

Department roles and responsibilities

The Health, Safety and Wellbeing policy outlines the department’s commitment to support, promote and protect the health, safety and wellbeing of all school staff.

The department must provide or maintain systems of work and a working environment that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to physical and psychological health. This includes providing supports and resources to enable school leaders and staff to achieve psychologically safe workplaces and support their own wellbeing.

Principal or delegate roles and responsibilities

The principal or their delegate must, in consultation with school staff, and health and safety representatives (HSR), where elected, identify, assess, control, monitor and prioritise psychological health and safety risks and hazards relevant to the school’s particular environment. The principal or their delegate must be aware and respond to new and existing hazards raised with them as per the OHS Risk Planning and Management policy.

School staff roles and responsibilities

While at work, school staff, including contractors and volunteers, must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and the safety of others who may be affected by their actions or omissions. School staff must support ongoing prevention and safety management of workplace mental health and wellbeing by:

• reporting hazards, risks and incidents in the workplace using eduSafe Plus (staff login required)
• cooperating with their employers’ actions to provide and maintain a safe working environment, including following any policies, information or instruction provided
• positively contributing overall to a mentally healthy and psychologically safe environment.

Key requirements to enable a psychologically safe workplace

Principals or their delegates must maintain, and review annually, an OHS risk register (templates available from the Resources tab) that includes:

• the psychosocial hazards relevant to the school environment
• the department-mandated psychosocial hazards:
  • workplace bullying
  • work-related stress
  • work-related violence or aggression
  • students with challenging behaviours
• control measures to eliminate or reduce risks, including controls that are currently implemented and those that are planned.

Principals or their delegates must identify psychosocial hazards in the school, implement effective controls and monitor and review hazards and controls in consultation with school staff who are or are likely to be affected, and health and safety representatives (HSR) (where elected). This may include:

• encouraging all staff to report psychosocial hazards, incidents and near misses in eduSafe plus
• identifying and assessing further psychosocial hazards occurring or likely to occur in the school and monitoring existing risk controls, including by regularly reviewing workplace data, including near miss, hazard and injury reports from eduSafe Plus
• determining the level of risk by assessing the hazard following the process outlined in the assessing psychosocial risks section of the procedure
• informing school staff about controls in place to manage psychological risk in the school, including the mental health supports available to staff
• maintaining records in relation to psychological risk assessment and consultation
• considering further information, instruction, training and supervision that may be required to support school staff in completing work as safely as possible.

The Psychological safety and risk management procedure contains detailed, practical information about how schools can meet these key requirements.

Department supports for schools

The department offers health, safety and wellbeing training for school leaders as part of the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership’s offering of strategic management training. This full day training aims to build the understanding of the foundations necessary to effectively manage health, safety and wellbeing in schools, including the development and maintenance of the OHS risk register. All school leaders are encouraged to attend this training.

Contact the OHS Advisory Service or regional OHS service officers who can provide free advice and hands-on support in relation to psychological risk management in the school.

A range of mental health and wellbeing supports are provided by the department – refer to Employee Wellbeing Support Services and further expert health, safety and wellbeing supports for further information.

Related definitions

Mental health
Mental health is defined as a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in (World Health Organisation, 2022).

Psychosocial hazard
'Psychosocial hazards are factors in the design or management of work that increase the risk of work-related stress and can lead to psychological or physical harm' (WorkSafe, 2023). Examples include work-related stress, work-related violence or aggression, and workplace bullying. Throughout the Psychological safety and risk management procedure, the term ‘psychosocial’ is used to discuss mental health and wellbeing hazards and risks.

Psychological safety
Psychological safety is the foundation of high-performing teams and resilient organisations. When team members feel psychologically safe, they are empowered to speak up, seek help, acknowledge mistakes and questions existing methods. This culture of openness and honesty significantly reduces risks, improves problem-solving, enables effective idea execution and promotes a sense of belonging and inclusion among all team members.

