The Fundamentals: Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace with Skodel

The law now treats psychological harm exactly like physical harm, is your business treating it that way?

“We’ve got an EAP, we’re covered.” It’s one of the most common, and most legally incorrect, assumptions safety leaders make about psychosocial risk in 2026.

Every Australian jurisdiction now requires employers to identify, assess, control and review psychosocial hazards exactly as they would a physical hazard, and regulators are enforcing it.

Psychological injury claims already make up 12% of workers’ compensation claims nationally, but 38% of the total cost, with an average claim costing $288,542 and taking more than four times longer to resolve than a physical injury.

Join myosh’s Kristina Shields alongside Skodel’s Ian Fagan and Sam McKenzie, a former WorkSafe Victoria Lead Counsel, for a practical look at what’s actually changed and what it means for you.

In this webinar we unpack the two real enforcement cases, including the first-ever Commonwealth conviction for a psychosocial risk failure, and the identify–assess–act–monitor system Myosh and Skodel use together to turn a policy on paper into a defensible system of work.

You’ll walk away able to:

• Understand exactly what counts as a psychosocial hazard under the Safe Work Australia model, and why “we have an EAP” no longer satisfies the duty.

• Discover how the law has changed state by state, including Victoria’s standalone regulations and NSW’s WHS Regulation 2025.

• Examine two real prosecutions, including personal director liability and a first-of-its-kind Commonwealth conviction, and the evidence regulators relied on.

• Apply a practical identify → assess → act → monitor framework instead of a policy sitting untouched in a drawer.

• Leave with a clear next step for building a defensible psychosocial risk program for your organisation.

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