Safe Health Zones

Regulator Engagement Brief

Document Code: NRE-HI-SHZ-REG-01-2026
Issued by: NRE Health Institute
Publication Date: March 2026
Status: Regulator Briefing Document

Purpose

This document proposes Safe Health Zones (SHZ) as a voluntary, regulator-compatible enhancement framework designed to strengthen practical compliance with existing Work Health and Safety (WHS) duties through measurable leading indicators and integrated governance.

SHZ does not introduce new statutory obligations.
It operationalises current obligations through structured prevention architecture.

Context

National workers’ compensation data indicate that psychological injury claims:

  • Result in substantially higher median time lost than many physical injuries.

  • Involve significantly higher compensation costs.

  • Continue to rise in scheme impact across multiple jurisdictions.

Fatigue, excessive workload, organisational change, and poor environmental conditions are recognised psychosocial and physical hazard drivers under existing WHS frameworks.

While duties are clearly defined, implementation often relies on:

  • Lag indicators (claims, incidents).

  • One-off surveys or compliance documentation.

  • Fragmented monitoring across domains.

This creates an operational gap between legal duty and measurable prevention.

The Safe Health Zones Model

A Safe Health Zone is a bounded operational unit in which:

  1. Interacting hazard domains are assessed collectively.

  2. Controls are applied using the hierarchy of controls.

  3. Defined leading indicators are monitored at minimum intervals.

  4. Governance structures provide audit-ready documentation.

  5. Corrective actions are traceable and reviewable.

SHZ integrates the following domains:

  • Fatigue and recovery governance

  • Cognitive workload monitoring

  • Psychosocial hazard assessment

  • Indoor environmental quality indicators

  • Heat exposure and environmental stress risk

  • Trauma exposure controls where applicable

The framework aligns with ISO 45001 management system logic and ISO 45003 psychosocial risk guidance.

Regulatory Alignment

Safe Health Zones:

  • Reinforce the duty to identify and manage psychosocial hazards.

  • Support the application of the hierarchy of controls.

  • Provide measurable evidence of “reasonably practicable” prevention efforts.

  • Strengthen leading indicator governance within existing WHS systems.

SHZ does not duplicate codes of practice.
It provides an integrated operational layer to enhance implementation consistency.

Proposed Pilot Framework

NRE Health Institute proposes regulator-supported voluntary pilots with:

  • Defined metric dictionary and measurement frequency.

  • Baseline data collection (minimum 12 months where feasible).

  • Structured evaluation methodology (stepped-wedge or matched-control design).

  • Transparent reporting of leading and lag indicators.

  • Governance and corrective action audit trails.

Pilot sectors may prioritise:

  • High psychosocial hazard exposure industries.

  • 24/7 operations with fatigue risk.

  • Heat-exposed and physically demanding environments.

Evaluation outcomes would focus on:

  • Claim frequency and duration trends.

  • Time lost reductions.

  • Leading indicator improvements.

  • Governance maturity improvements.

Benefits to Regulators

Adoption of SHZ pilots provides:

  • Early-warning visibility of upstream risk factors.

  • Measurable prevention baselines.

  • Improved defensibility of enforcement actions where control failure is evident.

  • Alignment with evolving psychosocial regulatory expectations.

  • Data to inform future guidance or code refinements.

SHZ supports prevention without immediate legislative escalation.

Governance and Data Safeguards

SHZ includes:

  • Defined accountable officer roles.

  • Joint worker-management consultation structures.

  • Privacy safeguards consistent with psychosocial hazard guidance.

  • Explicit limitations on intrusive surveillance.

  • Aggregated reporting protocols to protect individual confidentiality.

Monitoring is designed to enhance prevention, not to increase individual-level surveillance risk.

Engagement Pathway

NRE Health Institute invites regulatory bodies to:

  1. Participate in pilot design consultation.

  2. Review the SHZ metric framework.

  3. Identify sector-specific adaptation requirements.

  4. Co-design evaluation and reporting standards.

The objective is collaborative prevention enhancement, not parallel regulation.

Kontakt

NRE Health Institute
Policy and Standards Division

Email: [email protected]
Website: www.naturismre.com/nre-health-institute

Document Code: NRE-HI-SHZ-REG-01-2026
Version: 1.0
Next Review: March 2027