The evidence behind this site

References

Every claim on this site, the research behind it, and where the evidence has limits. We lead with Australian law, then the most highly cited meta-analyses, systematic reviews and consensus statements, and key studies where they explain how something works.

79references

19meta-analyses and pooled analyses

18laws, standards, guidelines and consensus statements

How to read this page

  • What we say quotes or summarises the site. Each source then says, in plain language, what it shows.
  • Limits are flagged in amber: observational, cross-sectional, small or animal studies, and anything still debated. Most research on work stress and health shows strong, consistent links rather than proof of cause in every person.
  • Every citation has been checked against its journal or publisher record. Links go to the DOI or the official source.
Law or standardGuideline or consensusMeta-analysisReviewKey studyModel or theoryPopulation report

Claim 1 of 13

The legal duties

What we say

  • The law requires all businesses and organisations to control psychosocial hazards: identify them, assess the risks, eliminate or minimise them so far as reasonably practicable, consult workers and review controls.
  • Work health and safety laws (the model Work Health and Safety Act, and Victoria’s own Act) require employers to provide information, training and instruction, and to consult workers about hazards.
  • The model Code of Practice names psychological harm and physical harm, including cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders.
  • Organisations must take workers' views into account, and tell workers the outcome of consultation in a timely way.
  • Every worker has a duty to take reasonable care of their own and others' health and safety, including psychological health, and to cooperate with reasonable health and safety policies.
  • Wellbeing and health-promotion initiatives can help, but they do not protect workers from harm caused by hazards. The Academy supports hazard-control processes and never replaces them.

Where: Homepage (Our position, Built on duties you already have), Module 1 Lesson 1, Module 3, FAQ

  • Defines psychosocial hazards and the duty to eliminate or minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable (p. 6). Sets out the four-step risk-management process of identify, assess, control and review, supported by consultation, with leadership commitment and involvement of managers, workers, health and safety representatives and specialists (pp. 12–13). Sets out the duty to consult workers and their health and safety representatives, and what consultation involves (pp. 8–9). Requires control measures to be reviewed and, if necessary, revised or replaced (p. 29).

    Limits: A model Code. Each jurisdiction adopts its own version, so check the one that applies to you.

  • Safe Work Australia (n.d.)Guideline or consensus

    Says WHS is about preventing workers being harmed at work. Wellbeing initiatives (for example meditation classes, or encouraging healthy eating and regular exercise) can have positive impacts, but they do not protect workers from harm from psychosocial or physical hazards.

    Limits: This is the basis for the Academy saying its training supports hazard control and never replaces it. The page does not mention health literacy training.

  • Model WHS Act (2011)Law or standard

    The primary duty of care (s 19, which the Code links to information, training, instruction and supervision); workers’ own duties of reasonable care and cooperation (s 28); the duty to consult workers (s 47); and what consultation involves, including taking workers’ views into account and advising them of the outcome in a timely manner (s 48).

  • Division 11, regulations 55A–55D: meaning of psychosocial hazard, meaning of psychosocial risk, managing psychosocial risks and control measures. The Code (p. 6) describes the duty to eliminate these risks, or minimise them so far as reasonably practicable. Regulation 39 covers the provision of information, training and instruction.

    Limits: A national model law that, by itself, has no legal effect. It takes effect through each jurisdiction’s own legislation, so check the one that applies to you.

  • OHS Act 2004 (Vic)Law or standard

    Victoria's equivalent duties to provide information, instruction, training and supervision, and to consult employees.

  • Specific duties for Victorian employers to identify psychosocial hazards and control the risks, in force from 1 December 2025.

  • ISO 45003 (2021)Law or standard

    The international guideline for managing psychosocial risk within a health and safety management system, consistent with the approach above.

Claim 2 of 13

Psychosocial hazards cause psychological, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal harm

What we say

  • Hazards such as high demands, low control, poor support, bullying and long hours are linked to depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.
  • Job strain and long working hours are linked to coronary heart disease and stroke.
  • Psychosocial work stressors are linked to the later development of musculoskeletal problems.

