Ensuring a Healthy Psychosocial Working Environment in Higher Education

World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2026 carries a theme that is timely, relevant and deeply human: “Let’s ensure a healthy psychosocial working environment.” The International Labour Organization has placed this theme within the broader understanding that occupational safety and health is no longer confined only to physical hazards, machinery, chemicals, noise, heat or biological agents, but also to the way work is designed, organised and managed, and how these conditions affect the mental, emotional and social well-being of workers (International Labour Organization, 2026a; 2026b).

In the context of higher education, this theme deserves careful reflection. Universities are often viewed as places of knowledge, innovation and intellectual growth. They are centres where students are nurtured, research is generated, policies are shaped and communities are served. However, behind this noble mission, universities are also complex workplaces. Academic and non-academic staff are required to manage multiple expectations simultaneously; teaching, supervision, research, publication, grant acquisition, clinical or laboratory services, administrative duties, student care, community engagement and institutional ranking demands. While these responsibilities are part of the identity of higher education, the psychosocial impact of these expectations must not be overlooked.

Psychosocial risk is not merely about individual weakness or personal inability to cope. Rather, it is closely related to the interaction between workers and the organisation of work itself. The ILO describes psychosocial hazards as factors in the design or management of work that may increase the risk of work-related stress (International Labour Organization, 2022). Similarly, WHO has highlighted that safe and healthy work can support mental health by providing livelihood, confidence, purpose, positive relationships and structured routines. Conversely, when work is poorly organised, excessively demanding or socially unsupportive, it may contribute to psychological distress and other adverse health outcomes (World Health Organization, 2022; 2024).

In higher education, the psychosocial working environment may be shaped by several interrelated factors. Excessive workload is perhaps the most visible. Lecturers and researchers may spend their formal working hours teaching and attending meetings, while their research writing, grant preparation, student consultation, marking papers and administrative reporting continue after office hours, during weekends or while at home. For professional and support staff, the pressure may arise from continuous service demands, documentation, compliance requirements, student-facing duties and the need to support academic operations with limited resources. In such situation, work does not merely occupy time; it enters into personal space, family routine and emotional capacity.

Another important factor is role ambiguity. In universities, one person may carry several identities at the same time: teacher, supervisor, researcher, administrator, committee member, assessor, mentor and institutional representative. When the boundaries of these roles are not clearly defined, or when expectations keep expanding without appropriate resources, workers may feel that they are constantly working but never fully completing their work. This is particularly significant because recent systematic reviews on academic work have identified excessive workload, unclear roles, performance-based evaluation, limited organisational support and work–life imbalance as important stressors among university lecturers (Hassim et al., 2026; Yingying, Omar and Ismail, 2025; Cadena-Povea et al., 2025).

The psychosocial environment is also influenced by the quality of relationships at work. A healthy university is not only one that produces high impact publications or graduates with excellent employability. It is also one where people feel respected, listened to and treated with dignity. Poor communication, interpersonal conflict, bullying, incivility, lack of appreciation or unhealthy competition may silently erode the sense of belonging among staff. In contrast, supportive leadership, collegiality, fair decision-making and meaningful participation may buffer the effect of high job demands. Evidence from higher education studies has consistently shown that job resources such as support, autonomy and opportunity are important protective factors against burnout (Ueno et al., 2025; Edgerton et al., 2024).

In the field of Environmental and Occupational Health, psychosocial issues are part and parcel of the broader understanding of occupational safety and health. We teach and advocate and remind industries, organizations and communities that hazards at work must be identified, risks must be assessed and appropriate controls must be implemented. Therefore, psychosocial risk should be treated with the same seriousness as other occupational hazards. It should not be addressed only after a worker has already reached exhaustion, disengagement or illness. Rather, it should be anticipated, assessed and managed through a systematic occupational safety and health approach.

This is also consistent with the current development of occupational safety and health management. ISO 45003:2021 provides guidance for managing psychosocial risks within an occupational health and safety management system, complementing ISO 45001 by addressing psychological health and well-being at work (ISO, 2021). In Malaysia, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health has also introduced the Guidelines on Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Management at the Workplace 2024, providing guidance for employers to identify, assess and manage psychosocial risks at work (Jabatan Kesihatan Persekitaran dan Pekerjaan, 2024). These developments indicate that psychosocial well-being is no longer peripheral to OSH. It is part of the duty to provide a safe and healthy working environment.

