A long time employee was placed under investigation, removed from her workplace, given no details of the allegations for three months, and moved to unrelated duties for the duration. Seven months in, she called SafeWork NSW. What followed was two improvement notices, two rounds of challenge, and two years of the Department of Education losing. The investigation process itself was the hazard — and the lesson applies to every employer running one.

In a landmark case, Western Sydney Local Health District is facing WHS charges for exposing workers to psychosocial risks during a mishandled workplace investigation. SafeWork NSW alleges failures in organisational justice and grievance resolution—signalling a growing regulatory focus on how employers manage psychological risks in the workplace.