Helping frontline teams manage psychosocial risks

Mental health has become one of the most significant challenges in workplace insurance. Over the past decade, mental health claims have grown by 161% - the largest rise of any injury type.¹ Behind that growth is a workforce facing evolving pressure, making psychosocial risk a dynamic issue that cannot be assessed once and considered managed. The hazards shift, the workforce changes, and the controls that were effective two years ago may no longer reflect the reality of employees today.

This is the approach TAL has taken in addressing psychosocial risks facing its own workforce and partners. For superannuation funds, the same reality exists across their membership.

That connection matters for members too. A consultant who guides a member through a claim are doing the demanding, emotionally exposed work themselves. The better they are supported through it, the more present and capable they can be for the member on the other end.

The pressure shows up before a claim does 

Part of what makes mental health such a demanding area for funds is how long its effects last. Mental health claims are not only the fastest growing, but they are also among the most enduring, with the median time off work reaching 35.7 weeks compared with 7.4 weeks across all serious claims.² Once a member ceases work due to a psychological injury, recovery and return to work can be a long journey. The earlier warning signs are identified, the greater the opportunity to provide support before issues escalate. 

Those signs can be seen long before a claim, though they rarely look the same from one month to the next. SuperFriend's 2025 research found that burnout climbs through the more demanding stretches of the year and eases in the quieter ones - depending on the industry - rather than holding steady. It also weighs more heavily on some groups than others. Frontline customer-facing workers and those under financial pressure tend to carry more of it, and younger workers aged 18 to 24 are emerging as a particular concern, at higher risk than their older colleagues. For a fund, that pattern is recognisable across its own membership, and knowing which cohorts feel the pressure, and when, is what makes it possible to have support ready in time.³ 

Naming the hazards 

Strain like this rarely comes from nowhere. It is driven by psychosocial hazards, among them unmanageable workloads, poor support, unclear roles and exposure to aggression. These are an organisational issue rather than a matter of individual resilience, and under Safe Work Australia's Code of Practice, employers are expected to identify, assess, and control them in the same structured way they manage physical safety.⁴ 

That responsibility is one TAL takes seriously for its own teams, and claims work is among the settings where these hazards are most prevalent. For our Claims consultants, supporting members through illness, injury and bereavement is meaningful work, but it can expose them to daily distress. Two years ago, TAL shared the work it had begun to identify those hazards, and three stood out: 

1. Vicarious trauma - the cumulative weight of hearing accounts of pain and grief.  
2.  Aggression from members in distress.  
3. Sheer demand of managing claims that are becoming more frequent and more complex. 

Putting the controls to the test 

Recognising the potential impact of these hazards, TAL revisited them through a psychosocial consultation exercise that ran right across the organisation. In Claims, where frontline Claims teams can face higher exposure to hazards like aggression and vicarious trauma, the aim was to test whether these were still the hazards that have the potential to cause harm, and whether the controls built to manage them are as effective as they can be. The consultation confirmed these hazards continued to be the right ones to be focusing on, and that the controls are sound with areas where new technology or refinements to ways of working can make them sharper. 

Advances in AI over the past two years have started to play a significant part in reducing the harm of these hazards, by helping TAL detect traumatic content or aggressive and threatening behaviour. Voice analytics is one example, refined so that signs of acute distress on a member call can prompt timely support for both the member and the consultant who took it. TAL has also started to roll out tailored, face-to-face training for its Claims teams on managing vicarious trauma and handling aggressive or threatening interactions. 

Many of the insights that led to these initiatives came from the team managers themselves through the consultation process. The numbers told part of the story, but it was listening directly to frontline managers that showed which hazards continue to have impact and where the existing controls need work. Noone understands these challenges better than the people who face them every day. Their experiences are shaping the changes that are being introduced, from how aggressive interactions are handled to the support available once a difficult call has ended.

What funds can take from this 

Psychosocial hazards are not isolated to claims or to any single industry, and they surface wherever the demands of a job outpace the support around it, across the trades, healthcare, education, transport and retail that make up a fund’s membership. The questions TAL has been working through - which hazards are present, whether the controls still hold, and whether each response fits the hazard it is meant to address – are relevant in any workplace setting.

For a fund, the value shows up in the claims experience its members receive. Mental health is typically the fastest-growing and longest-running risk, and when a member is going through it, who they most connect with is the person handling their claim. That work is demanding and emotionally exposed, and by looking after the consultants who manage it, and by giving them the tools and training to do it well, TAL is protecting the very thing that shapes a member's experience at their most vulnerable. Keeping those teams well supported is not a single fix but something TAL keeps returning to as the work and the workforce change, so members can count on the same quality of support over time. 

To talk through what any of this could mean for your members or your own teams, reach out to your Partnership Manager.