This project examines whether the ICMM critical control approach widely used across the mining industry to manage fatal and catastrophic safety risks can be effectively applied to the management of psychosocial risks.
Psychosocial risk management is a legislative requirement under Australian workplace health and safety laws, and organisations must demonstrate that they are identifying, assessing, and controlling factors that may cause psychological harm at work.
Although a substantial and growing body of guidance exists across academic, government, and industry sources, there has been no comprehensive review to determine which control measures are most effective and most relevant to the specific context of the NSW coal mining industry.
As part of the project, Professor Maureen Hassall - research lead - is facilitating two workshops in Argenton and Woonona in April and May 2026 to gain insights from people working within the NSW coal mining industry.
These workshops will examine how critical control management can be adapted to strengthen psychosocial safety in NSW coal mines.
Your insights and on the ground experience is essential to shaping practical, evidence based guidance for the sector to improve psychosocial safety outcomes across NSW coal mines.
- identify controls that prevent psychosocial risk events, and
- identify controls that mitigate the consequences when such events occur.
- selection of critical controls,
- development of control performance specifications,
- verification processes, and
- integration of psychosocial controls into existing safety‑critical control systems used to manage fatality‑related risks.
NSW Coal Mine Trust