WorkSafe research · Aotearoa New Zealand
Psychosocial risk at work in New Zealand: what the data shows
The pressures that harm mental health at work are measurable, and WorkSafe has measured them. Here's the national picture, by factor and by industry, before you look at your own.
Last reviewed July 2026. Compiled by 3 Big Things registered psychologists.
The picture, in three numbers
35%
of workers were exposed to at least one harmful behaviour at work in the past year
WorkSafe NZPS 2021
30%
report a work-related mental health issue
WorkSafe segmentation surveys
43%
of employers have no bullying and harassment policy
WorkSafe segmentation surveys
Start here
What are psychosocial hazards?
Psychosocial hazards are the parts of how work is designed and managed that can harm mental health: workload, control, clarity, leadership, and how people are treated. WorkSafe scores 24 of them out of 100, the demands that create pressure and the resources that protect against it.
These are WorkSafe's numbers, from its 2021 survey of 3,612 New Zealand workers. Each factor is a national average scored out of 100. Hover any factor to see what it measures.
New Zealand's psychosocial profile
24 work factors, scored out of 100 (all NZ workers)
Bars are on a 0 to 100 scale.
Source: WorkSafe New Zealand Psychosocial Survey 2021 (COPSOQ III, n=3,612). Population means. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
View the 24 factor scores as a table
| Factor | Type | Domain | Score /100 | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work pace | Demand | Job demands | 62.0 | How fast and intensely people have to work. |
| Demands for hiding emotions | Demand | Job demands | 50.6 | Having to conceal what you feel at work. |
| Workload (quantitative demands) | Demand | Job demands | 47.8 | Whether the amount of work fits the time available to do it. |
| Work-life conflict | Demand | Job demands | 43.5 | Work spilling into home and personal life. |
| Role conflicts | Demand | Role & clarity | 43.4 | Conflicting demands from different parts of the job. |
| Emotional demands | Demand | Job demands | 41.9 | How emotionally taxing the work is. |
| Illegitimate tasks | Demand | Role & clarity | 41.0 | Being asked to do tasks that should not be yours. |
| Job insecurity | Demand | Fairness & security | 40.0 | Worry about losing the job. |
| Insecurity over conditions | Demand | Fairness & security | 24.3 | Worry about unwanted changes to hours, place or duties. |
| Sense of community | Resource | Leadership & support | 76.1 | Belonging and a good atmosphere among colleagues. |
| Role clarity | Resource | Role & clarity | 75.1 | Knowing what is expected of you. |
| Meaning of work | Resource | Reward & growth | 70.7 | Feeling the work matters. |
| Support from colleagues | Resource | Leadership & support | 68.4 | Practical help from peers when needed. |
| Support from supervisors | Resource | Leadership & support | 68.3 | Practical help from managers when needed. |
| Job satisfaction | Resource | Reward & growth | 67.0 | Overall satisfaction with the job. |
| Horizontal trust | Resource | Fairness & security | 66.4 | Trust between colleagues. |
| Vertical trust | Resource | Fairness & security | 65.2 | Trust between staff and management. |
| Possibilities for development | Resource | Reward & growth | 64.7 | Chances to learn and grow. |
| Recognition | Resource | Reward & growth | 64.6 | Being recognised and rewarded fairly. |
| Control over working time | Resource | Control & influence | 60.9 | Say over breaks and when to take time off. |
| Organisational justice | Resource | Fairness & security | 60.5 | Whether work and conflicts are handled fairly. |
| Predictability | Resource | Role & clarity | 60.1 | Getting information you need ahead of time. |
| Quality of leadership | Resource | Leadership & support | 55.5 | How well managers plan, resolve conflict and prioritise wellbeing. |
| Influence at work | Resource | Control & influence | 55.3 | Say over how the work gets done. |
How we compare
New Zealand vs Australia
Measured on the same factors, New Zealand workplaces come out more connected than Australia's, and more pressured. Peer support and community run well ahead. So do work pace and job insecurity. Job satisfaction lands identically, 67 out of 100 in both.
+15 pts
Peer support
NZ 68 · AU 53
+9 pts
Sense of community
NZ 76 · AU 68
+6 pts
Job insecurity
NZ 40 · AU 34
Same instrument (COPSOQ III), different years (NZ 2021, Australia 2023) and samples, so it's a fair comparison, not a lab-exact one. Australia is ahead of us on the law as well as the data.
