Among current economic uncertainty, businesses are focusing on incremental optimization (i.e., lay-offs, budget cuts, and price increases), without recognizing the long-term impact of investing in employee wellbeing.
According to the HSE Network, wellbeing programs can increase retention, productivity, commitment, engagement, and customer satisfaction.
Ultimately, these gains support the bottom line and highlight why content moderators’ psychological health and safety should be a priority.
Identifying and Managing Potential Hazards
Many companies out there that do not prioritize or address work-related mental ill health (i.e., stress, anxiety, burnout, or poor coping behaviour).
Within the Trust and Safety industry, approaches range from comprehensive wellbeing initiatives and stigma-reduction efforts to minimal support driven by cost considerations, leaving companies exposed to long-term liability.
Applying the ISO 45003 Framework
Fortunately, in 2021, the International Organization for Standardization published ISO 45003, which provides organizations with a framework for managing psychological health and safety alongside physical hazards.
Yet, one might question how psychosocial hazard management for mainstream organizations might apply to the complex and challenging work of Content Moderation.
There should be no difference between how conventional corporate and T&S hazards are assessed and managed. Trauma is a specific environmental hazard to mental health, which needs a proper assessment and to be managed in a standard way.
The 4P Model
The 4P model – predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating, and protective factors – recommends a holistic approach to wellness.
Organizations should promote good nutrition, sleep, physical activity, and mental health awareness to buffer moderators against the impact of distressing content and workplace pressures.
This initiative helps employees improve mental health, moving from languishing toward flourishing.
Common Hazards in Content Moderation
After establishing wellness promotion, potential hazards should be identified, with related risks assessed. Examples of hazards in content moderation work may include extended exposure to egregious content.
This exposure creates a dose-response effect, as greater frequency and duration can lead to worse mental health outcomes. The work may increase the risk of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue. These conditions can result in desensitization or emotional numbness as unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Out-of-date tooling may result in additional cognitive load for moderators, thus increasing the risk of stress and associated health impacts. Once hazards and associated risks are understood, they can either be removed or their impact reduced as much as possible.
For example, limit daily hours spent on high-risk content, rotate tasks to include less-sensitive work, and invest in modern moderation tools that streamline workflows. These proactive controls complement resilience building and reactive support, such as employee assistance programs (EAPs) and counselling.
Importance of Ongoing Training and Support
In the case of content moderation, the importance of providing ongoing training could include a range of content moderation safety strategies, such as:
- Vicarious trauma awareness training
- Understanding the effects of different content types on mental health
- Developing effective coping strategies
- Promoting support-seeking behaviours, including peer support and regular check-ins
- Physical self-care, such as exercise, sleep hygiene, and mindfulness techniques
Resilience training is a part of this, helping moderators distinguish effective coping from maladaptive strategies. Finally, continuing support should be provided, in the form of counselling support, external professional support when required, and peer support, particularly during periods of high risk or crises.
Basically, psychological risk requires a proactive and systemic risk approach, similar to fire or chemical exposure risk management.
The emphasis is on designing work to prevent harm and foster wellbeing from the start, reducing the need for reactive measures and minimizing damage.
Most importantly, it should engage and empower Content Moderators themselves to protect their own psychological health and report when they are being unnecessarily impacted.
Why ISO Standards Matter for Content Moderator Safety
ISO 45003 also outlines hazards beyond psychological distress or trauma that significantly impact Content Moderators, such as work relationships, organizational culture, and change management practices.
We have seen significant impacts of these factors in consultancy, often having a greater psychological impact than the content itself.
This highlights why the ISO framework is essential for systemically assessing all potential hazards that may impact employee mental health, a process often guided by content moderator safety consulting services.
Building a Culture of Psychological Safety
A core component of this systemic approach is building genuine psychological safety. This requires creating a supportive work culture where open communication is encouraged, and moderators feel safe to voice concerns without fear of reprisal.
Such a culture stands in stark contrast to environments dominated by high-pressure productivity quotas, which can undermine trust, discourage help-seeking, and exacerbate stress.
Growing Regulatory Pressures
In addition to global ISO guidelines, we have seen an increase in compliance and regulation obligations in the T&S space. The Digital Services Act (DSA) requires that EU-based online platforms must comply with regulations to reduce harm or risk, facing heavy fines.
The Online Safety Act (2021) in Australia mandates the removal of illegal content, such as CSAM, cyberbullying, and terrorist material, within 24 hours, or face civil risk penalties and significant fines. There are now stricter national accountability standards appearing internationally to protect users from harmful content.
Unfortunately, this rise in accountability will most likely affect frontline Content Moderators the most. They struggle to meet the higher demands for speed and accuracy, which can harm the platform’s reputation and introduce a new, significant psychosocial stressor.
To address these challenges, organizations need transparency, ongoing content moderation wellness research, and risk assessments tailored to the fast-changing Trust and Safety environment.
Support Across the Employee Lifecycle
Effective support is a continuous process throughout an employee’s time with the company. It begins with transparent recruitment screening to set realistic job expectations. This is followed by comprehensive onboarding that includes mental health literacy and resource awareness.
Support must then be maintained with consistent in-production support, including regular check-ins and access to care. Finally, a structured and supportive offboarding process is essential to help moderators decompress and transition out of the role healthily.
