Psychosocial Risks: do you know what you’re looking for? — Part 1

by Daisy Gauthier | Oct 22, 2026 | Psychological Health in the Workplace, Psychosocial risk prevention

Psychosocial Risks:
do you know what you’re looking for?

You have probably read or heard many of these words:

Work-Related Psychosocial Risks Infographic

All of these terms come up when we talk about work-related psychosocial risks (PSRs). Each refers to a distinct reality, and the distinction is far from theoretical. It changes what an organization observes, what it seeks to prevent and, ultimately, the measures it puts in place.

Work-Related Psychosocial Risks Infographic (1)

Work is never neutral

Psychosocial factors are present long before a problem arises. They are found in how work is distributed, in decisions, available resources, relationships, the degree of latitude people are given, and the way efforts are recognized. They are part of the work itself.

The CNESST recognizes five factors:

Workload
Recognition
Support at work
Decision-making autonomy
Organizational justice

Each of these factors can act as a risk factor or a protective factor, depending on the conditions in which it operates.

Here is how two of them can play this dual role.

Take workload. Work can be demanding while remaining sustainable when the resources are there to meet the demands, priorities are clear and support is accessible. The work remains demanding, but it remains manageable. When demands consistently exceed available resources, emergencies pile up, priorities conflict and support is lacking, the picture changes.

Decision-making autonomy offers another good example. It allows people to exercise their judgment and draw on their skills, and it is fully expressed within a clear framework, with the necessary resources and support. When these reference points disappear, what was meant to provide latitude can instead become a source of pressure.

Psychosocial factors are distinguished by how they manifest in real work, an area where the organization can act.

Risk rarely develops around a single factor

Imagine that a position remains vacant.

The workload increases.
The manager, already overwhelmed, becomes less available.
Priorities change frequently.
Some decisions are not explained as clearly.
Irritants build up within the team.

Taken individually, each of these elements tells a fragment of the story. Together, they reveal a work configuration that can become a source of risk. It is therefore not the factor itself that determines the risk. It is how it fits within the broader working conditions. This organizational dynamic most often consists of several factors that accumulate and interact. A single factor, when sufficiently severe or prolonged, can also be enough.

A common pitfall is turning the identification of PSRs into an inventory.

Check off “workload.”

Check off “support at work.”

Check off “recognition.”

Then consider the exercise complete.

Identifying the risk factors present in a workplace is a starting point. The next step is to observe how they combine in the work of teams and act on the conditions so that these same factors protect rather than weaken.

Risks that have a name

Harassment, violence and exposure to a potentially traumatic event refer to concrete situations that can affect health, safety and physical and psychological integrity. These are the PSRs that the CNESST prioritizes among the predominant work-related risks in Quebec.

Here again, prevention means looking before the situation is fully established.

Harassment, for example, can be preceded by warning signs: repeated incivility, persistent tensions, behaviors that become normalized, a growing sense of discomfort. These signs give reason to look at what may be developing, well before it is possible to conclude that harassment has occurred.

In the case of violence, some events arise without warning. Others occur in contexts where exposure or certain signs were already known. Prevention then means recognizing these contexts and preparing to act before the situation escalates.

The same logic applies to exposure to a potentially traumatic event.

Some events remain unpredictable. When the risk is known, however, it becomes possible to reduce exposure, prepare intervention mechanisms, clarify roles and strengthen protective factors.

Prevention is as much about recognizing what can be anticipated as it is about preparing for it, knowing how to intervene when the situation requires it, and supporting the people who experience its consequences.

Identifying PSRs therefore means going beyond what is already going wrong: it means understanding what, in the work itself, protects people, makes them more vulnerable, or exposes them. Once these risks have been identified, what does the Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime (LMRSST), commonly referred to as Law 27, require in order to address them?

The second part of this series will answer this question and provide a better understanding of the next steps in the process.

Daisy Gauthier is an expert in workplace psychological health and occupational health and safety. A specialist in work-related psychosocial risks, her career has taken her from the field to consulting, contributing to the evolution of prevention practices in Quebec. Today, through Désia, she supports workplaces as a speaker, trainer, and strategic advisor.

