Prohibiting redundancies signals major shift in regulator action
Source: HR Daily (04.09.2025) - Subscription service
Ordering an employer to halt its restructuring plan is a "significant development" in the way workplace health and safety regulators approach psychosocial hazards, a lawyer says.
"An inspector's power to issue a prohibition notice arises if the inspector reasonably believes that an activity is occurring, or may occur, at a workplace that involves or will involve a serious risk to the health or safety of a person emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard," King & Wood Mallesons' senior consultant Brett Feltham tells HR Daily.
"[The prohibition action] clearly demonstrates that ensuring the proper management of psychosocial hazards remains a significant focus for the safety regulator," he adds.
SafeWork NSW has confirmed to HR Daily's associate publication OHS Alert that it issued a prohibition notice to the University of Technology, following allegations of risk of psychological harm.
SafeWork NSW didn't reveal further details of the notice, but according to the National Tertiary Education Union, UTS must cancel all meetings with staff about its planned staff cuts, and pause the release of the change proposal itself – which was expected to be rolled out this week.
Feltham says psychosocial safety has remained a "hot topic" this year, and safety regulators across Australia have "shifted their focus from education and information sharing to compliance".
However, he's not aware of a regulator issuing a prohibition notice in these circumstances previously, and he considers the move "a significant development" in approaches taken to psychosocial safety.
"Common psychosocial hazards identified in relevant codes and by the safety regulator include job insecurity and poor organisational change management – those issues can potentially arise in a restructuring context," Feltham says.
The expectation is clear – employers must be able to clearly demonstrate that they have identified psychosocial hazards, assessed the risks, and implemented controls in that area.
Brett Feltham
SafeWork NSW says the prohibition notice will remain in place until it is satisfied that UTS has rectified the issues it raised, and that it will continue to work with the University on the matter.
"SafeWork NSW takes psychosocial risks seriously and requires employers to manage them like any other health and safety issue," its spokeperson says.
Change plans "disastrous": union
According to the NTEU, there are two ongoing disputes with UTS management in the Fair Work Commission, over its plan to axe 400 jobs and pause student intake in more than 100 courses.
NTEU NSW division secretary, Vince Caughley, says these are "disastrous change plans", demonstrating that the University's management have "underestimated the serious and damaging impacts their choices have on staff and the community".
"SafeWork NSW's intervention is a rare and damning rebuke that underlines just how reckless these cuts have been," he says.
