Session 18. Oral Presentation for: Psychosocial risk management: learnings and key takeaways from running hazard identification workshops focusing on psychosocial management for a large energy technology equipment and service provider

Presented on 20 May 2026: Session 18 Psychosocial risk management has become an increasingly important focus across industry, driven by evolving regulatory requirements, shifting safety expectations, and a growing recognition of the impact of work-related stress on employee wellbeing and organisational performance. Operating within the high-risk energy sector, Baker Hughes (BH) faces diverse psychosocial challenges across its office-based workforce, remote field service engineers, workshop technicians, and employees working from home. These groups experience varying degrees of workload intensity, autonomy, isolation, and exposure to stressful or complex operational environments. In response to these challenges and the strengthening legislative landscape, BH developed a Psychosocial Risk Guideline in 2025 to embed psychosocial hazards within its Work Health and Safety framework. This paper examines the design and implementation of a series of psychosocial Hazard Identification workshops aimed at identifying cohort-specific hazards and evaluating the effectiveness of existing controls. The workshops incorporated representative participation across all workforce cohorts and used structured facilitation, breakout discussions, and an enhanced psychosocial risk matrix to enable deeper exploration of nuanced hazards. The process highlighted unique complexities associated with psychosocial risks – particularly the influence of individual characteristics, societal factors, and organisational culture – while also revealing barriers such as entrenched industry norms, survivorship bias, and limited understanding of the distinction between risk mitigation and elimination. Approximately 100 improvement actions were generated, reflecting strong employee engagement and providing targeted opportunities to strengthen psychosocial controls. The findings demonstrate that meaningful psychosocial risk management is achievable when organisations adopt tailored workshop methodologies, prioritise inclusive consultation, and build capability to navigate the unique complexities of psychosocial hazards. To access the Oral Presentation click ‘Supplementary data’ below. To read the full paper click here