nsw-psychosocial-checker

New South Wales Psychosocial Hazard Management — Complete Reference

Purpose

This skill provides the verified New South Wales-specific legislative and guidance framework for managing psychosocial hazards at work. It extracts key provisions from two source documents:

1. NSW WHS Regulation 2025 — Division 11 (psychosocial risks), rr 55A–55D. Current version for 3 October 2025 to date (accessed 5 March 2026). [2025-440]. Identical to Model WHS Regulations Division 11 — no NSW-specific additions.
2. NSW CoP: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work (May 2021) — approved code under s 274 of the WHS Act 2011 (NSW), ISBN 978-0-642-33297-4, commenced 28 May 2021; 14+ hazard categories (Table 1), four-step risk management process, responding to reports and incidents, safe return to work, 10 case study scenarios (Appendix A), example risk register (Appendix B)

This is a reference skill — it is not intended as a standalone user tool. It is loaded by action skills (e.g. psychosocial gap analysis, risk register builder, survey planner) when they need to verify or cite NSW-specific psychosocial hazard provisions.

For general WHS Act and Regulation provisions (duties, offences, penalties, incident notification, general risk management), refer to the safetysure-whs-legislation:whs-act-checker-nsw and safetysure-whs-legislation:whs-regulation-checker-nsw skills.

For Model (national) psychosocial provisions (Model WHS Bill, Model WHS Regulations Division 11, Model CoP: Managing Psychosocial Hazards, Model CoP: Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment), refer to the safetysure-psychosocial-model:psychosocial-model skill.

Critical Rules

1. Only cite provisions that appear in the section files. Never fabricate or assume section numbers, regulation numbers, page references or content.
2. Citation format — legislation: Use "s [number]" for WHS Act sections (e.g. "s 19 of the WHS Act 2011 (NSW)") and "r [number]" or "rr [range]" for WHS Regulations (e.g. "r 55D" or "rr 55A–55D").
3. Citation format — Code of Practice: Reference by title and chapter/section/appendix (e.g. "NSW CoP: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work, s 3.2" or "NSW CoP, Appendix A — Scenario 4: Construction Company").
4. Use conservative, factual language when describing legislative obligations and Code of Practice guidance. Avoid subjective or emotive terms — describe requirements in objective terms.
5. Always use Australian English spelling (e.g. behaviour, organisation, colour, defence, licence [noun], minimise, analyse).
6. Distinguish between sources. The WHS Regulation prescribes specific requirements for psychosocial risk management. The Code of Practice provides practical guidance on how to comply with duties.
7. NSW provisions are identical to Model provisions for Division 11. NSW WHS Regulation 2025 Division 11 (rr 55A–55D) mirrors the Model WHS Regulations without any NSW-specific additions. There is no Subdivision 3 (SGBH provisions) as found in QLD.
8. Cross-reference with Model provisions where appropriate. When a query relates to provisions shared with the Model framework, note that the NSW provisions are consistent with the Model WHS Regulations.
9. If a provision cannot be located in these files, state that the specific provision should be verified against the current legislation and indicate which source document it is likely found in.

Section Index

Read the relevant section file(s) based on the subject matter of the query:

NSW WHS Regulation 2025

File	Content	When to Read
sections/nsw-whs-reg-psychosocial.md	NSW WHS Regulation 2025 — Division 11 (rr 55A–55D)	Psychosocial hazard/risk definitions (rr 55A–55B), duty to manage psychosocial risks (r 55C), determining control measures (r 55D — 9 matters), comparison with Model and QLD provisions, cross-references to WHS Act 2011 (NSW)

NSW CoP: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work (May 2021)

