Applying ICMM Critical Control Thinking to Psychosocial Risk 

Mark Wright, Managing Director at FEFO Consulting, recently participated in a research workshop led by Professor Maureen Hassall at The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute. The workshop explored a question that is increasingly relevant for boards and executives. 

For more information on this research, visit the University of Queensland website.

“Can the ICMM Critical Control Management (CCM) approach – proven in managing fatal and catastrophic events – be applied to psychosocial risks?” 

Although the final research findings are still pending, early insights suggest the answer is yes – provided the approach is adapted to the unique characteristics of psychosocial hazards. 

Below are the key leadership insights emerging from the workshop. These do not replace the forthcoming research outcomes; they are intended to stimulate informed dialogue about strengthening organisational approaches to psychosocial risk. 

Key Leadership Insights

1. Context and Purpose: Leaders Must Set the Frame

The ICMM framework begins with a deliberate context‑setting phase. 

In psychosocial risk, this step is often skipped – and it shows. 

Leaders must define: 

• Why psychosocial risk is being addressed 
• What is in scope 
• How success will be measured 
• Where accountability sits 

Without this clarity, organisations drift toward wellbeing programs rather than risk‑based control management. 

2. Material Unwanted Events: Making the Intangible Tangible

Psychosocial hazards behave differently from physical hazards. They are: 

• Less visible 
• More systemic 
• Spread across multiple work processes 

Yet the ICMM principle still applies: leaders must define the specific unwanted events they are trying to prevent (e.g., chronic workload overload leading to psychological injury). 

This clarity is essential for identifying the controls that matter. 

3. Risk Assessment Without Ratings: A More Mature Approach

Psychosocial risk assessment does not require a High/Medium/Low rating. 

In fact, risk ratings often: 

• Oversimplify complex organisational dynamics 
• Create false confidence 
• Distract from identifying effective controls 

ICMM’s strength lies in scenario clarity, not colour coding. 

4. Critical Controls: Integrated, Organisational, and Often Misidentified 

ICMM defines a critical control as: 

A specific measure that prevents a material unwanted event or significantly reduces its consequences, with clear performance requirements and verification. 

In psychosocial risk, critical controls: 

• Often exist at multiple organisational levels 
• Are deeply integrated into work design, staffing, supervision, and escalation pathways 
• Are frequently confused with support activities such as training or awareness sessions 

Training is not a critical control. 

A critical control must directly prevent the unwanted event.

5. Performance Requirements & Triggers: Essential for Governance 

Physical controls often have binary stop‑go triggers. 

Psychosocial controls rarely do. 

Leaders must therefore define: 

• What effective functioning looks like 
• What early warning signs indicate degradation 
• What triggers escalation 

This is where ICMM’s emphasis on performance standards becomes a powerful governance tool. 

6. Verification: Assurance Without Harm

Verification is the centrepiece of ICMM’s CCM approach – and it must be adapted carefully for psychosocial controls. 

Poorly designed verification can: 

• Create administrative burden 
• Trigger defensiveness 
• Increase psychosocial harm. 

Effective verification requires clarity on: 

• Ownership 
• Frequency 
• Method 
• Evidence 
• Reporting and learning. 

The goal is not compliance – it is assurance that critical controls are functioning as intended. 

What This Means for Leaders 

The workshop reinforced a clear message: 

ICMM critical control thinking can be applied to psychosocial risk — but only when leaders adopt a disciplined, risk‑based, and operationally grounded approach. 

This shift moves organisations away from: 

• Generic wellbeing initiatives 
• Awareness campaigns 
• Program‑driven activity. 

And toward: 

• Clear unwanted event definitions 
• Specific, functional critical controls 
• Performance requirements 
• Verification routines 
• Leadership accountability. 

This is where FEFO Consulting is uniquely positioned – helping organisations translate psychosocial risk into material unwanted events, critical controls, and assurance systems that actually work. 

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