WA Focuses on Psychosocial Risks in Mining and Public Sector

WorkSafe WA’s approach to psychosocial hazards is evolving fast and showing how regulators are starting to treat psychological risk as a core safety duty.

WorkSafe WA has an up‑to‑date Code of Practice on Psychosocial Hazards that sets out how workplaces should identify and control things like stress, fatigue, harassment, bullying and other psychosocial risks. This code is practical and ties into the regulator’s duties under the Work Health and Safety Act.

There is jurisdiction‑specific guidance for mining operations that goes deeper on psychosocial hazards in that context, covering risk factors relevant to fly‑in/fly‑out work, fatigue, culture and leadership issues and other psychosocial risk drivers.

WorkSafe WA’s prosecutions index is active and regularly updated and includes enforcement around work health and safety breaches generally.

A high‑profile psychosocial prosecution involving the Department of Justice and Bunbury Regional Prison made headlines because it would have been the first charge of its kind against an employer for failing to manage psychosocial risks in the workplace. WorkSafe WA commenced proceedings alleging failures to protect an officer from bullying, harassment and psychological injury, and potential penalties were reported as significant.

That case was discontinued in late September 2025 based on fresh evidence, but it remains a key example of how far enforcement could go in this area and why psychosocial risk management must be taken seriously by duty holders.

In summary:

• The regulator has formal psychosocial guidance and codes of practice relevant to all workplaces, including mining.

• WorkSafe WA is tracking and publishing enforcement outcomes and summaries.

• A landmark psychosocial prosecution in 2024–25 shows how these risks can be legally contested, even if the specific prosecution was later dropped.