Psychosocial hazards ≠ stress: a WHS approach for ECEC/OSHC
- Yaga Smart
- Oct 1
- 2 min read
Stress is the signal, not the root cause. In early childhood and OSHC, the causes sit upstream in the work system: how rosters are built and actually run, how workload is distributed, whether breaks are protected, whether roles are clear, how leaders behave, how change is introduced, and whether rooms, tools, and procedures support safe, efficient work. When those factors are poor, psychosocial hazards exist. Control the hazards and stress falls. Chase “stress” by itself, and nothing meaningful changes.
Australian WHS law is clear: psychological health is protected the same as physical health. As the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU), your duty is to identify and control psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practicable—room by room, shift by shift.
Start with what is really happening, not what the roster claims. For example, look for repeated missed breaks, predictable overload at certain times of day, public criticism instead of support, high noise and cramped space, broken or missing equipment, and recurring aggression at pick-up. These are foreseeable exposures, not “bad days.”
How can you start addressing psychosocial hazards and reduce stress?
Apply organisational controls that match the problem.
Enforce breaks and add a float to smooth peak load.
Make roles, duties, and escalation paths explicit in plain language so relief staff can perform safely.
Schedule regular one-to-ones focused on workload, support, and civility.
Roll out changes with consultation, training, and a short follow-up to check the impact.
Keep the physical environment functional—space planning, noise controls, reliable tools, fast maintenance.
Monitor with hard data. Track absenteeism and presenteeism trends, incident and aggression reports, complaints, rework, turnover, and vacancy length.
Stress tells you the system needs work. Treat psychosocial hazards like any WHS hazard—identify, control, verify—and you protect educators and children, improve quality, and meet your legal duty without drama.
In-house psychosocial hazard training
If your service needs in-house training on managing psychosocial hazards, we come to you. The session is practical and compliance-driven: we show your team exactly how to embed psychosocial risk management into induction and ongoing processes, so you can meet your obligations under the WHS Act 2011.
Contact us on https://www.yagasmart.com.au/contact
Online course option
In addition—or as a flexible alternative—we offer a self-paced online course designed to help services understand and address psychosocial hazards in education and care. This course is fully aligned with the NSW Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work (2022) and provides practical strategies that can be applied immediately in ECEC and OSHC settings.