Job Demands

Job demands (also known as workload pressure) can become a hazard when demands placed on you in your job are either too high or too low.

High job demands can mean you are exposed to high physical, mental, or emotional effort to do your work.

Low job demands mean the opposite – you are exposed to low physical, mental, or emotional effort, which can become boring, monotonous or demeaning.

When it is too high or low, job demands can become a psychosocial hazard when this is severe, prolonged, or recurring. This can cause a risk to health and safety that should be resolved.

Increased stress, fatigue, burnout or exhaustion are just some of consequences of hazardous job demands, which can increase the risk of both mental illness and physical illness, including heart disease and stroke.

Employers have a duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) to ensure that systems of work are safe and do not cause risks to health (including excessive, unreasonable or unsafe job demands).

Download “Surveying Safety: Hazardous job demands in the workplace”  to identify the risk in your workplace.