Where: Homepage (Hero and its graphic, The bridge), Module 1 Lessons 1 and 6, FAQ

  • Meta-analysis of longitudinal studies: job strain, low decision latitude, low social support, high demands, effort–reward imbalance and job insecurity predicted common mental disorders.

  • Graded systematic review and meta-analysis: job strain, low support and job insecurity predicted later depressive symptoms; more control predicted fewer.

  • Meta-review: moderate evidence that high demands, low control, effort–reward imbalance, injustice, role stress, bullying and low support raise the risk of common mental health problems.

    Limits: The authors note that study limitations still prevent firm statements about causation.

  • Meta-review of 72 reviews: high-quality evidence links job strain and long working hours with coronary heart disease, ischaemic stroke and depression.

  • Individual data from about 197,000 workers in 13 European cohorts: job strain was linked with a 23% higher risk of coronary heart disease.

  • More than 600,000 people: working 55 or more hours a week was linked with a 13% higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 33% higher risk of stroke.

    Limits: Observational: the authors say it does not prove cause and effect.

  • Review of how stress contributes to cardiovascular disease, through sympathetic activation, raised blood pressure, inflammation and clotting.

  • Lang et al. (2012)Meta-analysis

    Meta-analysis of baseline-adjusted longitudinal studies: most psychosocial work stressors had small but significant effects on later musculoskeletal problems.

  • Hauke et al. (2011)Meta-analysis

    Meta-analysis of 54 longitudinal studies of psychosocial stressors and musculoskeletal disorders in specific body regions.

Claim 3 of 13

Some hazards can't be removed

What we say

  • Some demands, such as traumatic exposure in emergency services, health care and education, are part of the work and cannot be fully removed. They must be minimised and supported.

Where: Homepage (Hero, Our position), Module 2 Lesson 6

  • Lists traumatic events or material as a psychosocial hazard, with examples such as emergency department work and emergency services responding to floods or bushfires (p. 44). Allows for risks that can only be minimised when elimination is not reasonably practicable, and lists ways to minimise exposure, increase breaks and recovery time, and provide training and support (pp. 45–46). Notes that where emotional demands are an unavoidable part of a role, they should be captured in the position description and applicants told at selection (p. 35).

  • Meta-analysis of 30,878 ambulance personnel: estimated rates of 11% for PTSD, 15% for depression and 15% for anxiety, well above general population rates.

  • Beyond Blue (2018)Population report

    Survey of 21,014 Australian police and emergency services workers: about one in three employees reported high or very high psychological distress, compared with one in eight Australian adults.

Claim 4 of 13

The stress response, allostatic load and reserve

What we say

  • Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline release stored glucose. The response is meant for short bursts and then to switch off.
  • When it switches on often without enough recovery, the body pays a cost, known as allostatic load.
  • Health builds the reserve people bring to the demands that remain.

Where: Homepage (Hero, Our position), Module 1 Lesson 2

  • Describes stress as releasing adrenaline and cortisol, raising heart rate and blood pressure and boosting glucose levels in the bloodstream. Stress is not itself an injury but, if frequent, prolonged or severe, can cause psychological and physical harm (p. 6).

  • Introduced allostatic load: the stress response protects in the short term, but chronic over-activation causes wear and tear.

  • Review: allostatic load, measured across neuroendocrine, immune, metabolic and cardiovascular markers, predicts illness and death beyond traditional risk factors.

  • Landmark review of how glucocorticoids such as cortisol act during stress, including mobilising energy.

  • Karasek (1979)Model or theory

    The demand–control model: strain results when high job demands meet low decision latitude.

  • The Job Demands–Resources model: resources buffer the effect of demands on strain.

  • Hobfoll (1989)Model or theory

    Conservation of resources theory: stress follows the threat or loss of resources people value.

  • The transactional model of stress: how people appraise a demand against their resources shapes their response.

