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Why Everyone Is Talking About Psychosocial Risk (And You Should Too)

Psychosocial risk is moving from occupational health language into boardroom conversations. It describes the parts of how work is designed, organised and managed that can harm people psychologically or physically. Excessive workload, poor support, bullying, unclear roles and badly handled change are not simply “wellbeing issues”. They are potential workplace hazards.

That distinction matters. A wellbeing event may raise awareness, but it cannot by itself address an impossible workload or a culture where people are afraid to speak up. Effective psychosocial risk management starts by identifying the conditions that are causing pressure, then taking practical steps to reduce exposure.

Why psychosocial risk is on the agenda

The scale of work-related stress is hard to ignore. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that 964,000 workers in Great Britain experienced work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25, contributing to 22.1 million working days lost. These are Labour Force Survey estimates based on workers’ self-reports; they are not a count of clinical diagnoses.

The regulatory direction is also clearer. HSE’s Management Standards provide a practical framework for identifying common sources of work-related stress. ISO 45003 offers voluntary guidance for managing psychological health and safety within an occupational health and safety system. Neither creates a new, standalone “psychosocial risk law”. But together they give organisations a clearer language and structure for prevention.

There is growing interest from insurers and procurement teams, too: organisations may be asked how they identify and manage psychosocial hazards as part of wider questions about workforce risk. Hybrid and remote work can make pressures less visible, while early-November stress awareness activity and the HSE’s Working Minds campaign have renewed calls to listen, identify risks and act, not just raise awareness.

The shift is from asking, “What wellbeing perk should we offer?” to asking, “What in the work itself could be harming people, and what are we doing about it?”

Rebecca Lisi speaking to a group about helpful listening and workplace support

Psychosocial risk and the legal reality

In Great Britain, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to protect employees’ health, safety and welfare so far as is reasonably practicable. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks arising from work. In practice, that assessment should consider work-related stress and relevant psychosocial hazards. Employers with five or more employees must record significant findings.

HSE’s six Management Standards are guidance, not legislation or a pass-or-fail test. ISO 45003 is also guidance, not a new legal requirement. However, the existing duties still matter: a risk assessment should be meaningful, and where risks are identified, employers should consider appropriate preventive or protective action.

Work-related stress may also arise in employment disputes, personal injury claims or regulatory enquiries. The detail will depend on the circumstances. This is general information, not legal advice; seek appropriate legal or health and safety advice about a specific situation. Northern Ireland has separate health and safety legislation.

The HSE-backed Working Minds campaign provides practical tools to help employers prevent work-related stress. Its message is straightforward: talk with workers, recognise pressures, respond to identified risks, review what changes and make prevention routine.

Six areas to examine in psychosocial risk management

HSE’s Management Standards help leaders organise the conversation. For each area, ask what employees actually experience, not only what policy says should happen.

Area What good can look like Questions for leaders
Demands Workload, deadlines, hours and the working environment are manageable, with adequate resources. Are deadlines realistic? Where do overtime, missed breaks or backlogs cluster?
Control People have appropriate influence over how and when they do their work. Can employees make decisions within their role? Do they have a say when work changes?
Support Managers, colleagues and the organisation provide useful information, resources and assistance. Can people get help when pressure rises? Are managers equipped and available?
Relationships Conflict is managed, and bullying or unacceptable behaviour is addressed. Do people feel respected? Can they raise concerns without fear of retaliation?
Role Responsibilities are clear and do not create persistent conflict or uncertainty. Do employees know what is expected? Are priorities contradictory?
Change Organisational change is communicated, explained and supported. Are people consulted early enough? Do they understand what is changing and why?

These areas are connected. For example, a restructure can increase role uncertainty, workload and job insecurity at the same time. That combination can keep the nervous system under sustained pressure and make recovery more difficult.

What a useful psychosocial risk assessment involves

A risk assessment is more than a form or a single survey. A useful process combines different kinds of evidence so leaders can understand what pressures exist, who is exposed and where action is most needed.

