Key facts
Start date: 25 February 2026
Cost: $1,200 + GST ($1,380 incl GST)
Time commitment: 50 hours (includes time spent watching recorded clips, completing activities, reading and assessments and joining live Q&A sessions)
Location: Online (course material delivered via Massey’s online Stream learning platform, optional live sessions via Zoom)
Who this course is for
This micro-credential offering is intended for practitioners currently working in Health and Safety (H&S) roles (or roles with a H&S component, eg human resources) who possess solid technical understanding of H&S principles generally, but could benefit from developing specific knowledge around the management of psychosocial risks in the workplace and the subsequent creation of mentally healthy work.
What you'll get
Successful participants will receive a Massey University Certificate of Achievement and 5 credits added to their academic record at Massey.
This course provides learning and assessment equivalent to Stage 1 university learning and NZQA level 5 vocational training.
Entry requirements
Participants will be ideally currently working in a health and safety role. In some cases this may be a role within human resources that has responsibility for health, safety and wellbeing in their organisation, or another similar role. If participants are unsure if their experience and/or background is suitable, please contact Professor David Tappin to discuss this further.
Learning outcomes
At the completion of this micro-credential students will be able to:
- Identify and apply foundational theories and concepts relating to mentally healthy work
- Analyse opportunities for the improvement of work conditions and mentally healthy work in their own organisation
- Design responses to improve mentally healthy work in their own organisation.
Topics
The course consists of 8 topics, grouped into 3 modules. For each topic, participants are expected to watch a few short recorded lecture clips and complete preparatory reading/activities (approximately 2-3 hours per topic in total). Ideally, participants will also join a live online Q&A/discussion session for that week’s topic. Attendance at these sessions is optional and will not affect completion of the course, but we encourage participants to attend whenever possible.
Although we strongly encourage you to work towards the stated deadlines for each assessment, as this micro-credential is designed for practitioners, we are certainly able to offer flexibility as required. Further information about requesting flexibility/extensions for deadlines will be provided at the start of the course.
Module 1: Introduction to Mentally Healthy Work
| Topic | Live session date and time | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Topic 1 | Wednesday 25 February, 12.30pm-2pm | Introduction to mentally healthy work: Psychosocial factors, psychosocial risk, outcomes; Work content and context |
| Topic 2 | Wednesday 4 March, 12.30pm-2pm | Frameworks and foundational theories for understanding psychosocial risk |
| Topic 3 | Wednesday 11 March, 12.30pm-2pm | Mentally healthy work in Aotearoa: a Te Ao Māori perspective on mentally healthy work. (Guest speaker: Professor Jarrod Haar) |
Workbook assessment 1 due 5pm, Thursday 19th March.
Module 2: Legal obligations and measurement considerations
| Topic | Live session date and time | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Topic 4 | Wednesday 25 March, 12.30pm-2pm | Health and Safety at Work Act: Requirements, roles, responsibilities in the context of psychosocial risk. (Guest speaker: Dr Louise Deacon) |
| Topic 5 | Wednesday 1 April, 12.30pm-2pm | Measuring to manage psychosocial risk: Gathering data and insights |
| Drop-in session | Wednesday 8 April, 12.30pm-2pm | No new content this week – this week functions as a catch-up week for anyone who may have fallen behind. An optional live Q&A session will be held this week for any queries relating to the course so far. |
Workbook assessment 2 due 5pm, Thursday 16th April
Module 3: Assessing, designing and implementing change
| Topic | Live session date and time | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Topic 6 | Wednesday 22 April, 12.30pm-2pm | A systems approach to managing risk: Psychosocial interventions and controls |
| Topic 7 | Wednesdays 29 April, 12.30pm-2pm | Designing interventions for psychosocial risk |
| Topic 8 | Wednesday 6 May, 12.30pm-2pm | Using good practice to inform an organisational strategy for mentally healthy work |
| Drop-in session | Wednesday 13 May, 12.30pm-2pm | No new content this week – this week functions as a catch-up week for anyone who may have fallen behind or who otherwise would like additional assistance/discussion. An optional live Q&A session will be held this week for any queries relating to the course. |
Workbook assessment 3 due 5pm, Thursday 29th May
Assessment
Workbooks
Participants will complete 3 workbooks across the whole course. One is due at the end of each module. These exercise workbooks require students apply principles from the relevant module to their own workplace.
Practical/workplace requirements
Participants will be working in a relevant Health and Safety role, where they can apply the content to their own organisational context as part of their assessments.
Registration
Enrolments for the next course offering starting 25 February 2026 are now open!
To register your interest or enrol, or for any questions, please email us:
mhw@massey.ac.nz
Enrolments close 11.59pm, 16 February, but we encourage you to enrol as soon as possible as spaces are limited.
Course contacts
Professor David Tappin
David is a work and organisation scholar and co-director of the Healthy Work Group in Massey Business School. His background is industry-based research & consultancy in NZ, and his research interests are the nature and quality of work and its effects on health, sustainability and performance. This research background informs and guides his teaching, research, and supervision.
Dr Zoë Port
Zoë lectures in management and co-directs of the Healthy Work Group. Zoë is fiercely passionate about ensuring workers know their rights and have respectful, healthy work environments. Her research interests include the psychosocial work environment, non-standard work and young workers.