Designing Workplaces to Support Psychosocial Safety

About this Webinar

As awareness grows around mental health and workplace wellbeing, psychosocial risks have emerged as a critical challenge across industries. Workplaces today are grappling with stress, burnout, harassment, and other hazards that impact employee mental health, productivity, and safety. Regulators are tightening requirements on managing psychosocial risks, demanding proactive strategies, not just reactive measures.

In this insightful and practical session, Vanessa Cooper, Principal Advisor at WorkSafe New Zealand, and Terry Buckingham, Wellbeing Lead at ASB Bank, teams up with Craig Bleakley, Safety & Risk Specialist at ecoPortal, to explore how workplace design can help prevent, identify and manage psychosocial issues before they escalate.

From real-world insights that help prevent stress and other wellbeing challenges, to leadership approaches that foster psychosocial safety, this session will be packed with practical knowledge and strategies to support better-designed workplaces.

Who will benefit

• HR and People Leaders focused on mental health, wellbeing, and inclusive workplace culture
• EHS and Risk professionals tasked with compliance to psychosocial risk regulations and frameworks
• Facilities and Operations Managers responsible for workplace design and employee experience
• Frontline Supervisors and Team Leads wanting to understand and mitigate psychosocial hazards
• C-level Executives seeking to embed wellbeing into organisational strategy and risk management

Key Talking Points

• The Rising Importance of Psychosocial Risks
  Why psychosocial hazards are now a top priority for regulators globally. What are the new laws and guidelines influencing workplace safety beyond traditional physical risks.
• How to manage psychosocial risks on the frontline
  Insights from the frontline on how workload pressure, harassment, isolation, and uncertainty affect the workplace, and how to address these issues early, before they escalate.
• Designing for Wellbeing: From Spaces to Systems
  We’ll explore how thoughtful design at every level can reduce friction, improve focus, and create safer, more supportive environments, from workspace layout to role clarity and organisational structures.
• Cultural and Policy Solutions to Psychosocial Hazards
  The role of leadership, communication, training, and employee participation in promoting psychosocial safety. How clear policies and trusted reporting mechanisms prevent harm and promote early intervention.
• The role of technology and Data
  How to balance the use of technologies like AI and monitoring tools to identify psychosocial risk patterns while respecting privacy and ethics.