  • The challenge and threat model: when resources meet the demand, the body responds with a healthier "challenge" pattern.

Claim 5 of 13

Blood glucose, insulin and metabolic flexibility

What we say

  • Insulin moves glucose into muscle, liver and fat cells. Muscle is the body’s biggest glucose store.
  • When glucose is repeatedly high, insulin rises, cells respond less well (insulin resistance), and metabolic flexibility is lost.
  • Sleep, stress, inactivity, diet and genetics are common starting points.
  • A combination of high-carbohydrate and ultra-processed food, sedentary work, stress and inadequate sleep can keep glucose and insulin raised (the Academy’s “perfect storm” teaching model).

Where: Homepage (Stage 1 box, Four levers), Module 1 Lessons 3 and 7

  • Classic clamp study: most insulin-stimulated glucose disposal is storage in peripheral tissue, mainly muscle, as glycogen.

  • Defines metabolic flexibility, the ability to switch between fuels, and its loss in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

  • Review of how inflammation drives insulin resistance in obesity.

  • Pooled data from 124,808 adults: job strain was linked with a 15% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

  • Whitehall II, 10,308 civil servants over 14 years: chronic work stress more than doubled the odds of metabolic syndrome.

    Limits: One cohort of British civil servants.

  • Six nights of 4 hours’ sleep reduced glucose tolerance and raised evening cortisol in healthy young men.

    Limits: Small laboratory study (11 men).

  • Meta-analysis of 107,756 people: short and poor-quality sleep predicted type 2 diabetes.

  • Lane et al. (2024)Meta-analysis

    Umbrella review covering almost 10 million people: more ultra-processed food was linked with type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular death and common mental disorders.

    Limits: Observational studies: associations, not proof of cause.

Claim 6 of 13

Visceral fat, cortisol and waist size

What we say

  • Visceral fat, stored around the organs, is metabolically active and more harmful than fat under the skin. It releases inflammatory signals and fatty acids that reach the liver.
  • Visceral fat tissue is especially responsive to cortisol, so chronic stress is linked with more visceral fat.
  • Risk is considered increased at a waist of 80 cm or more for women and 94 cm or more for men, and substantially increased at 88 cm and 102 cm.

Where: Homepage (Hero graphic, The bridge), Module 1 Lesson 4

  • Abdominal (visceral) obesity is a marker of dysfunctional fat tissue and the most common form of metabolic syndrome.

  • Neeland et al. (2019)Guideline or consensus

    International position statement: visceral fat is an independent marker of cardiovascular and metabolic risk; fat in the liver and other organs adds to it.

  • Framingham Heart Study, 3,001 people scanned: visceral fat was more strongly linked with metabolic risk factors than fat under the skin.

  • Review arguing that repeated activation of the stress axis and raised cortisol promote visceral fat accumulation.

    Limits: A review proposing a mechanism; human evidence is mainly observational.

  • Women with more central fat secreted more cortisol under laboratory stress, and lean women with central fat did not get used to repeated stress.

    Limits: Cross-sectional: it cannot show which comes first.

  • World Health Organization (2000)Guideline or consensus

    The source of the 94/102 cm (men) and 80/88 cm (women) waist cut-offs for increased and substantially increased risk.

  • World Health Organization (2011)Guideline or consensus

    WHO expert consultation reviewing the evidence on waist circumference as a measure of disease risk.

    Limits: Population guides, not a diagnosis. Cut-offs differ for some ethnic groups.

Claim 7 of 13

Chronic inflammation and tissue damage

What we say

  • Visceral fat drives chronic, low-grade inflammation that damages tissue over years and deepens insulin resistance, in a self-reinforcing cycle.
  • Damage pathways include endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and DNA damage.
  • Enlarged fat tissue may become short of oxygen (hypoxia), adding to inflammation.

Where: Homepage (The bridge), Module 1 Lesson 5

  • Landmark review: metabolic and immune systems are tightly linked, and chronic inflammation drives obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

  • Inflammation, including from immune cells in fat tissue, causes insulin resistance.

