ISO 45003

ISO 45003, explained for NZ and Australian workplaces

ISO 45003 is international guidance on managing psychological health and safety at work. It helps organisations spot psychosocial hazards, such as workload, isolation or poor support, and act on them. Our confidential psychosocial risk assessment is informed by ISO 45003 guidance and gives leaders anonymous, aggregated findings to act on. It is not ISO certification.

What ISO 45003 is

ISO 45003 is a guidance standard on psychological health and safety at work. ISO 45003:2021 sits under ISO 45001, the occupational health and safety management standard, and it focuses on psychosocial risk: the way work is designed and managed, and the way people are treated, when that harms health. It is written for organisations. It is not a test an employee sits, and it is not a badge an employer hangs on a wall because a vendor said so.

Guidance means it describes a way to identify hazards, assess risk and put controls in place. WellbeingSolutions does not issue an ISO 45003 certificate. When we say our assessment is informed by ISO 45003 guidance, we mean the questions and the reporting are shaped by that guidance. Buying the assessment does not turn your organisation into an ISO 45003 organisation.

If you want the standard in ISO’s own words, read ISO’s description of ISO 45003. This page is a plain-English guide, not a substitute for the standard.

Psychosocial hazards, in plain language

A psychosocial hazard is a feature of work that can harm health. Leaders usually recognise the examples: workload that never comes down, unclear roles, little control over the job, poor support, isolation on a remote site or a hybrid week, shift patterns that fight sleep, customer aggression, and change that arrives by email. These are conditions of the work.

Our pages for schools, corporate teams and care show how those settings differ. The hazard list is still the guidance list.

How NZ and Australian workplaces use the guidance

New Zealand’s Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 expects a person conducting a business or undertaking to manage risks, including risks to psychological health. Australian WHS laws ask businesses to identify and control psychosocial hazards. Regulators publish their own codes, guides and, in some states, specific regulations. Those documents change, and they are the source to check. This page does not restate them as a legal opinion.

A practical reading, next to those duties, is to look for the hazards, talk with workers, decide which risks matter most, put controls in place and review them. An assessment can feed that process. Leaders still choose the control and look again later.

WellbeingSolutions can support you to identify and manage psychosocial risks, part of your duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. In Australia, our confidential psychosocial risk assessment collects anonymous workforce feedback and reports it in aggregate. It helps organisations spot patterns in workload, relationships and working conditions. It is not a WorkSafe tool, a SafeWork tool or a guarantee. Using it is not a claim that a duty has been met.

What the assessment asks, and what it never is

The assessment takes about 8–12 minutes. It can be sent by text, email or QR code, and it does not ask for personal health information. Agree what is collected, who receives it and a minimum group size so a small team cannot be picked out of a chart.

Findings are anonymous and aggregated. A report might show that workload or support stands out for a site. It will not name a condition for a person. It is not a medical examination and it does not follow an individual through the year. Participation should be voluntary. Responses should not be used for recruitment, disciplinary, performance or site-access decisions.

Prices are published. Up to 100 staff, including Small Teams, the add-on is $2,995 a year. It is $4,495 for 101–249 staff and $6,995 for 250–499. Five hundred or more is by quote, with a minimum of $6,995. On a 3-year agreement, year 1 is 50% off until 11:59pm NZDT, Tuesday 15 December 2026. Years 2 and 3 are the full tier price, plus CPI. A 1-year agreement pays the full tier price. The assessment is not part of the free pilot. Read the full wording on the psychosocial page and the pricing page.

Where SMS check-ins fit

ISO 45003 is about the system of work. A text check-in is a way to reach a person between assessments. They answer different questions. The assessment looks at hazards across a group. The check-in asks one person if they are OK today and, if they are not, triages them to professional support. Leaders still see only anonymous trends from the check-ins.

AI-4U is separate again. It is a navigation chat that guides people to helplines and professional support. It is not counselling, not a clinical service and not an emergency service. It can be part of a New Zealand pilot if you choose it. It is not part of the Australian pilot, which is SMS check-ins. Neither the chat nor the text is a psychosocial assessment, and neither one is ISO certification.

Many organisations start with a short pilot of check-ins, then an assessment when they want a structured view of hazards. Others start with the assessment because a board has asked for a baseline. The pilot is free for up to 10 staff for two weeks. The assessment is priced.

What to do with the findings

Aggregated findings are useful when they become a control, not a slide. If workload stands out, look at staffing, deadlines and what can stop. If isolation stands out, look at lone work, remote days and who a person can call. If support stands out, look at manager routines and whether the EAP is known and usable. Talk with workers about the controls. Review them. Keep the notes in your own risk process.

We provide the check-in, the triage path and, if you buy it, the assessment report. Your leaders decide the action. The operational detail is on the psychosocial risk assessment page. The trial is the free pilot. The numbers are on pricing.

Questions about ISO 45003