File	Chapters	When to Read
sections/nsw-cop-introduction.md	Foreword, Chapters 1–2	Scope and application, key terms, psychosocial hazard definition, Table 1 — common psychosocial hazards (14+ categories), individual factors, reasonable management action, WHS duties (PCBU s 19, officers s 27, workers s 28, other persons s 29), reasonably practicable (s 18), duty to consult workers (s 47, Part 5), multiple duty holders (s 46), duties not transferable (s 14, s 272), outsourcing/contracting/procurement arrangements
sections/nsw-cop-risk-management.md	Chapter 3 (ss 3.1–3.5)	Essential elements (leadership commitment, consulting workers, consulting supply chains, adequate planning), Step 1 — Identify hazards (underlying sources, systematically collecting and reviewing information and data, observe and talk to workers, workplace surveys — People at Work, when known risks exist), Step 2 — Assess and prioritise (when to assess, determine psychosocial risk, structured task analysis for high-risk activities, risk rating approach), Step 3 — Control (eliminate/minimise through good work design, safe systems of work, information/training/instruction/supervision, reasonable adjustments for individual workers, controlling residual risks — 5-point quality rating, implementing controls), Step 4 — Review (review triggers, common failures in risk management, recording)
sections/nsw-cop-response-return.md	Chapters 4–5	Responding to reports/incidents (reporting mechanisms, WHS Act Part 6 Div 1 — discriminatory conduct protections, responding to reports, investigating psychosocial incidents — competent investigators, due process, privacy/confidentiality, harmful workplace behaviour as WHS hazard), notifiable incidents (WHS Act Part 3 ss 35–39), keeping records (risk register, WHS Inspector access), safe return to work (NSW workers' compensation laws, managing new psychosocial risks during return, SafeWork NSW contact: 13 10 50)
sections/nsw-cop-appendices.md	Appendices A–B	Appendix A: 10 case study scenarios (health care, school, government call centre, construction, small consulting firm, retail store, private health care provider, manufacturing, very small trucking company, mining) — each with context, hazards, controls, and review approach. Appendix B: Example risk register with column headings and 2 completed entries (harmful workplace behaviour/bullying, customer verbal abuse).

Workflow

1. Identify the subject matter from the calling skill's query or the user's request
2. Read the relevant section file(s) — read only what is needed to answer the query
3. Cite provisions accurately from the extracted text, using the citation formats above
4. Cross-reference with Model provisions where appropriate (load safetysure-psychosocial-model:psychosocial-model if Model-level detail is needed)
5. Note the absence of NSW-specific SGBH provisions if the query relates to SGBH — explain that NSW does not have QLD-style rr 55E–55H and direct to Model CoP: Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment for national baseline guidance

Common Query Routing

Query Type	Section File(s) to Read
Psychosocial hazard or risk definition	nsw-whs-reg-psychosocial.md
r 55D — 9 matters for control measures	nsw-whs-reg-psychosocial.md
PCBU duties for psychosocial hazards	nsw-cop-introduction.md
Officer due diligence — psychosocial	nsw-cop-introduction.md
Worker duties — psychosocial	nsw-cop-introduction.md
14 hazard categories / Table 1	nsw-cop-introduction.md
Risk management 4-step process	nsw-cop-risk-management.md
Hazard identification methods	nsw-cop-risk-management.md
Risk assessment approach	nsw-cop-risk-management.md
Control measures — good work design	nsw-cop-risk-management.md
Hierarchy of controls — psychosocial	nsw-cop-risk-management.md
Residual risk quality rating	nsw-cop-risk-management.md
Review triggers	nsw-cop-risk-management.md
Responding to psychosocial incidents	nsw-cop-response-return.md
Investigation of psychosocial incidents	nsw-cop-response-return.md
Notifiable incidents — psychosocial	nsw-cop-response-return.md
Return to work after psychological harm	nsw-cop-response-return.md
Case study scenarios (10 industries)	nsw-cop-appendices.md
Example risk register format	nsw-cop-appendices.md
SGBH prevention plan	Not applicable — NSW has no r 55H equivalent. Refer to safetysure-psychosocial-model:psychosocial-model for Model CoP: SGBH guidance, or safetysure-psychosocial-qld:qld-psychosocial-checker for QLD-specific SGBH provisions
People at Work survey	nsw-cop-risk-management.md (Step 1 — workplace surveys)
NSW-specific legislation cross-references	nsw-cop-introduction.md (WHS Act 2011 sections), nsw-cop-response-return.md (SafeWork NSW contact)

NSW-Specific Characteristics (vs Model and QLD)

Feature	NSW	QLD	Model
WHS Regulation Division 11	rr 55A–55D (identical to Model)	rr 55A–55H (Model + Subdivision 3)	rr 55A–55D
SGBH provisions	None	rr 55BA, 55E–55H (QLD-specific)	None
Mandatory SGBH prevention plan	No	Yes — r 55H (60 penalty units)	No
CoP year	May 2021	2022 (commenced 1 April 2023)	July 2022
CoP publisher	SafeWork NSW	Office of Industrial Relations (Qld)	Safe Work Australia
Case studies	10 scenarios (Appendix A)	5 case studies (Appendix 2)	Varies by Model CoP
Example risk register	Yes (Appendix B — 2 entries)	Yes (Appendix 6)	Varies by Model CoP
Example bullying policy	Not provided	Yes (Appendix 5 — QIRC reference)	Not in main CoP
Dispute resolution	General WHS Act provisions	Detailed QIRC pathway (QLD-specific)	General provisions
Regulator	SafeWork NSW	Office of Industrial Relations (Qld)	N/A
Regulator contact	13 10 50 / [email protected]	1300 362 128	N/A