  • Insulin resistance and damage to the blood vessel lining (endothelial dysfunction) drive each other.

  • Fat accumulation is linked with oxidative stress in humans and mice; in mice it disturbed fat-tissue signalling and worsened metabolic disease.

    Limits: The mechanism work is mainly in mice.

  • Proposes mitochondrial dysfunction as a link between insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

    Limits: Debated: later work suggests it may partly be a consequence rather than a cause.

  • Review: oxidative stress and inflammation in obesity can damage DNA and impair its repair; weight loss reduces DNA damage.

  • Review: hypoxia in expanding fat tissue may underlie its inflammatory response.

    Limits: Mainly animal evidence. Whether this happens in human obesity is unclear, which is why the site says "may".

Claim 8 of 13

Where the pathway leads: chronic disease

What we say

  • Strong evidence: cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease and chronic kidney disease.
  • Linked or worsened: osteoarthritis, polycystic ovary syndrome and some cancers (bowel, breast, pancreatic).
  • Emerging: dementia and cognitive decline; mood and mental wellbeing.
  • Stress raises muscle tension and pain sensitivity, and poor sleep makes pain worse.

Where: Homepage (The bridge), Module 1 Lesson 6

  • Neeland et al. (2019)Guideline or consensus

    Visceral and ectopic fat are linked with atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

  • Visceral fat was linked with higher odds of high blood pressure, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

  • Meta-analysis of 8.5 million people: about one in four adults worldwide has fatty liver disease, closely tied to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

  • Meta-analysis: metabolic syndrome was linked with 55% higher odds of chronic kidney disease, rising with each added component.

  • Review: inflammatory signals from fat tissue help link obesity with osteoarthritis, beyond the extra load on joints.

  • Insulin resistance is a core feature of polycystic ovary syndrome and raises type 2 diabetes risk.

  • Lauby-Secretan et al. (2016)Guideline or consensus

    International Agency for Research on Cancer review of more than 1,000 studies: excess body fat increases the risk of several cancers, including bowel, postmenopausal breast and pancreatic cancer.

  • Livingston et al. (2024)Guideline or consensus

    Lancet Commission: obesity and diabetes are among 14 modifiable risk factors for dementia.

  • In healthy middle-aged adults, visceral fat had the strongest link with lower brain volume.

    Limits: Observational and emerging; mechanisms are not established.

  • Review: inflammation can act on the brain to drive depression and may explain why some people do not respond to treatment.

  • Review: sleep and pain affect each other, and poor sleep may predict pain more strongly than pain predicts poor sleep.

  • Lang et al. (2012)Meta-analysis

    Psychosocial work stressors predict later musculoskeletal problems.

Claim 9 of 13

The four levers: nutrition, movement, sleep and stress

What we say

  • Nutrition: build meals around protein and whole foods, and cut back on sugar, refined carbohydrates and ultra-processed food.
  • Movement: move often, especially after meals. Working muscle takes up glucose, partly without needing insulin.
  • Sleep: aim for 7–9 hours. Even a few short nights reduce insulin sensitivity and raise appetite.
  • Stress management: switch the stress response off between demands, with recovery.

Where: Homepage (Four levers), Module 1 Lesson 7

  • Lane et al. (2024)Meta-analysis

    Strongest evidence links ultra-processed food with all-cause and cardiovascular death, common mental disorders, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

  • Evert et al. (2019)Guideline or consensus

    American Diabetes Association consensus: reducing overall carbohydrate intake has the most evidence for improving blood glucose in diabetes; eating plans should be individualised.

    Limits: It also says no single eating pattern or macronutrient split suits everyone.

  • Meta-analysis of 25 trials in adults with diabetes: carbohydrate-restricted diets improved HbA1c in the shorter term.

    Limits: Benefits were clearest in the first months and narrowed over longer follow-up.

  • Muscle contraction moves GLUT4 glucose transporters to the cell surface through pathways separate from insulin; training is the strongest stimulus for more GLUT4.

