FlourishDx Academy | ISO 45003 Training

Psychosocial risk is the liklihood and consequence that harm will occur to workers due to exposure to psychosocial hazards.

A psychosocial hazard is anything in the design, management or social aspects of work that have the potential to cause harm (psychological or physical). Common psychosocial hazards include work overload, role ambiguity, low job control, bullying, sexual harassment, exposure to trauma.

ISO 45003 is the internationally agreed standard for psychological health and safety at work. It details how companies can take a best practice approach to workplace mental health through the lens of risk management and continuous improvement (essentially it is an ISO mental health standard). The full name of the standard is ISO 45003:2021 Occupational health and safety management — Psychological health and safety at work — Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks.

Psychosocial risk assessment is the process of determining the liklihood and consequence that harm will occur to workers due to exposure to psychosocial hazards. Psychosocial risk assessment helps to identify priority groups of workers and associated psychosocial hazards to address through elimination of psychosocial hazards or reduction in psychosocial risk through the application of suitable psychosocial risk controls (typically work re-design).

There is no such thing as risk assessment psychology’ per se. However, risk assessment is commonly applied by psychologists to determine the potential for harm at individual or group level. ISO 45003 details a management system approach for practicing psychosocial risk management. That is, consulting with workers to determine their experience of work (psychosocial factors) and identifying the likelihood and consequence of harm due to the severity, frequency and duration of exposure to psychosocial hazards (and their interactions).

Psychological risk assessment should not be confused with psychosocial risk assessment. While psychosocial risk assessment examines the aspects of work that have the potential to cause harm, psychological risk assessment identifies the risk of an individual harming themselves, often as a result of a mental disorder. Psychological risk assessment does not meet the obligations of employers to create a mentally healthy and safe workplace, that is the purpose of psychosocial risk management.