Learn how psychosocial risk can emerge through the way work is designed, managed and experienced. Using the 4D Human Work System — Design, Demands, Dynamics and Defences — this course provides a practical approach to recognising risk, investigating underlying work conditions and identifying effective controls.
Psychosocial Risk Management Training
Harm by Design: Managing Psychosocial Risk Through Work System Design explores psychosocial risk through the conditions of work itself.
Rather than focusing only on individual responses to workplace pressure, this course introduces a practical systems approach to psychosocial risk management. Learners examine how work is designed, what it demands of people, how those conditions are experienced in practice, and whether organisational controls are working as intended.
At the centre of the course is the 4D Human Work System:
🟧 DESIGN — How is the work structured?
🟦 DEMANDS — What does the work require of people?
🟩 DYNAMICS — How is the work experienced in practice?
🟪 DEFENCES — What prevents or limits harm?
What You’ll Learn
By completing this course, learners will develop a practical understanding of how to:
- recognise psychosocial hazards and early indicators of risk
- apply the 4D Human Work System to workplace situations
- identify hidden work, workarounds and compensating behaviours
- distinguish visible symptoms from underlying work conditions
- examine how Design, Demands, Dynamics and Defences interact
- use consultation, observation and workplace evidence when investigating risk
- identify controls that address conditions creating or sustaining exposure
- develop practical actions with clear ownership and review measures
- monitor whether controls are working as intended.
Who Is This Course For?
This course is suitable for managers, supervisors, team leaders, WHS professionals, health and safety representatives and others involved in managing people, work design or workplace risk.
It is particularly useful for people who want to move beyond simply identifying psychosocial hazards and develop a more practical understanding of how work systems can create, increase or sustain exposure.
A Systems Approach to Psychosocial Risk
Effective psychosocial risk management involves looking beyond whether the work is getting done.
Workers may compensate for weaknesses in a system by working additional hours, skipping breaks, creating workarounds, repeatedly checking work, covering staffing gaps or relying heavily on individual expertise.
These behaviours can keep work moving while making weaknesses in the work system less visible.
The 4D approach encourages learners to ask:
What is happening in the work system that is creating or increasing this exposure — and what can we change?
Course Assessment
Learners complete a final assessment that applies the concepts explored throughout the course to practical workplace situations.
The assessment considers understanding of the 4D Human Work System, hidden work, systemic risk factors, consultation, control selection and review of psychosocial risk controls.
Allow approximately 60–75 minutes to complete the course and final assessment. Learners can progress through the course at their own pace.
