What is Psychological Health and Safety?

Introduction to Psychological Health and Safety

This introductory overview of psychological health and safety is intended to introduce you to the overall concept of dealing with psychosocial hazards in the workplace by discussing a few specific hazards. There are many more psychosocial hazards than will be discussed here. We will use one of many categories of psychosocial hazards as an example. That category is States of Mind.

Impact of Work on Mental Health

Our jobs can significantly impact our mental health. Employers are responsible for protecting their staff’s physical and psychosocial health.

A psychosocial hazard is anything in the design, management, or social context of work that has the potential to cause harm to workers. A psychosocial risk is the likelihood and consequence of harm occurring due to exposure to psychosocial hazards at work.

Psychological Health in the Workplace

Psychological health and well-being have long been major issues in the workplace. Examples include stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression, which cost billions and result in high levels of long-term sickness, absence, and consequent disruption.

A psychologically safe workplace is one where employees are free of stresses that affect their work performance and cause physical injuries. Workplaces that focus on the mental health of their employees are more productive, have better employee engagement, and retain staff for longer.

The Role of Psychological Health and Safety

Psychological health and safety deals with how we think, feel, and behave. While traditional health and safety practices focus on physical risks, psychological health and safety addresses mental health and well-being.

Workplace mental health issues often lead to physical injuries, yet they cannot be addressed the same way as physical problems. Mental health concerns are often hidden, such as depression, which can be less evident than physical ailments.

Tools for Managing Psychological Health

The primary tool employers use to identify and combat workplace mental health issues is identifying psychosocial risk factors. Psychosocial risk factors are any issues or conditions that may negatively affect a person’s psychological response to their duties at work or their relationships with supervisors or colleagues.

Example of Psychosocial Hazards: States of Mind

One common psychosocial hazard is frustration. This hazard falls under the category of States of Mind, which helps us understand how certain mental states reduce attention to work and situational awareness.

Situational awareness is key in safety. Workers who are situationally aware are mindful of what is happening around them and attentive to their work. Lack of awareness, often due to frustration, can lead to accidents.

Causes and Consequences of Workplace Injuries

Despite strong safety practices, workplace injuries still occur due to human factors like complacency, frustration, and fatigue. These factors often lead to inattention, causing workers to overlook dangers and fail to follow safety procedures.

Dealing with Frustration in the Workplace

Frustration is the feeling of being upset or annoyed due to an inability to achieve something. In the workplace, frustration distracts workers, leading to diminished situational awareness and increased risk of accidents.

Frustration can result from unmet expectations in the workplace. It’s important to determine whether these expectations are realistic and, if not, adjust them accordingly.

• External Frustrations: These may originate from the organization, managers, or co-workers.
• Self-Inflicted Frustrations: Workers may place unrealistic expectations on themselves, resulting in frustration.
• Environmental Frustrations: Workplace conditions, like poor morale or imbalanced work-life arrangements, can also lead to frustration.

The Complexity of Addressing Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace

Psychological Health and Safety largely deals with mental or emotional processes that have some potential to create a state of mind that may result in some lessening of due concern or care that could become a causal factor in an injury. Dealing with psychosocial hazards is an expansive undertaking that requires special skills and a determination to consider all potential problem areas. Dealing with these hazards requires an ongoing effort that is continually updated and improved, especially since these hazards appear, disappear, and reappear often as their causal factors and their effects on workers come and go. Considering psychosocial hazards is an important step in workplace safety as it takes us beyond our usual approach of considering actions, or a lack of action, that may cause injury. Consideration of psychosocial hazards takes us closer to the point of origin of the problem by helping us consider the thought process or state of mind that results in the actions, or a lack of action, that may cause injury.

For a full understanding of how to address psychosocial hazards, we suggest our Psychological Health and Safety Manager Certificate Course.