What are Psychosocial Interventions?
What Are Psychosocial Interventions?
Psychosocial interventions are actions taken by an organisation to reduce, eliminate, or manage psychosocial risks and prevent psychological harm at work.
They are the practical responses that follow a psychosocial risk assessment and focus on changing the way work is designed, organised, led, and supported — not on fixing individuals.
In the context of work health and safety (WHS), psychosocial interventions are equivalent to control measures used for physical risks. Their purpose is prevention, not treatment.
What are psychosocial interventions designed to address?
Interventions address psychosocial risks, work-related factors contributing psychological or social harm when exposure is excessive, prolonged, or poorly managed.
These hazards may include:
- High or poorly managed workloads
- Low job control or decision-making authority
- Unclear roles or conflicting expectations
- Poor leadership or low supervisor support
- Workplace conflict, bullying, or harassment
- Inadequate change management
- Job insecurity
- Isolated, remote, or emotionally demanding work
Interventions aim to modify these conditions at their source, rather than relying solely on individual coping strategies.
Why psychosocial interventions matter
Without effective interventions, identifying psychosocial risks achieves little.
Psychosocial interventions:
- Prevent psychological injury before it occurs
- Reduce cumulative harm over time
- Support legal and regulatory compliance
- Improve work sustainability and performance
- Strengthen trust between workers and leadership
They are essential for moving from awareness to action in psychosocial risk management.
Types of psychosocial interventions
Interventions are most effective when applied at multiple levels, with priority given to system-level controls.
1. Primary interventions (preventative)
Primary interventions address the root causes of risk by changing how work is structured or managed.
Examples include:
- Redesigning workloads or staffing models
- Clarifying roles, responsibilities, and priorities
- Improving job control and autonomy
- Strengthening leadership capability and decision-making processes
- Improving communication and consultation
- Designing safer systems for managing change
Primary interventions have the greatest impact because they reduce exposure to harm.
2. Secondary interventions (protective)
Secondary interventions aim to reduce the impact of risk where hazards cannot be fully eliminated.
Examples include:
- Training leaders to recognise and respond to psychosocial risk
- Improving peer support and team processes
- Providing clear escalation pathways for issues
- Adjusting work during peak demand periods
These interventions help contain risk but should not replace primary controls.
3. Tertiary interventions (responsive)
Tertiary interventions focus on supporting workers after harm has occurred.
Examples include:
- Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
- Early intervention and recovery support
- Return-to-work planning
- Clinical or therapeutic services
While important, tertiary interventions are not a substitute for managing psychosocial risks at their source.
What psychosocial interventions are not
Interventions are often misunderstood.
They are not:
- Resilience training used as a stand-alone solution
- Wellbeing programs without system change
- Individual performance management
- One-off initiatives with no follow-up
When interventions focus only on individuals, risk exposure remains unchanged and harm continues to accumulate.
How effective interventions are designed
Effective interventions are:
- Based on psychosocial risk assessment data
- Designed in consultation with workers
- Targeted to specific hazards or groups
- Integrated into existing systems and processes
- Assigned clear ownership and accountability
- Monitored and reviewed over time
They are rarely generic and should evolve as work conditions change.
Monitoring and reviewing psychosocial interventions
Like all WHS controls, interventions must be reviewed for effectiveness.
This may include:
- Tracking changes in harm indicators
- Monitoring trends in absence, turnover, or incidents
- Repeating psychosocial risk assessments
- Gathering qualitative feedback from workers
Interventions that do not reduce harm should be adapted or replaced.
Why interventions should be system-focused
Psychological harm is rarely caused by a single event. It usually results from ongoing exposure to multiple interacting work factors.
System-focused interventions recognise this complexity and aim to improve how the whole work environment functions.
This approach supports continual improvement, rather than reactive or compliance-driven responses.
In summary
Psychosocial interventions are the actions organisations take to prevent and manage psychosocial risks at work.
When designed from psychosocial risk assessment data and focused on system-level change, they reduce harm, support compliance, and create healthier, more sustainable workplaces.
Done well, interventions turn insight into meaningful, lasting improvement.