Nevertheless, the management of psychosocial risks in higher education requires sensitivity. Universities cannot simply remove academic demands, because teaching, research and service are inherent to the institution. However, the way these demands are structured can be improved. Workload distribution should be transparent and fair. Administrative processes should be simplified where possible. Meetings should be purposeful. Performance indicators should be balanced with human capacity. Supervisors and heads of department should be supported to recognise early signs of distress among staff. Staff should also be empowered to voice concerns without fear of being labelled as weak, negative or uncommitted.

A healthy psychosocial working environment also requires a shift from a reactive culture to a preventive culture. Counselling services and individual coping programmes are important, but they should not become the only solution. If the source of stress is organisational, the control measures must also include organisational intervention. This means looking into workload, role clarity, communication pattern, leadership practice, participation in decision-making, career development, recognition, conflict management and work-life boundary. In the hierarchy of control, it would be insufficient to only ask workers to be more resilient if the work system itself continues to generate preventable psychosocial hazards.

At the same time, human kindness remains essential. Sometimes, the first step towards a healthier psychosocial environment is not a large policy reform, but the restoration of empathy in everyday work. It is the willingness to ask a colleague whether they are coping. It is the discipline not to normalise excessive after-hours communication. It is the courage of leaders to prioritise people, not only output. It is the humility to understand that behind every academic title, administrative role or service responsibility, there is a person with finite time, energy and emotional capacity.

As we commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2026, the message is clear. A safe university is not only a place where laboratory chemicals are properly labelled, emergency exits are unobstructed, machinery is guarded and infection control is observed. A truly safe university is also a place where minds are protected, dignity is preserved, relationships are healthy and work is organised in a way that allows people to contribute meaningfully without being harmed by the very system they serve.

Ensuring a healthy psychosocial working environment in higher education is therefore not merely an OSH agenda. It is an academic sustainability agenda. It is a human resource agenda. It is a leadership agenda. More importantly, it is a moral responsibility. If universities are to remain as institutions that shape the future of society, they must also become workplaces where the people shaping that future are themselves supported, protected and allowed to thrive.

References

International Labour Organization. (2026a). World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2026: Let’s ensure a healthy psychosocial working environment. International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/topics-and-sectors/safety-and-health-work/world-day-safety-and-health-work-2026

International Labour Organization. (2026b). The psychosocial working environment: Global developments and pathways for action. International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/publications/psychosocial-working-environment-global-developments-and-pathways-action

International Labour Organization. (2022). Psychosocial risks and stress at work. International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/resource/psychosocial-risks-and-stress-work

World Health Organization. (2022). WHO guidelines on mental health at work. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240053052

World Health Organization. (2024, September 2). Mental health at work. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work

Hassim, M. H., Laksana, D. P., Rais, R. R., & Aditya, R. S. (2026). Workplace stress and burnout among university lecturers in Indonesia and Malaysia: A systematic review of stressors, outcomes, and protective factors. Public Health and Occupational Safety Journal, 1(2), 174–192. https://doi.org/10.56003/phosj.v1i2.674

Yingying, S., Omar, M. K., & Ismail, N. (2025). Job stress and burnout among lecturers: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1673812. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1673812

Cadena-Povea, H., Hernández-Martínez, M., Bastidas-Amador, G., & Torres-Andrade, H. (2025). What pushes university professors to burnout? A systematic review of sociodemographic and psychosocial determinants. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(8), Article 1214. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081214

Ueno, A., Yu, C., Curtis, L., & Dennis, C. (2025). Job demands-resources theory extended: Stress, loneliness, and care responsibilities impacting UK doctoral students’ and academics’ mental health. Studies in Higher Education, 50(4), 808–823. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2357148

Edgerton, J. D., Biegun, J., Kouritzin, S., & Nakagawa, S. (2024). Burnout among Canadian university faculty: Applying a job demands-resources lens. Academia Mental Health and Well-Being, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.20935/MHealthWellB7458

International Organization for Standardization. (2021). ISO 45003:2021 Occupational health and safety management — Psychological health and safety at work — Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks. International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/64283.html

Jabatan Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan Malaysia. (2024). Guidelines on Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Management at the Workplace 2024.

Associate Professor Dr Ng Yee Guan
Occupational Safety and Health, Industrial Hygiene, Human Factors and Ergonomics Emergency, Disaster and Resilience
Associate Professor
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Universiti Putra Malaysia

 

 

Tarikh Input: 27/04/2026 | Kemaskini: 27/04/2026 | nadia_rahman