Healthy Heads launches psychosocial risk management pilot program

HEALTHY Heads in Trucks & Sheds, a not-for-profit aimed at improving mental health and physical wellbeing across Australia’s road transport and logistics sectors, has announced the launch of a new psychosocial risk management pilot, Healthy Heads Thrive.

The pilot is a collaboration with AP Psychology & Consulting Services and Gallagher Bassett and has already attracted 10 businesses across the transport, warehousing and logistics sectors.

These include JTEC Transport and Eather Group.

As part of the initiative, these organisations are to trial a digitally enabled end-to-end psychosocial risk management system built for the sector, helping employers identify workplace hazards, assess risks and implement practical workplace control measures.

The launch comes at what is said to be “a critical time” with rising mental health claims, increasing regulatory scrutiny and growing concern around burnout, fatigue, isolation and workforce retention across the sector.

Further claims insights from Gallagher Bassett show psychological injuries account for 12% of serious claims but cost more than four times as much as physical injuries on average ($67,000 compared to $16,000), with claims lasting an average of 35.7 weeks.

Healthy Heads general manager Melissa Weller said despite growing awareness and increasing regulatory attention around psychosocial safety, “many businesses still lack a practical, end-to-end approach to managing these risks in operational environments”.

“Across transport and logistics, many of the conditions impacting mental health and wellbeing have become normalised because people are deeply committed to getting the job done,” Ms Weller said.

“Psychological health is no longer a ‘nice to have’ conversation. Healthy Heads Thrive has been designed by the industry, for the industry, to help businesses systematically identify, assess and manage psychosocial hazards in a practical and scalable way.”

AP Psychology & Consulting Services founder and chief executive Arthur Papagiannis said people working across the industry were exposed to a unique combination of psychosocial hazards, including fatigue, high job demands, isolation, trauma exposure and ongoing operational pressure.

“These risks often build over time rather than resulting from a single incident, making it harder to identify early and manage effectively,” Mr Papagiannis said.

“Healthy Heads Thrive will give businesses a practical, evidence-based framework to assess psychosocial risks, develop action plans and build leadership capability across the organisation.”

Gallagher Bassett head of sales and client services, Debbie Vounakis, said while psychological injuries represented a smaller proportion of serious claims overall, “they are typically more complex, longer lasting, and significantly more costly than physical injuries”.

“Proactive risk identification and assessment are therefore critical to addressing emerging issues before they escalate,” Ms Vounakis said.

“This pilot represents an important step towards earlier intervention and prevention, supporting better outcomes across the sector.”