Related policies

• Behaviour – Students
• Complaints, Misconduct and Unsatisfactory Performance
• Flexible Work
• Health, Safety and Wellbeing
• Inclusive Workplaces
• Medical Advisory Service
• Mental Health in Schools
• Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management in Schools
• OHS Consultation and Communication
• OHS Risk Planning and Management
• Principal Health and Wellbeing
• Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies)
• Respectful Behaviours within the School Community
• Respectful Workplaces
• School Community Safety Orders
• Sexual Harassment – Employees
• Workers’ Compensation
• Workplace Bullying
• Work-Related Violence in Schools

Relevant legislation, compliance codes, standards

• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)
• Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic)
• Psychological health and safety in the workplace – Prevention, promotion, and guidance to staged implementation, 2013. National Standard of Canada

Procedure

This Psychological Safety and Risk Management procedure sets out the practical steps schools must follow to implement the Psychological Safety and Risk Management policy. This procedure must be implemented in consultation with school staff the health and safety representative (HSR) (where elected), and the school health and safety committee or equivalent (if established).

Throughout this procedure, the term ‘psychosocial’ is used to discuss psychological hazards and risks.

The procedure contains the following chapters:

1. Understanding psychological safety and mental health and wellbeing in the workplace
2. Effective consultation and communication for psychological safety
3. Preventing and proactively managing psychosocial hazards
4. Identifying psychosocial hazards
5. Assessing psychosocial risk
6. Controlling the risks
7. Monitoring and reviewing controls
8. Hazard, incident and near miss reporting

1. Understanding psychological safety and mental health and wellbeing in the workplace

What does workplace psychological safety mean?

Creating psychological safety in the workplace can greatly improve an individual’s experience of work and increase individual mental health and wellbeing. When people feel safe at work, issues and risks may be more likely to be understood and addressed before they cause an injury. It is the responsibility of all staff to contribute to a psychologically safe workplace.

Psychological safety is present when safe working environments exist, enabling staff to express themselves, speak up, ask questions, seek feedback, and report issues without fearing negative consequences or judgement.

There are several factors that can contribute towards building psychological safety. This includes leadership support, positive culture, inclusivity, and effective communication.

It is important to consider and recognise diverse perspectives and experiences as these can lead to varying perceptions of the same issue. Understanding this is essential to creating a supportive and inclusive work environment that promotes psychological safety for all staff.

Psychological safety is vital for managing mental health in the workplace, as it:

• has the flow on effect of a workplace that has well-managed psychosocial hazards
• allows an increased visibility of psychosocial hazards.

For further information on proactively managing psychological safety in the workplace, refer to Preventing and proactively managing psychosocial hazards.

What are the benefits of a mentally healthy and safe working environment?

Encouraging and supporting mental health and wellbeing is important for both staff and the principal and school leaders. Potential benefits from improved mental health and wellbeing include:

• positive impact on teacher-student relationships and student learning outcomes
• increased staff engagement and commitment
• staff retention and reduced absenteeism
• enhanced morale, motivation and job satisfaction
• improved productivity
• reduced WorkCover claims.

2. Effective consultation and communication for psychological safety

Consultation and effective communication are key parts of building and maintaining a psychologically safe workplace. This environment increases the confidence of staff to raise issues, express views and contribute to decision-making.

Principals and other school leaders are encouraged to utilise the opportunities provided by the department to give feedback and generate useful data, such as by completing principal wellbeing surveys and encouraging all staff to complete the annual School Staff Survey.

Principals or their delegates must consult on, and communicate about, psychosocial risks and controls. This can be achieved through:

• regularly discussing psychosocial hazards at staff meetings, modelling and openly encouraging reporting these hazards, near misses and incidents on eduSafe Plus (staff login required), allocating time for staff to make reports and communicating outcomes of reports that have been made
• being available for confidential discussions when needed
• provide anonymous feedback opportunities (for example, through the School Staff Survey)
• using leadership meetings and staff meetings to discuss actions to improve psychological safety in the workplace (that is, reviewing any health, safety and wellbeing actions or plans, monitoring impact of actions undertaken), where appropriate
• sharing information about common psychosocial hazards they may encounter in their work (see WorkSafe Victoria’s practical guide for school leaders)
• providing information about existing department resources, supports and strategies (including Employee Wellbeing Support Services) available to staff, as well as local mental health services, and how to access them.

To create an environment where people feel safe to provide feedback, it is important to:

• build trust and rapport so staff feel confident opening up
• actively listen in conversations, through noticing words, tone and body language
• allow for open ended questions
• avoid assumptions and judgement
• show empathy and understanding
• respect privacy.

