Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine the importance of workplace psychological safety.
While workers face many physical hazards on the job, it’s important to consider the non-physical hazards as well. Psychological safety is a crucial part of any workplace, meaning employees can speak up about safety concerns without fear of reprisal or criticism.
There is a strong relationship between psychological and physical safety, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). “Fostering psychological safety may directly contribute to a safer physical workplace by encouraging proactive reporting of potential hazards and safety issues,” the NSC writes. “Psychological safety is an important factor in ensuring worker health and safety. Encouraging workers to speak up about safety issues without fear of retaliation can foster drastically safer workplaces. Workers who feel their employer discourages reporting were 2.4 times more likely to have experienced a work injury.”
The NSC adds that psychological safety helps reduce the stigma associated with mental health and substance use. Stigma can prevent workers from speaking up about these issues or from getting the help they need. Workplaces should provided organization-wide education, awareness, and understanding about the nature and dynamics of stigma, mental illness, safety, and health.
Workplace mental health
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) notes that “mental health is an important component of overall well-being and is equally as vital as physical health for all employees. Mental health concerns due to work have the potential to adversely impact an employee’s social interactions, productivity, performance, and absenteeism.”
Stress can lead to a variety of ailments, including muscle tension, headaches, stomach discomfort, high blood pressure, and heart disease, according to OSHA. Ignoring workplace stress can lead to lasting harmful effects on individuals, families, co-workers, and communities.
Traumatic workplace events can have lasting effects on workers, OSHA notes. Examples include:
- Explosions or chemical releases
- Building, crane, or other equipment collapses
- Co-workers being injured or dying on the job
- Abuse or assault of a co-worker or client
After experiencing such an event, people may:
- Feel anxious, sad, or angry
- Have terrifying thoughts or flashbacks
- Have recurring nightmares
- Be confused or unable to think clearly
- Have a hard time falling and staying asleep
- Frighten easily
If these symptoms persist long after the event or affect day-to-day activities, they can be signs of acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. In either case, the person should seek professional help.
Measuring psychological safety
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), when psychological safety exists, members of a team can and should:
- Admit and discuss mistakes
- Openly address problems and tough issues
- Seek help and feedback
- Trust that no one on the team is out to get them
- Trust that they are a valued member of the team
Measure the psychological safety of your team by conducting an anonymous survey with these questions from the APA:
- If you make a mistake on this team, will it be held against you?
- Are the members of this team able to bring up problems and tough issues?
- Do members on this team sometimes reject other members for being different?
- Is it safe to take risk on this team?
- Is it difficult to ask other members of this team for help?
- Would anyone on the team deliberately act in a way that undermines efforts?
- Working with members of this team, are unique skills and talents valued and utilized?
Building psychological safety
The APA suggests taking the following steps to build a psychologically safe environment in the workplace.
Leaders should:
- Celebrate learning from mistakes and build debriefing sessions that examine lessons learned into every project
- Lead by example to show how to raise problems and tough issues for discussion in a constructive, nonjudgmental manner
- Encourage all team members to raise problems or difficult issues that are on their minds
- Applaud thoughtful risk taking and demonstrate it
- Publicly recognize and celebrate the unique skills and talents brought by each team member
Organizations should:
- Train leaders and managers on how to foster psychological safety
- Examine the organization to see if there are unnecessary hierarchies, chains-of-command, or professional boundaries that discourage communication from frontline workers to upper management
- Provide ways to recognize and celebrate employees’ skills and abilities in organization-wide communications
- Reiterate that the organization will not tolerate any employee deliberately undermining the efforts of another employee
Employees should:
- Focus on finding solutions with questions like, “What can we all do to help solve this problem?”
- Ask others for their opinions and feedback
- Actively listen to ideas shared by colleagues and ask respectful questions
- Extend kindness and respect when team members share ideas, even if you disagree with them
- Provide feedback in a respectful manner