See all 23 comparable factors
Scores out of 100, sorted by the size of the gap. Control over working time is not shown because Australia didn't measure it.
Source: WorkSafe NZ Psychosocial Survey 2021; Australian benchmarks, Arnold et al 2025 (COPSOQ III, n=2,446).
Explore by industry
Which industries carry the most psychosocial risk?
Risk isn't spread evenly. A healthcare worker is more than twice as likely to face a threat of violence as the average New Zealander at work. A forestry crew carries the highest anxiety and bullying of the high-risk sectors. Manufacturing's pressure sits in leadership and job security, not workload. Select an industry to see how it compares to the national benchmark.
Our read
The national pressure points are work pace, hidden emotions and workload. The weakest protections are the quality of leadership and how much say people have over their own work. That is the good news, because those are the two things leaders most directly control.
Raises risk here
Protects here
43%
of employers have no bullying and harassment policy
The readiness gap: 87% say they feel responsible for staff mental health
See all the figures for all NZ workers
| Measure | All NZ workers |
|---|---|
| Psychological harm · % reporting in the last 12 months | |
| Any mental health issue | 30% |
| Anxiety | 31% |
| Depression | 20% |
| Exposure to harmful behaviour · % exposed in the last 12 months | |
| Bullying | 23% |
| Cyberbullying | 16% |
| Threats of violence | 14% |
| Sexual harassment | 11% |
| Physical violence | 11% |
| Employer readiness · % of employers without a policy | |
| No bullying & harassment policy | 43% |
| No violent-incident policy | 47% |
Source: WorkSafe New Zealand Psychosocial Survey 2021 (n=3,612) and workforce segmentation surveys. Benchmark = all NZ workers. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
Our read
The harm here isn't a workload number. It's the emotional weight of the work and the risk of being hurt on shift: emotional demands run at one and a half times the national score, and more than one in three workers faced a threat of violence last year. The lever isn't asking people to cope better; it's staffing, security and recovery time designed into the roster.
Raises risk here
Protects here
1 in 3
faced a threat of violence in the past year
More than double the national rate (34% vs 14%)
See all the figures for healthcare
| Measure | Healthcare | All NZ workers |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure to harmful behaviour · % exposed in the last 12 months | ||
| Bullying | 33% | 23% |
| Threats of violence | 34% | 14% |
| Sexual harassment | 12% | 11% |
Source: WorkSafe, A psychosocial survey of healthcare workers 2022 (n=1,067). Benchmark = all NZ workers. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
Our read
Nothing looks wrong on the surface. Construction workers rate their health much like everyone else, and the pressure is in how the work runs: a faster pace, conflicting demands between roles, and cyberbullying at a quarter above the national rate. The lever is workload design and how role conflict gets resolved, long before it reaches a crisis.
Raises risk here
Protects here
About 5
construction workers die by work-related suicide each year
Every case from 2017 to 2021 involved significant work-related stressors
See all the figures for construction
| Measure | Construction | All NZ workers |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological harm · % reporting in the last 12 months | ||
| Any mental health issue | 25% | 30% |
| Anxiety | 16% | 31% |
| Depression | 14% | 20% |
| High stress | 14% | — |
| Exposure to harmful behaviour · % exposed in the last 12 months | ||
| Bullying | 22% | 23% |
| Cyberbullying | 20% | 16% |
| Threats of violence | 16% | 14% |
| Sexual harassment | 11% | 11% |
| Physical violence | 10% | 11% |
| Employer readiness · % of employers without a policy | ||
| No bullying & harassment policy | 41% | 43% |
| No violent-incident policy | 48% | 47% |
Source: WorkSafe construction psychosocial risk profile 2025. Benchmark = all NZ workers. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
Our read
Manufacturing's pressure isn't the demands of the work itself. Emotional demands actually run below the national average. It's leadership and security: quality of leadership, trust in management and meaning of work all sit below the benchmark, and job insecurity above it. The lever is the layer between the floor and the office: capable frontline leaders, and honesty about job security.