  • Randomised crossover trial in 41 adults with type 2 diabetes: 10 minutes of walking after each meal lowered post-meal glucose by 12% on average, and by 22% after the evening meal, compared with one 30-minute walk.

    Limits: People with type 2 diabetes; short-term.

  • Meta-analysis: breaking up sitting with light walking lowered post-meal glucose and insulin.

    Limits: Single-day laboratory trials.

  • Bull et al. (2020)Guideline or consensus

    WHO guidelines: regular physical activity for all adults, and less sedentary time.

  • Hirshkowitz et al. (2015)Guideline or consensus

    National Sleep Foundation expert panel: 7–9 hours is the recommended range for adults.

    Limits: For healthy adults without a sleep disorder; some people sit just outside the range.

  • Watson et al. (2015)Guideline or consensus

    Consensus statement: adults should sleep 7 or more hours a night on a regular basis.

  • One week of 5-hour nights reduced insulin sensitivity by 11–20% in healthy men.

  • Two nights of short sleep lowered leptin, raised ghrelin and increased hunger, especially for carbohydrate-rich foods.

    Limits: Small study (12 young men).

  • Recovery, the stress response switching off, is what prevents allostatic load.

Claim 10 of 13

Workplaces shape the levers, and systems beat individual fixes

What we say

  • Rosters shape sleep, and workload and support shape stress.
  • Organisation-level controls work better than asking individuals to cope; good systems serve both paths.
  • Capacity building never makes unsafe work acceptable.

Where: Module 1 Lesson 7, Module 2 Lessons 1 and 5, Module 3 Lessons 3 and 4, Homepage (Our position)

  • Systematic review: short gaps between shifts (quick returns) are linked with shorter sleep, more fatigue and more sick leave.

  • Long working hours are linked with heart disease and stroke.

  • Review of 90 evaluations: individual-only programs helped individuals but had little effect at the organisational level; approaches that changed the organisation, especially combined with individual support, benefited both.

  • Information and training are no substitute for controlling a hazard at its source.

Claim 11 of 13

Health literacy

What we say

  • Health literacy is the knowledge and skills to find, understand and use health information.
  • When people understand how hazards affect the body, they can recognise hazards earlier and take part in consultation meaningfully.

Where: Homepage (Self-check, Our position), Module 1, FAQ

  • Nutbeam (2000)Model or theory

    Defined functional, interactive and critical health literacy, and made the case for health literacy as a public health goal.

  • Systematic review of 17 definitions and 12 models, integrated into one model of accessing, understanding, appraising and applying health information.

  • Systematic review: low health literacy is linked with more hospital and emergency care, poorer understanding of health messages, and, in older people, poorer health and higher mortality.

  • Safe Work Australia (2019)Guideline or consensus

    Says building workers’ health literacy, with awareness of their rights and responsibilities, will better enable them to actively engage in their own recovery and return to work (p. 22).

    Limits: About workers recovering from a work-related injury or illness. It does not address health literacy for preventing harm, or call it the missing piece.

  • In 2006, 41% of Australian adults aged 15–74 had adequate or better health literacy; about 59% fell below that level.

    Limits: The cut-off (Level 3) is a methodological choice, and the data are from 2006.

Claim 12 of 13

Health-oriented leadership

What we say

  • Health-Oriented Leadership has two parts, SelfCare and StaffCare, each with value, awareness and behaviour. StaffCare is linked with better follower health.
  • Leaders shape their team’s health and wellbeing through how they lead and the example they set.
  • A check-in follows R U OK?’s four steps: Ask, Listen, Encourage action, Check in.
  • Part of a leader’s effect on team health works through team members’ own self-care, so leaders should give people time, permission and resources to look after their health.

Where: Homepage (Learning), Module 2 (self-care: Lesson 5)

  • Franke et al. (2014)Model or theory

    Developed and tested the model in two field studies: leaders’ health-specific behaviour related to follower health, partly through followers’ own self-care.

