As a business leader, your responsibilities under Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws are clear. You must provide a safe working environment. But in 2025, what does that “safe” environment truly mean?

It means protecting your team not just from physical hazards like faulty equipment, but from psychosocial hazards—and one of the most critical is Occupational Violence and Aggression (OVA).

If you have customer-facing staff, this is a risk you cannot afford to ignore.

Occupational Violence and Aggression (OVA) refers to any incident where an employee is abused, threatened, or assaulted in circumstances arising out of, or in the course of, their work.

It’s a mistake to think this just means physical assault. Under the WHS Act and new psychosocial hazard codes of practice, OVA includes:

• Verbal Abuse: Yelling, swearing, and offensive language.
• Threats: Explicit or implied threats of violence (“I know where you park your car”).
• Intimidation: Aggressive body language, standing over staff, or blocking exits.
• Physical Assault: Any form of physical contact, from pushing to striking.

Crucially, OVA is now legally recognised as a significant psychosocial hazard—a hazard that can cause deep and lasting psychological harm.

The “it’s just part of the job” excuse is dead. Safe Work Australia and state regulators have made it clear: as an employer (or Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking), you have a non-negotiable legal duty to manage psychosocial risks in the same way you manage physical risks.

This duty involves a clear, 4-step process:

1. Identify the Hazard: Where can OVA occur? (e.g., serving customers, handling cash, refusing service, working alone).
2. Assess the Risk: What is the likelihood of an incident? What are the potential consequences (physical injury, psychological trauma, staff turnover)?
3. Control the Risk: What “reasonably practicable” control measures must you put in place?
4. Review and Maintain: Are your controls working? Are new risks emerging?

This is the most critical part. When an inspector from SafeWork or WorkSafe visits after an incident, their first question will be, “What did you do to prevent this?”

Hoping it “won’t happen” is not a control measure.

Proactive, effective training is a primary and “reasonably practicable” control measure that every business with public-facing staff must consider.

A comprehensive OVA strategy includes:

• Environmental Controls: Good lighting, clear sightlines, panic buttons, and secure counters.
• Administrative Controls: Safe work procedures, “no tolerance” signage, and appropriate staffing levels.
• Training Controls: Giving your staff the skills and confidence to use the procedures. This includes de-escalation, situational awareness, and emergency response.

A panic button is useless if a staff member freezes and doesn’t know when or how to use it. That’s the gap that professional training fills.

Don’t wait for a serious incident to expose a gap in your WHS compliance. Protecting your team from OVA isn’t just a legal duty—it’s the foundation of a safe, resilient, and high-performing business.

Managing OVA risk is complex. Praesidium Group provides full WHS Risk Assessments and Customer Aggression Training to ensure you are not just compliant, but capable.

Scott Taylor
Scott Taylor CPP is a Combined Communications Expert and Security, Safety and Risk specialist with over 30 years of global industry experience.