  1. Set a baseline. Review relevant information such as absence, turnover, grievances, working hours, exit feedback and safety or incident reports. Look at patterns over time and across teams.
  2. Listen to workers. Use confidential surveys, focus groups, one-to-one conversations or staff representatives. Explain how information will be used and what confidentiality can, and cannot, mean.
  3. Look at roles and working conditions. Examine job-level pressures, shift patterns, staffing, autonomy, deadlines and exposure to difficult interactions. Identify groups who may be less visible in organisation-wide feedback, including site-based and shift workers, junior staff, carers, remote employees and people on different contract types.
  4. Assess and prioritise. Consider the likelihood and potential impact of each hazard, the groups exposed and the controls already in place. Protect privacy when reporting small-group findings.
  5. Agree actions and report back. Set clear owners, timescales and measures. Address work design where possible, alongside individual support. Tell employees what was heard, what will change and what cannot change yet.
  6. Review. Monitor whether actions have helped and whether risks have shifted. Repeat the assessment after significant changes or incidents, and on a planned cycle. An annual review can be a sensible baseline, but the law does not prescribe one universal interval for every workplace.

An annual engagement survey can be useful, but it is not automatically a psychosocial risk assessment. Engagement surveys often measure broad attitudes; risk assessment should help identify work-related hazards, exposure and controls. The two can inform each other, but one does not replace the other.

The HSE Management Standards and risk assessment guidance offer a practical starting point. NICE guidance also recommends a preventive, organisation-wide approach, including assessing stress risks in roles and taking steps to reduce risks identified.

Common ways organisations lose trust

A survey without visible follow-through can make people less likely to speak honestly next time. Treating assessment as HR paperwork can leave operational causes untouched. And a wellbeing provider cannot take the place of leaders who own decisions about workload, staffing, change and conduct.

Other blind spots are easier to miss: assessing only after a serious incident; overlooking night shifts or site teams; or assuming the senior team’s experience of pressure reflects everyone’s. People may also respond differently to the same work conditions. Listening across roles and groups matters.

A supportive culture is essential, but it is not a substitute for addressing the drivers of risk. Where work is persistently unmanageable, an app or resilience session may be welcomed, and still leave the central hazard in place.

Rebecca Lisi presenting to a workplace audience

What leadership accountability looks like

Psychosocial risk should sit alongside other operational risks. The board or senior team should agree who is accountable, how significant risks are escalated and how progress is reviewed. Responsibility can be shared across HR, health and safety, operations and line management, but it should not become ownerless.

A useful governance report might bring together risk assessment findings, themes in absence and turnover, grievances, incident investigations and staff feedback. It should show the actions taken, who owns them and whether they appear to be working. Where wellbeing initiatives are included, leaders should be able to explain which identified risks they address.

This is not about treating people as data points. It is about creating the conditions for people to do good work without sustained, avoidable harm.

Start this quarter

You do not need a large programme to begin. A focused first quarter could include:

  • Name an executive sponsor and agree who coordinates the work across HR, health and safety and operations.
  • Choose one or two teams with known pressure points to test a structured assessment.
  • Review existing evidence and speak with employees and representatives, including people who work shifts or off-site.
  • Use the six HSE areas to identify hazards and current controls.
  • Agree a small number of specific actions, with an owner and a review date for each.
  • Report back to employees on what you heard and what will happen next.
  • Set a review point to check whether exposure has changed and what still needs attention.

The assessment is the foundation for other interventions. Psychological safety, manager development, stress management training and a broader wellbeing strategy are most useful when aimed at the risks people are actually facing. Explore related approaches including psychological safety in the workplace, psychological safety training, manager mental health training and stress management training for employees. You may also find it helpful to read about measuring psychological safety, building an employee wellbeing strategy, executive burnout and presenteeism in the workplace.

Support has a place, but it is not a substitute for prevention

Workplace consultancy, training and keynotes can help teams build understanding and practical skills. They are not therapy, and they should not be used as a replacement for addressing harmful working conditions. For an employee who needs individual support, clear routes to occupational health, an employee assistance programme, a GP or an appropriate mental health professional may be helpful.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. For urgent mental health help in England, contact NHS 111 and select the mental health option. Samaritans can be reached free on 116 123, at any time.

I’m Rebecca Lisi, a qualified psychotherapist (MA MBACP), workplace wellbeing consultant, mental health trainer and corporate wellbeing speaker. I help organisations approach psychosocial risk with psychological depth and practical realism: through consultancy, bespoke training, leadership workshops and keynotes, shaped to the pressures and people in your organisation.

Fees start from £5,000 nationally and £10,000 plus travel internationally. If you are considering how to identify and manage psychosocial risks at work, you are welcome to explore my workplace wellbeing consultancy or workplace mental health training. To discuss a keynote, workshop or practical next step, visit the Corporate Wellbeing Speaker page and let’s start a conversation.

Authoritative sources