Law 27: Transforming compliance into a continuous improvement process

by Daisy Gauthier | Aug 21, 2026 | Psychological Health in the Workplace

Law 27: Transforming compliance into a continuous improvement process

“I didn’t know who to talk to about it.”

A manager overheard this sentence, her office door barely closed. Since the beginning of summer, an employee has been receiving inappropriate remarks from a colleague.

The harassment policy exists. So does the prevention program. On paper, everything is in place.

Twenty years spent entering workplaces as different as factories, hospitals, schools, and offices have allowed me to observe a gap worth examining (to make this observation): : The difference between a prevention framework that strictly meets the requirements and a workplace that concretely protects its people appears when practices meet the reality on the ground.

The example of a fire drill illustrates this well. An evacuation plan may exist, responsibilities assigned, and exits identified. The real test, however, comes when the alarm actually sounds.

In workplace mental health, the logic is the same. A situation arises, management must intervene, a team looks for guidance. The natural reflex is sometimes to shift responsibility to one person: “That’s Josée’s responsibility in HR.” That reflex is precisely a signal that something needs to be corrected: occupational health and safety is built on shared roles, not a single point of entry.

The framework exists. When it is time to act, who actually knows what to do?

Compliance establishes responsibilities, mechanisms, and preventive measures—an essential foundation. The challenge then becomes developing the capacity to recognize situations, intervene at the right time, and mobilize appropriate mechanisms when reality puts them to the test.

Psychosocial risks take various forms, such as harassment that builds through accumulation, violence that escalates quickly, or a traumatic event whose effects persist long after it is over.

An organization capable to be in action goes beyond simply setting up mechanisms. It knows how to prevent, intervene, and support, depending on what the situation requires.

Act at the right time

To prevent, means taking action upstream.

It is about paying attention to psychosocial factors such as workload, support, recognition, decision-making autonomy, and organizational justice in order to reduce risks and strengthen what protects people.

It also means taking early warning signs seriously, including rising tension, repeated incivilities, and expressed unease, before the situation escalates further.

To intervene , is to be able to act when a situation arises.

The roles are known, the mechanisms accessible. People know who to turn to, so they can act diligently rather than improvising.

To support, is to pay attention to the people involved, and the consequences of what has been experienced.

Support often extends beyond the end of the event: maintaining a presence, facilitating access to resources, and adapting certain working conditions. This also ensures that someone who previously admitted not knowing who to talk to will know exactly who to contact and what their role is in the future.

These three dimensions are interconnected. What an organization learns through intervention and support informs its future prevention efforts. A strong prevention plan strengthens its capacity to act when a problem arises.

Continuous improvement is based on this ability to learn from experience and adjust prevention over time.

An action plan is not a finish line

To guide action, a structured approach remains essential: identify, analyze, correct, and control.

IIdentify means recognizing the risks and risk factors present in the workplace.

Analyze means understanding and prioritizing the situations observed and their potential effects on people’s health, safety and integrity.

Correct means putting measures in place that are adapted to the reality of the workplace and acting on the conditions at the source of the risks.

Control means verifying whether the measures are applied, whether they remain relevant and whether they produce the desired effects.

Then adjust as work evolves. An action plan, like prevention, remains an ongoing process.

Bringing prevention to life

Let’s get back to our fire drill example.

The evacuation plan displayed on the wall shows what should be done. Its actual effectiveness depends on committed leadership, committed teams, clear roles, a structured approach, and the ability to adjust where necessary.

In mental health at work, an approach comes to life through decisions, management practices and responses to signals emerging from work, going beyond the recognition of risks, into the ability to act concretely.

Compliance provides the framework. Continuous improvement develops the ability to bring it to life.

The best prevention strategies go beyond good intentions. They are successful when employees no longer say “I didn’t know who to talk to” because they will know what to look for, what to do, and how to respond.

Daisy Gauthier is an expert in workplace mental health and occupational health and safety. A specialist in work-related psychosocial risks, her career has taken her from fieldwork to consulting, contributing to the evolution of prevention practices in Quebec. Today, with Désia, she supports workplaces as a speaker, trainer, and strategic advisor.