The OHS Consultation and Communication policy supports schools to set up effective communication channels that can be tailored to the school environment.

3. Preventing and proactively managing psychosocial hazards

Psychosocial hazards in schools could include, but are not limited to:

• students with challenging behaviours
• work-related violence and aggression
• bullying
• discrimination and racial, religious or cultural vilification
• sexual harassment
• poor support
• poor organisational change management
• high and low job demands
• poor workplace relationships
• exposure to traumatic events.

These hazards can occur alone or in combination and may result in a psychologically unsafe working environment, potentially leading to harm.

Analysing and improving associated workplace factors can be used to reduce the risk of psychosocial hazards through early identification of issues and opportunities for improvement.

Workplace factors can include, but are not limited to:

• organisational culture
• psychological and social support
• leadership and expectations
• civility and respect
• psychological requirements and competencies
• growth and development
• recognition and reward
• involvement and influence
• workload management
• engagement
• work-life balance
• psychological protection
• protection of physical safety
• managing exposure to traumatic events.

The state of workplace factors (that is, either positive or negative) can contribute to psychosocial hazards in the school environment.

Refer to the Psychological safety guide for schools (DOCX) for an extensive overview of each of the workplace factors.

A checklist is available for school leaders to assist school principals or their delegate in reviewing their current school environment, including strengths and areas for improvement, to proactively implement the foundations of a psychologically safe school. Refer to the Resources tab to access the ‘Psychological safety foundations checklist for schools’.

It is important to consider other staffing roles that may manage or provide psychological support to staff, and ensure they have access to information and resources to support them to do so. This is especially important in larger schools, where more comprehensive support systems are needed.

By empowering these roles, such as business managers, leading teachers and education support managers, to actively reach out to their staff and promote information and resources available to them, schools can:

• enhance the support provided to staff
• distribute the responsibility of supporting mental health and psychological safety
• reduce burnout for principals
• create a more sustainable and comprehensive support system in the school.

Schools can have some of the most dynamic and challenging work environments. Therefore, it is important to note that a work environment completely free of psychosocial hazards can be difficult to achieve.

Referring staff to proactive supports

Managing mental health in the workplace can be complex. It is important for principals and their delegates to remember that there may be factors outside of the workplace that could be affecting staff mental health.

If staff choose to make the principal or their delegate aware of these factors, principals are not responsible for managing hazards outside of the workplace. However, there are a range of supports they can refer or provide to staff, including:

• Employee Wellbeing Support Services (EWSS)
• Conflict Resolution Support Service
• flexible working arrangements
• leave entitlements
• further expert health, safety and wellbeing supports.

Proactive supports for principals, delegates and others who support staff

Manager Assist is a dedicated coaching support service for people managers on:

• staff wellbeing matters
• having difficult conversations
• developing leadership competencies
• leading through change
• any other people management matters.

Call 1300 291 071 to book a session, or refer to the Employee Wellbeing Support Services page for more information and options for making an appointment.

There are dedicated services available to support principal-class employees provided under the Principal Health and Wellbeing Strategy, including Proactive Wellbeing Supervision, Principal Mentoring Program and the Early Intervention Program. Refer to the Principal Health and Wellbeing page.

Principals can refer to the Complaints, Misconduct and Unsatisfactory Performance policy when resolving conflict in the workplace.

The Health, Safety and Wellbeing course provided by the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership aims to empower school leaders to look after their own health and wellbeing, connect with key department supports and grow a safe and supportive environment to work and learn.

4. Identifying psychosocial hazards

The principal or their delegate, in consultation with affected or likely to be affected school staff and health and safety representatives (HSR), where elected, must, so far as reasonably practicable, identify psychosocial hazards.

