> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.whsbrief.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Inadequate Toilets in a Psychosocial Notice: The Greenbushes Lesson on Facilities - URL: https://www.whsbrief.com/inadequate-toilets-in-a-psychosocial-notice-the-greenbushes-lesson-on-facilities/ - Published: 2026-10-14T22:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-15T05:35:44.000Z - Description: WorkSafe WA's improvement notice to Talison at Greenbushes treats poor amenities as part of psychosocial harm, which means your facilities and wellbeing duties belong in the same conversation. - Author: WHS Brief - Tags: blog In August, WorkSafe WA issued Talison Lithium an improvement notice after survey responses at the Greenbushes lithium mine pointed to significant psychosocial harm. The survey raised the things you'd expect: excessive demands and inadequate resourcing. It also raised something you might not expect to see in a psychosocial notice. Workers reported poor conditions such as inadequate toilets and work areas contaminated by animal faeces. By 20 November Talison must review how it manages psychosocial hazards, including job demands, control, role clarity, change, leadership behaviour and reporting, in consultation with workers. The CEO has apologised to staff. I think this case quietly changes how we should think about two duties we usually keep in separate folders. ### Facilities Are Not Just a Compliance Box Most businesses treat amenities as a facilities question. Are there enough toilets? Is there drinking water? Is the crib room clean? Those duties sit in the WHS Regulations and are often handed to whoever manages the building or the site camp. Psychosocial risk, by contrast, usually lands with HR or the wellbeing team. Greenbushes shows why that split doesn't hold up. Think about what it means to work a long shift where the toilets are inadequate and the work area is contaminated. It sends a message about how much you are valued. Over months that message becomes a hazard in its own right. It feeds into poor organisational justice, low reward and recognition and a sense that nobody in charge is listening. Ask yourself about your own sites: - When did a manager last use the toilets and crib facilities your workers use on a night shift? - Are amenity complaints logged and tracked like hazard reports or handled informally and forgotten? - Do remote or mobile crews have the same standard of facilities as head office? - Does your psychosocial risk assessment mention physical working conditions at all? ### Why the Survey Mattered The notice followed survey responses. That is worth noticing. Workers told someone what was happening and the regulator acted on it. If your organisation runs a wellbeing or engagement survey, the results are evidence. An inspector can treat them as proof you knew about a hazard. If the same complaints show up year after year with no action, that becomes a much harder conversation. The flip side is encouraging. A survey can be one of the best early-warning tools you have, as long as someone reads the free-text comments and acts on them. ### Consultation Is Part of the Fix The notice requires Talison to review its approach in consultation with workers. That is not a formality. The people who know where the toilets are blocked and which areas are contaminated are the people doing the work. A review written in an office without them will miss things. It will also miss the chance to rebuild some trust. This connects with NSW, where SafeWork NSW's largest-ever psychosocial compliance operation is now under way. Inspectors there will look for evidence that work design hazards are identified, workers are consulted and action is taken early. The message across both states is the same. Regulators want to see what you did, not what your policy says. ### One Thing to Do This Week Do an amenities walk with an HSR or a worker rep. Visit every toilet, crib room and change area your workers use, including the ones furthest from management. Write down what you find. Then put the results in front of whoever owns your psychosocial risk register and ask whether they belong there. If your workers were asked tomorrow whether the facilities you provide show that they are valued, what would they say?