People at Work – Psychosocial risk assessment survey, Australian industry and occupation benchmarks & learning modules

This risk assessment is Australia’s only validated psychosocial risk assessment survey.  The survey assesses the most common psychosocial hazards and factors.  It is part of a five-step process that workplaces can use to identify, assess and control risks to psychological health at work.

The survey has been developed by People at Work and the risk management approach aligns with Safe Work Australia’s Code of Practice on How to manage work health and safety risks.

Established in 2007, the People at Work Project was a research collaboration among University of Queensland, The Australian National University, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, WorkCover NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, Comcare, Safe Work Australia, and beyondblue.

The overall aim of the People at Work research project was to assist employers to identify psychosocial hazards and factors and implement a psychosocial risk management process at the workplace. An outcome of the project was the development and validation of the People at Work survey tool. The project also resulted in the creation of a set of Australian benchmarks showing the prevalence of psychosocial hazards across states and territories, sectors, industries, and occupations. This means that workplaces can compare their People at Work results with other Australian workplaces.

Following the completion of the research project, the participating jurisdictions worked collaboratively to translate the People at Work process to a self-administered set of resources. In 2020, this collaboration led to the development of the digital version of People at Work that is now freely available to all Australian workplaces.

Information about the People at Work process is here.

The online learning modules explaining the process and how to develop an action plan and implement control plans are available here.

A wide range of resources for workplaces are available here.

Resources for workers are here.

See also the Heads Up Workplace Action Plan.