When identifying hazards, consider the following:

• some hazards can cause injury with a single exposure event, such as a threat to life or physical safety
• with other hazards, the impacts of exposure can accumulate over time, even if appearing as less distressing as an isolated event (such as witnessing, hearing about or experiencing negative behaviour on a regular basis)
• people will react differently, and the absence of a reaction (indicator) should not be taken as the absence of a hazard
• the impact of events can be delayed, sometimes by weeks, months, or even later
• some hazards might impact some people more than others (for example, a person living with a diagnosis of mental illness or disability)
• psychosocial hazards can be present alongside physical hazards (for example, safety concerns for school infrastructure may not be raised if staff do not believe their voice will be heard)
• some hazards may be present all the time, others only occasionally
• current trends in data, such as eduSafe Plus hazard, near miss and injury data.

The department has identified 4 common psychosocial hazards that every school must include in their OHS risk register. These are:

• workplace bullying
• work-related stress
• work-related violence or aggression
• students with challenging behaviours.

To identify further hazards in the workplace, principal or their delegates can consider the following methods.

1. Observing staff indicators

These include:

• excessive and/or unusual patterns of sick leave
• high staff turnover and/or burnout
• negative behaviours and performance issues (for example, disrespectful behaviour or misconduct)
• staff withdrawal or avoidance of certain situations
• change in appearance (for example, deteriorating physical appearance)
• safety incidents (for example, personal physical injuries, high number of student safety incidents)
• behaviours that are inconsistent with a person’s usual characteristics.

2. Reviewing incident notifications and data

A range of data points can indicate the presence of psychosocial hazards, including:

• eduSafe Plus injury, incident and near-miss reports of all severity (from low to extreme)
• workers’ compensation claims
• records of hours worked (that is, patterns of extra hours indicating high work demands)
• absenteeism and worker turnover data, including exit interviews
• health and safety committee meeting records
• school staff survey data (wellbeing indicators).

Alerts from eduSafe Plus will notify the principal or the delegate of incidents or near-misses involving staff. Some of these incidents may be related directly to a psychosocial hazard (for example, challenging student behaviour), but it is still important to consider the psychological impacts of other occupational health and safety categories. For example, there could be a psychological element involved with chemical management, such as stress from managing chemicals and workload pressures from logging purchase and expiration date.

Consideration should also be given to cumulative effects of exposure to what might be at the time, identified as a minor incident. If minor incidents are occurring often, this can lead to psychological injury.

Principals should encourage their staff to report all workplace psychosocial hazards, injuries and near misses in eduSafe Plus. Training is available, search ‘eduSafe’ in LearnEd (eduPay) to find the relevant courses.

For more information on how to examine workplace data, see Workplace Health and Safety Queensland mentally healthy workplaces How to examine and interrogate workplace data guide (PDF).

3. Staff feedback

The observation of staff indicators and data analysis is important, however identification of hazards can be significantly strengthened if good communication and consultation coincides with this information.

Refer to the Effective consultation and communication for psychological safety section for further information.

5. Assessing psychosocial risk

As part of the assessment process, the principal or delegate in consultation with staff and HSRs, where elected, should assess the overall psychological safety of the workplace by using:

• the Psychological safety guide for schools (DOCX) – provides examples of workplace factors, and the associated hazards and indicators (what happens when it is lacking) to assist in identifying what hazards could be contributing to visible workplace issues
• the Psychological safety foundations checklist for schools (DOCX) – available to school leaders to assist in reviewing their current school environment, including strengths and areas for improvement, to proactively implement the foundations of a psychologically safe school.

When psychosocial hazards are identified, the school’s OHS risk register can be used to assess and document the current level of risk based on the controls that are already in place at the school.

Where there has been an identified psychosocial hazard (refer to the Identifying psychosocial hazards section) and there is limited understanding, or the existing controls are not effective and further exploration is required, the Psychosocial risk assessment template (DOCX) can be used.

The Psychosocial risk assessment template can be useful to assess specific scenarios or environments that a hazard occurs in (for example, assessing the challenges teachers face with classroom management and dealing with disruptive student behaviour).

Where hazards are suspected to be of a higher or extreme risk, based on indicators, data or feedback, schools must undertake a documented psychosocial risk assessment and use the associated risk matrix.

During the risk assessment process, the principal or their delegate should consider:

• duration – how long is the staff member exposed to the hazards or risks?
• frequency – how often is the staff member exposed to the hazards or risks?
• severity – how severe are the hazards and the workers’ exposures?
• who is or is likely to be affected
• the interactivity of psychosocial hazards, not just hazards in isolation
• physical and psychosocial hazards occurring simultaneously
• individuals or groups who may be at greater risk, for example, years of experience working in the role, number of exposures, coping style, existing mental health status
• effectiveness of current controls in place
• further consultation with relevant staff to inform the assessment.