    Limits: Module 2 adapts the model into three practical actions.

  • Comprehensive meta-analysis linking leadership behaviour with followers’ mental health and job performance.

  • Meta-analysis: good leadership was linked with better job wellbeing and less sick leave and disability.

  • Review of 30 years of research: leader behaviours, relationships and styles, and leaders’ own stress, were associated with employee stress and wellbeing.

    Limits: Most included studies were cross-sectional.

  • R U OK? (n.d.)Guideline or consensus

    The four steps of an R U OK? conversation.

Claim 13 of 13

Cues keep leadership habits going

What we say

  • A cue built into the week, written as "When [cue], I will [action]", makes follow-through more likely than relying on memory or motivation.
  • Research across 94 studies found that if-then plans make people noticeably more likely to follow through.

Where: Module 3 Lesson 5

  • Meta-analysis of 94 independent tests: forming if-then plans (implementation intentions) had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals (d = 0.65), by making the cue easier to notice and the response more automatic.

    Limits: Most studies are of individuals over short periods; effects in busy workplaces over many months are less well studied.

Our position, not a research finding

We keep a clear line between what the research shows and what is our own framing or teaching model.

The Module 3 measures

The measures suggested in Module 3 (hazards raised, actions closed, time to respond, check-ins held and a team voice question) are practical guidance for running the system, not a validated measurement tool.

The two-path framing

Path 1 (control the hazard) is the legal duty. Path 2 (build health literacy) is the Academy’s approach to the demands that remain. It is built on the Code of Practice and on reviews showing organisational and individual approaches work best together (LaMontagne et al., 2007), but the framing itself is ours.

The “perfect storm” for glucose and insulin

Naming four contributors together (high-carbohydrate and ultra-processed food, sedentary work, stress and inadequate sleep) is the Academy’s teaching model. Stress, short sleep and ultra-processed food each have support in the list above. We have not cited separate studies here for sedentary work or for high-carbohydrate diets, and no single study tests all four together. It describes added risk, not a certainty for any one person.

The five-stage pathway

The pathway from starting points to chronic disease is a teaching model that brings together the research above. No single study tests all five stages in one population, and each step is a risk, not a certainty.

"The physiological pathway is rarely taught"

This is our observation from reviewing hazard, leadership and resilience training, not a published finding. Population data show health literacy gaps in general (ABS, 2008), but we know of no study measuring how often workplace training covers the physiological pathway.

Health education, not diagnosis

The research describes risk in populations. It cannot tell any one person what is happening in their body. Talk to your GP about your own health.

Full reference list

79 sources, alphabetical by first author. Last reviewed October 2026.

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  3. Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, Halpern DJ, Crotty K (2011). Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(2), 97–107. doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-155-2-201107190-00005 Review
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  24. Harvey SB, Modini M, Joyce S, et al. (2017). Can work make you mentally ill? A systematic meta-review of work-related risk factors for common mental health problems. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 74(4), 301–310. doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2016-104015 Meta-analysis
  25. Hauke A, Flintrop J, Brun E, Rugulies R (2011). The impact of work-related psychosocial stressors on the onset of musculoskeletal disorders in specific body regions: a review and meta-analysis of 54 longitudinal studies. Work & Stress, 25(3), 243–256. doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2011.614069 Meta-analysis
  26. Hirshkowitz M, Whiton K, Albert SM, et al. (2015). National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40–43. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29073412/ Guideline or consensus
  27. Hobfoll SE (1989). Conservation of resources: a new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524. doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.3.513 Model or theory
  28. Hotamisligil GS (2006). Inflammation and metabolic disorders. Nature, 444(7121), 860–867. doi.org/10.1038/nature05485 Review
  29. International Organization for Standardization (2021). ISO 45003:2021 Occupational health and safety management: Psychological health and safety at work: Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks. Geneva: ISO. iso.org/standard/64283.html Law or standard
  30. Juster RP, McEwen BS, Lupien SJ (2010). Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(1), 2–16. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.10.002 Review
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