Everyone has a work health and safety duty, by working together you can help keep bullying from happening at work.
If you are a PCBU, you must identify, assess, and control hazards in the workplace. The goal is to eliminate risks, and if that’s not possible, you must minimise risks as much as you can.
As a PCBU, you need to:
- provide and maintain a work environment that is without risks to health and safety
- provide and maintain safe systems of work
- monitor the health and safety of workers and the conditions at your workplace to ensure that work-related illnesses and injuries are prevented
- provide appropriate information, instruction, training or supervision to workers and other persons at your place of work to allow work to be carried out safely.
Following the risk management process will help your business meet its responsibilities under work health and safety (WHS) laws. The Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying contains detailed information around each step of the process.
Steps to manage bullying risks
Bullying should be managed in the same way you manage other hazards. Here are the steps to take to manage bullying risks at your workplace.
- Identify hazards: Check if bullying is occurring or if there are factors that could lead to it. This might involve conducting anonymous surveys or getting feedback when workers leave, like during exit interviews.
- Assess risk: Evaluate the risk of bullying.
- Control measures: Put measures in place to eliminate or minimise the risks of bullying so far as is reasonably practicable.
- Review controls: Regularly check and update your management plan to make sure your control measures are still effective.
Identifying hazards
To spot the potential for bullying in your workplace, you need to gather information about possible hazards and assess the risks. You should:
- talk to workers, health and safety representatives (HSRs), and safety committees regularly to check if bullying is occurring or if there are any risks that could lead to bullying. An anonymous survey might be useful
- use the People at Work: a free evidence-based psychosocial risk assessment tool for workplaces to identify key psychosocial hazards in the workplace and give you guidance on practical ways to manage them
- seek feedback when workers leave the business, like through exit interviews
- seek regular feedback from managers and supervisors
- monitor incident reports, compensation claims, absenteeism, sick leave, worker turnover, and grievance records to identify any patterns or sudden changes
- monitor any changes in workplace relationships between workers, customers, and managers.
Controlling risks
Bullying is a type of psychosocial hazard. When determining control measures for psychosocial hazards, you must consider:
- how long (duration), how often (frequency) and how significantly (severity) workers may be exposed to bullying
- how bullying may interact or combine with other types of psychosocial hazard
- the way the work is designed, including job demands and tasks
- the systems of work, including how work is managed, organised and supported
- the design, layout and environmental conditions of the workplace (including employer-provided accommodation, if applicable)
- this includes workers’ ability to enter and exit the workplace safely, and facilities they can access for their welfare (e.g. eating areas, bathrooms)
- plant, substances and structures in the workplace
- interactions and behaviours in the workplace, and
- information, training, instruction and supervision provided to workers.
To manage health and safety risks,
- provide a safe work environment, both physically and online
- implement clear work systems and procedures
- have clear workplace policies
- offer workers the necessary information, training, and supervision.
Choosing the right control measures depends on your workplace. Talk to your workers, HSRs, and health and safety committees if you have them. The National Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying provides practical steps for controlling risks.
What can WorkSafe do?
WorkSafe focuses on preventing inappropriate workplace behaviours like bullying, harassment, and violence. Their inquiries look at the systems in place to manage these risks. If they find a problem, WorkSafe may issue an improvement notice or take other actions.
WorkSafe address issues within the scope of the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WHS Act) and the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2022. They ensure that employers:
- consult with workers on health and safety issues.
- provide a safe work environment.
- maintain safe work systems.
- monitor the health and safety of workers to prevent illnesses and injuries.
- offer proper information, training, and supervision to ensure work is carried out safely.
- implement control measures to eliminate or reduce psychosocial risks as much as possible.