Schools can utilise the OHS risk matrix (see Psychosocial risk assessment template (DOCX)) in consultation with affected staff and HSRs (where elected), to help determine the overall risk rating of the psychosocial hazard, by evaluating the consequence and likelihood of harm occurring.

Once hazards are identified and better understood through assessment, the guide provides suggestions of actions, controls and resources to eliminate or reduce the risk of harm.

The OHS advisory service and regional OHS service officers are available to provide hands-on support to schools in understanding risks related to mental health and psychological safety in the workplace.

6. Controlling the risks

Once a psychosocial hazard has been identified and assessed, controls must be put in place to mitigate the hazard where possible or reduce the level of risk associated as far as reasonably practicable. Controls can be determined by the principal or their delegate and in consultation with affected staff and health and safety representatives (HSR), where elected, and recorded in the school’s OHS risk register.

Effective leadership is crucial for enabling a psychologically safe culture to protect and manage staff mental health. First and foremost, principals, school leaders and their delegates should consider their leadership approach and work to make any necessary improvements. Examples of this include:

• communicating clearly and transparently to keep staff informed
• ensuring they are approachable, so staff feel comfortable to raise concerns
• showing empathy and care when listening to staff
• following up after conversations to ensure staff feel heard and valued
• showing respect and inclusivity to a diverse range of perspectives
• modelling desirable behaviours.

The Psychological safety foundations checklist for schools (DOCX) can support school leaders to identify potential areas for improvement in leadership and management.

The following should also be considered when identifying appropriate controls:

• identify controls in consultation with effected school staff and HSR (where elected)
• tailor controls to the needs, culture, and economic realities of the school
• prioritise controls that eliminate risk, where possible
• controls should be considered at all levels, including staff and management
• training can be considered but should not be the only control implemented.

Controls for common psychosocial hazards in schools include, but are not limited to:

• violence and aggression:
  • promotion of Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy across the school community
  • refer to the Work-Related Violence in Schools policy
  • consider assessment of security and workplace design
  • utilise the How leadership and culture can help control the risk of work-related violence guidance
  • consider further ‘students with challenging behaviours’ controls below
• bullying, harassment and discrimination:
  • all staff complete workplace bullying and harassment eLearning modules (available on LearnED)
  • circulate department and school bullying and harassment policies, including the Inclusive Workplaces policy and the Respectful Workplaces policy
  • consider further training and whole-of school approaches, such as Respectful Relationships education
  • refer to the Complaints, Misconduct and Unsatisfactory Performance – Teaching Service policy and seek advice from the Employee Conduct and Integrity Branch
• students with challenging behaviours (where the behaviour is of such severity, duration or frequency that it jeopardises the safety of the person and/or those around them):
  • development, implementation, review and update of behaviour support plans and risk management plans – student behaviour (DOCX), inclusive of student supervision arrangements
  • engage with available supports, including Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces
  • provide relevant training to staff to prevent and respond to students with challenging behaviours:
    • de-escalation of student behaviour – refer to LearnEd and search module name
    • Behaviour Assessment and Support in Schools (BASIS) – to access the first module (Understanding behaviour and its functions), refer to LearnEd and search module name)
    • Protective Intervention Training
  • use evidence-based classroom management strategies to proactively promote positive behaviour and discourage behaviours of concern (Positive Classroom Management Strategies)
  • provide opportunities for choice and student voice (Student Voice Practice Guide – Amplify)
  • practice self-regulation (the ability to understand and manage our own behaviour)
  • develop positive relationships and get to know your students – their strengths, needs and interests (research points to students with the greatest motivation and engagement in school as being those who experience the lowest levels of conflict with staff)
• poor support:
  • include health, safety and wellbeing as a regular discussion item at team meetings
  • actively promote mental health supports available to staff, such as the Employee Wellbeing Support Services
  • leaders to be trained in psychological awareness, for example, psychological first aid training or mental health awareness training
  • ensuring there are multiple methods for staff to provide feedback
• poor organisational change management:
  • use effective communication methods to deliver information
  • involve staff in decision making.
• high and low job demands:
  • review workload expectations
  • match skills to tasks
  • provide clear direction, time and support tools for staff to complete tasks
  • bridge skill gaps
  • encourage regular discussions for staff feedback
  • providing relief for teachers experiencing challenges in the classroom
• poor workplace relationships:
  • consider engaging conflict resolution support services
  • school leaders role model respectful behaviours
  • all staff complete workplace bullying eLearning module (available on LearnED)
• work-related stress:
  • staff are supported to identify workload management strategies
  • the Employee Wellbeing Support Services are promoted to all staff
  • staff are provided opportunities around training and professional development to support their role.