Raises risk here
Protects here
1 in 4
experienced bullying, above the national rate
26% vs a national 23%; physical violence also runs above benchmark
See all the figures for manufacturing
| Measure | Manufacturing | All NZ workers |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological harm · % reporting in the last 12 months | ||
| Any mental health issue | 25% | 30% |
| Anxiety | 18% | 31% |
| Depression | 13% | 20% |
| High stress | 12% | — |
| Exposure to harmful behaviour · % exposed in the last 12 months | ||
| Bullying | 26% | 23% |
| Cyberbullying | 17% | 16% |
| Threats of violence | 14% | 14% |
| Sexual harassment | 11% | 11% |
| Physical violence | 13% | 11% |
| Employer readiness · % of employers without a policy | ||
| No bullying & harassment policy | 25% | 43% |
| No violent-incident policy | 43% | 47% |
Source: WorkSafe manufacturing psychosocial risk profile 2025. Benchmark = all NZ workers. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
Our read
Agriculture reports the strongest self-rated health and fairness of any industry, and the country's highest work-related suicide toll. Those two facts together are the mechanism: isolation and long hours don't show up in how people say they're doing. The lever is connection and workload rhythm, especially for sole operators.
Raises risk here
Protects here
~12
work-related suicide deaths a year across agriculture, forestry and fishing
About 18% of all work-related suicides; 83% were farmers or farm workers
See all the figures for agriculture
| Measure | Agriculture | All NZ workers |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological harm · % reporting in the last 12 months | ||
| Any mental health issue | 20% | 30% |
| Anxiety | 13% | 31% |
| Depression | 13% | 20% |
| High stress | 14% | — |
| Exposure to harmful behaviour · % exposed in the last 12 months | ||
| Bullying | 22% | 23% |
| Cyberbullying | 17% | 16% |
| Threats of violence | 13% | 14% |
| Sexual harassment | 10% | 11% |
| Physical violence | 11% | 11% |
| Employer readiness · % of employers without a policy | ||
| No bullying & harassment policy | 47% | 43% |
| No violent-incident policy | 52% | 47% |
Source: WorkSafe agriculture psychosocial risk profile 2025. Benchmark = all NZ workers. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
Our read
Forestry crews report strong influence and predictability in the work itself. The load is interpersonal: the highest anxiety, depression and bullying of the four high-risk sectors. The lever is crew leadership, because what's normal on the skid site is set by whoever runs it.
Raises risk here
Protects here
29%
experienced bullying, the highest rate outside healthcare
National rate: 23%
See all the figures for forestry
| Measure | Forestry | All NZ workers |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological harm · % reporting in the last 12 months | ||
| Any mental health issue | 20% | 30% |
| Anxiety | 20% | 31% |
| Depression | 17% | 20% |
| High stress | 16% | — |
| Exposure to harmful behaviour · % exposed in the last 12 months | ||
| Bullying | 29% | 23% |
| Cyberbullying | 17% | 16% |
| Threats of violence | 13% | 14% |
| Sexual harassment | 7% | 11% |
| Physical violence | 7% | 11% |
| Employer readiness · % of employers without a policy | ||
| No bullying & harassment policy | 33% | 43% |
| No violent-incident policy | 40% | 47% |
Source: WorkSafe forestry psychosocial risk profile 2025. Benchmark = all NZ workers. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
Our read
Retail is strong where many sectors are weak: development, colleague support, leadership quality. The strain comes from the customer side and thin role design, with low meaning, low supervisor support and low clarity. The lever is role design and real incident response for customer abuse, not another service-standards module.
Raises risk here
Protects here
23.4%
report persistent burnout, stress or cognitive strain
Nearly one in four retail workers
See all the figures for retail
| Measure | Retail | All NZ workers |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure to harmful behaviour · % exposed in the last 12 months | ||
| Bullying | 20.6% | 23% |
| Cyberbullying | 18.6% | 16% |
| Threats of violence | 16.2% | 14% |
Source: WorkSafe, Psychosocial survey of the retail sector 2023 (n=1,036). Benchmark = all NZ workers. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
That's the picture for your industry. The conversation that matters is about your organisation: your teams, your pressures, your starting point.
The human cost
Between 2017 and 2021, WorkSafe identified 197 work-related suicides
In construction and manufacturing, every one of those cases involved significant work-related stressors.
That's what psychosocial risk is when it's left unmanaged. This page is about seeing it earlier.
Source: WorkSafe New Zealand, work-related suicide findings 2017 to 2021.
Who carries the load
Who is most exposed to harm at work in New Zealand?
Exposure isn't evenly shared. Māori workers report higher rates of every harmful behaviour WorkSafe measures, and Pacific workers are elevated on every one too. But it isn't only about who you are. Long hours, frontline roles and mid-size workplaces all raise exposure on their own. That's the pattern worth seeing: risk tracks how the work is set up, not the character of the worker.
