A comparative analysis of inspector responses to complaints about psychosocial and physical hazards

Work Health and Safety Inspectors are at the front line of efforts to protect workers against harm from psychosocial hazards, yet the application of regulatory theory in this area of practice has not been adequately explored. Drawing on models of responsive regulation (Ayres and Braithwaite, 1992) and strategic enforcement (Weil, 2008, 2010), we analyze extensive (N=46,348) complaint and incident notification data from an Australian Work Health and Safety Inspectorate in order to compare Inspectors’ responses to psychosocial versus non-psychosocial hazards. We found that psychosocial hazards were less likely to be actioned than non-psychosocial hazards. When actioned, psychosocial hazards saw more Inspector activity (phone calls, correspondence, site visits), yet fewer enforcement notices than non-psychosocial hazards. Since these findings are not consistent with the version of responsive regulation adopted by the regulator, our theoretical conclusion is that Weil’s strategic enforcement approach offers greater possibilities for guiding future resource allocation.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Popple, S., Way, K., Johnstone, R., Croucher, R. and Miller, P. (2022), A comparative analysis of Inspector responses to complaints about psychosocial and physical hazards. Regulation & Governance., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12447. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.