Refer to the Psychological safety guide for schools (DOCX) for more detailed examples of controls that can reduce the risk of psychological injury, as well as department resources and further support. You can contact the OHS Advisory Service or regional OHS service officers for advice and hands-on support in identifying appropriate controls.

7. Monitoring and reviewing controls

Due to the complexity of workplace factors, it is important that psychosocial hazards and risks are managed on an ongoing basis.

The principal or their delegate must monitor and review the effectiveness of implemented risk controls using the OHS risk register, in consultation with school staff who are or likely to be affected, and HSRs (where elected). The register must be reviewed annually. However, additional reviews may be necessary when:

• an incident or hazard is reported
• a new potential risk is identified (for example, through a report on eduSafe Plus, or in discussions with a staff member).

The OHS advisory service and regional OHS service officers are available to support schools in monitoring and reviewing controls.

8. Hazard, incident and near miss reporting

The principal or their delegate must ensure all psychosocial hazards, incidents and injuries are reported on eduSafe Plus (staff login required). For further information on the reporting of incidents, refer to the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies) policy.

The department strives for a workplace culture where all staff are willing to report hazards, near misses and incidents honestly, openly and without fear. All principals and their delegates should encourage and support their staff to make eduSafe Plus reports.

It is important for staff to know that they can choose an alternative manager (for example, regional director, assistant principal) to be the incident review manager if they do not wish for the report to go directly to their line manager (this may be needed, for example, when the incident involves the direct line manager). Directions for this can be found on the eduSafe Plus reporting form.

Resources

Supports

• Supporting student mental health – refer to the Mental Health in Schools page on PAL for more information on the role of schools in promoting the mental health and wellbeing of students
• Employee Wellbeing Support Services – free and confidential advice to proactively support the wellbeing of eligible department staff. Staff can make appointments to receive tailored support across 8 different service streams and 6 specialist helplines. Further information is available on the Employee Wellbeing Support Services Policy Advisory Library page
• Manager Assist – a phone service to support principals and school leaders, including advice and coaching on team and work challenges. Further information is available on the Employee Wellbeing Support Services Policy Advisory Library page
• Principal health and wellbeing services – a range of initiatives to promote a safe and supportive environment for school leaders to be their best
• Managing trauma resources – Managing Trauma Guide (PDF) and Managing Trauma online modules (LearnED) to support schools with the effective management of trauma

Templates and guides

• OHS risk register – templates available on the OHS Risk Planning and Management resources page
• Psychological safety guide for schools (DOCX) – provides further guidance that outlines the OHS requirements for the management of psychosocial hazards and supports the psychological safety and risk management procedure
• Psychological safety foundations checklist for schools (DOCX) – assists school principals or their delegates in reviewing their current school environment, including strengths and areas for improvement, to proactively implement the foundations of a psychologically safe school
• Psychosocial risk assessment template (DOCX) – schools can use this template to assess and further understand psychosocial risk in the workplace

Useful external websites

• WorkWell Toolkit – WorkSafe Victoria
• Resources and programs on workplace mental health – Beyond Blue
• Evidence-based mental health resources and support – The Black Dog Institute
• Head to health – a free confidential service from the Australian Government to find information, supports, and wellbeing resources
• Preventing and managing work-related stress: A guidebook for employers – WorkSafe Victoria, April 2016
• VicHealth 2012, Reducing stress in the workplace (An evidence review: summary report) (PDF) – Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne, Australia
• WorkSafe provide further information on their website into psychosocial hazards contributing to work-related stress