Understanding Protective Factors in Psychosocial Risk Assessment

Many Australian organisations are now routinely assessing psychosocial hazards as part of their WHS obligations. But a common point of confusion remains: how should protective factors - job resources such as support, autonomy, and role clarity - be considered in psychosocial risk assessment?

Some organisations over-weight job resources, or fail to assess job demands at all, unintentionally minimising exposure to serious hazards. Others ignore protective factors altogether, potentially overstating psychosocial risk. Both approaches can lead to poor decision-making, ineffective controls, and regulatory risk.

Protective factors play an important role in shaping how psychosocial hazards are experienced - but they are not hazards in reverse, and they do not eliminate risk on their own. Understanding where, when, and how to consider job resources is critical for conducting defensible, evidence-based psychosocial risk assessments.

In this free* one-hour webinar, Jason and Tim will discuss the results of FlourishDx’s December 2025 research on psychosocial factors with 900 participants. Referring to evidence from this study, they will unpack the role of protective factors through a psychosocial risk management lens. This knowledge will assist HSE and P&C professionals appropriately consider job demands and job resources without undermining compliance or worker mental health protection.

Our expert presenters will cover:

• What protective factors (job resources) are - and what they are not
• How protective factors interact with psychosocial hazards and harm
• When protective factors should (and should not) influence risk ratings
• Practical guidance for integrating protective factors into psychosocial risk assessment and control design

Who should attend?

This webinar is designed specifically for people and safety professionals working in large organisations (>250-10,000+ employees) with responsibility for:

• Occupational Health
• Health and Safety
• People and Culture
• Human Resources
• Learning and Development
• Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Sustainability/ESG

About FlourishDx

FlourishDx (www.flourishdx.com) is an end-to-end provider of psychological health and safety services. We blend consulting expertise with education and technology to help our clients achieve a psychologically healthy workplace where harm is prevented and the conditions are created for workers to thrive.

We educate people and safety professionals on best practice mental health at work every week through our Psych Health and Safety podcast, Live Webinars, and on-demand courses from the FlourishDx Academy.

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Register for the FlourishDx Psychosocial Safety Playbook now! (exclusively available and free for internal professionals).

* This webinar is free for people and safety professionals working internally within businesses. For a free ticket you must be working in an internally facing role and register with a valid company email address. There is not a paid ticket option for this webinar for other employment types.