Psychosocial hazards in Tasmania: the 2022 regulations

What the regulator says

WorkSafe Tasmania says managing hazards at work was always part of the law. It says the 2022 regulations clarify and reinforce those existing duties by setting out clearly what workplaces need to do. It defines psychosocial hazards to include bullying, traumatic events, occupational violence and aggression, excessive workloads and micromanagement.

What is particular to Tas

Tasmania’s page puts the cost in plain terms, for the business and for the person. Work-related mental health injuries have longer recovery times and higher costs than other injuries, and they disrupt a business through turnover, absenteeism and fractured relationships. The regulator sets out rights and responsibilities and a set of resources, and it describes its own role in complaints about psychosocial hazards.

A worked example

A small Hobart builder notices three apprentices leave within a year, each after time with the same site supervisor. An apprentice reports in confidence that tasks change without notice and mistakes get mocked. The person handling it reads the reports together, talks to the supervisor and sets clear expectations for how work is handed out.

What a useful record looks like

For a small employer, the practical question is who looks at a report about the owner’s own site supervisor. If the answer is nobody, workers stop reporting. A confidential route to someone other than the supervisor’s manager closes that gap. It doesn’t guarantee a good outcome. It does mean the report exists and the date it was raised is on file. That matters if an inspector or a tribunal ever looks at the matter. In a business with a handful of workers, that dated record may be all that separates a concern that was raised from one that wasn’t.

How Haznote handles it

Haznote lets an apprentice report without speaking to the supervisor in question, and keeps the record for the company’s confidential contact. It doesn’t decide whether behaviour crosses a line.