Māori workers
All 5
harmful behaviours run higher for Māori workers
On every harmful behaviour WorkSafe measures, Māori workers are more exposed, and Pacific workers are too. That points at the work, not the workers. It tracks the roles, industries and conditions where harm already runs higher. Change those, and the gap closes.
% exposed in the last 12 months · scale to 30%
Working 61+ hours a week
26% vs 11%
physical violence for 61+ hour weeks, against all workers
Long hours track with far more physical violence, 26% against 11% for all workers. The hours don't throw the punch. They cluster in the shift and frontline settings where the risk already lives.
% exposed in the last 12 months · scale to 30%
Firms of 50 to 99 staff
28%
bullying, the highest rate of any workplace size
Mid-size firms, 50 to 99 staff, report the most bullying of any size. Big enough to lose the visibility of a small team, not yet resourced like a large one, so behaviour goes unmanaged.
% exposed in the last 12 months · scale to 30%
Frontline service workers
~2x
the threats and physical violence of the average worker
Customer-facing roles face about double the threats and physical violence. The public contact is the exposure, and it's designable: security, staffing, and how a bad interaction gets handled.
% exposed in the last 12 months · scale to 30%
Source: WorkSafe New Zealand Psychosocial Survey 2021, exposure by ethnicity, hours worked, workplace size and occupation. Younger workers (18 to 29) and recent migrants also report above-average exposure. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
Across time
Is psychosocial risk in New Zealand getting better?
Honestly, we barely know. Only two measures have been tracked across survey waves, and both spiked in 2023 before easing in 2025. The deeper national survey has run once, in 2021, so there's no trend line for most hazards yet. WorkSafe's 2026 survey has just been fielded. When those results land, we'll update this page.
Source: WorkSafe New Zealand, Workforce Insights Programme, waves 2021, 2023 and 2025. © WorkSafe New Zealand.
View the trend data as a table
| Measure | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sexual harassment | 10% | 18% | 14% |
| Threats of violence | 14% | 18% | 11% |
The legislative picture
The rules are narrowing. The duty is not.
The duty to manage psychosocial risk has been in the Health and Safety at Work Act since 2015, and the 2026 reform doesn't change it.
What good looks like
What national data can't tell you
National data shows where risk concentrates across the country. It can't show where it sits in your teams, which is the only version that lets you act.
The organisations we work with that do this well share a pattern. They measure the work factors, not just how people feel, so they know the difference between a morale dip and a design problem. They start with the factors leaders control, because that's where the fastest gains are. And they treat it as a cycle, not a survey, because a hazard you measured once and never checked again isn't managed.
That's what a psychosocial hazard assessment gives you: the same 24 factors you've just seen nationally, measured in your own workforce, interpreted by registered psychologists who know New Zealand workplaces.
Quick answers
The questions people ask about psychosocial risk in New Zealand
How common are psychosocial hazards in New Zealand?
Common enough that most boards underestimate it. In WorkSafe's national survey, 35% of workers were exposed to at least one harmful behaviour in a year, 30% reported a work-related mental health issue, and 60% reported work-related stress. About one in five experienced workplace bullying.
Which industry has the highest psychosocial risk?
Healthcare, on the available evidence. Healthcare workers report the highest exposure to threats of violence (34%, against a 14% national benchmark) and the highest bullying rate of any surveyed sector (33%), alongside emotional demands far above average. Forestry, construction and manufacturing each carry serious risks of their own.
What are the most common psychosocial hazards?
The biggest pressures nationally are work pace, the need to hide emotions, and heavy workloads. The weakest protections are the quality of leadership and how much influence people have over their own work. Those last two matter most, because they're the ones leaders most directly control.
What's the return on managing psychosocial risk well?
The work-design choices that reduce harm are the same ones that lift engagement, productivity and retention. It's measurable, and it shows up on numbers a board already watches. Deloitte estimates a return of $4.70 for every dollar invested in workplace mental health.
Is psychosocial risk regulated in New Zealand?
Yes. The Health and Safety at Work Act has required organisations to manage risks to mental health as well as physical health since 2015, and the 2026 reform doesn't change that duty for most organisations. What's missing is a prescriptive rulebook, so the standard you'll be measured against is the one that already exists: WorkSafe's guidelines and ISO 45003. See the full picture: how NZ's law got here, and where it's heading.
Talk to us
This is the national picture. The next step is knowing yours.
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