Most leaders support psychosocial safety in principle, but updated WHS regulations have raised the bar on what genuine commitment looks like in practice. Knowing when and how to act is key to compliance and a safe, healthy working environment.
It’s not often you see tears of relief in the workplace. But last week, a client told me their team literally cried when a toxic employee was finally shown the door. One person said to me, “I’ve never worked in an organisation that acted on this before.”
That’s heartbreaking. Not because someone lost their job, but because it’s such a rare experience for employees to see leadership take decisive action on a known hazard.
For years, many organisations have nodded along to the importance of mental health and workplace safety. They’ve put posters on the wall, run the occasional awareness session and updated their policies. But when it comes to actually acting on behaviours that undermine wellbeing, many hesitate. Why? Because it’s uncomfortable. Because it’s risky. And because they fear the blowback.
But failing to act isn’t neutral – it’s costly. The new WHS regulations around psychosocial hazards are a wake-up call. Bullying, harassment, unreasonable workloads, role ambiguity and toxic behaviours are not “soft” issues; they’re compliance issues with real penalties for organisations and leaders who ignore them.
The law is now clear: if you know about a hazard, you must act. And yes, toxic people are a hazard.
Leadership courage is commercially smart
Some leaders still think removing a damaging individual will harm the business in the short term. The reality is that keeping them is often far more expensive.
Toxic behaviours erode trust, damage performance and push your best talent to leave. The silent churn, the disengagement and the absenteeism all hit the bottom line. And let’s not forget the reputational damage when word gets out (and it almost always does).
The leaders who step up and have the courage to act decisively, fairly and in line with both the law and their values aren’t just creating safer workplaces. They’re making commercially savvy decisions that protect brand, culture and profit.
From lip service to leadership
Talk is cheap. Real leadership is about what you do, not what you say. If you claim to value psychological safety but fail to address a person everyone knows is causing harm, your credibility tanks. Employees notice, and they remember.
On the other hand, when they see you take action not in anger, but in alignment with process, compliance and care, it builds enormous trust. In the client case I mentioned, the ripple effect was immediate: morale lifted, collaboration returned and productivity jumped.
A playbook for meaningful action
For businesses to move from lip service to action, the following steps are critical:
- Know your obligations: Understand the WHS psychosocial regulations and your duty to act on hazards.
- Listen deeply: Create safe channels for employees to speak up, and take concerns seriously.
- Act promptly and fairly: Investigate with integrity, follow due process and document everything.
- Lead with values: Make it clear your culture doesn’t tolerate behaviours that harm others.
- Communicate transparently: Without breaching confidentiality, let your teams know action was taken to protect them.
The business case for bravery
Creating a great place to work isn’t just about perks and parties – it’s about removing the barriers that stop people from doing their best work. Acting on psychosocial hazards isn’t “soft” leadership. It’s hard, it’s sometimes messy, but it’s the work that actually fuels human potential.
And here’s the kicker: when you protect your people, they’ll protect your business.
If you’re wondering what “the right time” is to address any toxic behaviour you’ve been witnessing in your organisation, that time is now.
At AHRI’s National Convention and Exhibition in Sydney this year, DLPA will be exploring what real action looks like, and how it can be both legally compliant and commercially brilliant. Because enough is enough. It’s time to back up the talk with the kind of leadership that changes lives and transforms organisations.