Building a Psychologically Safe Workplace
By Josh Welp, FNF Safety Director
The highest performing teams have one thing in common: Psychological safety. So what is psychological safety? Psychological safety is a work environment where employees feel confident that they will not be embarrassed or punished for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea. Psychological safety is an organizational term, not exclusive to occupational safety. It is not something we either have or do not have. Rather, it is something leaders must actively create. Take, for example, the healthcare industry. Nearly 50% of health care staff think it is unsafe to speak up even though approximately 1,000 patients die every day due to human errors. Why don't they speak up? Because they feel powerless, it is not safe to say anything or think their idea will not work. In other words, the workplace is built on a hierarchy or bureaucracy where command-and-control management is present.
Invite and appreciate others' input who work at the stick's sharp end (workers encountering daily hazards and risks). They make mistakes, but they also have good ideas, so give them a voice.
There are parallels to the construction industry. Construction workers make mistakes all the time. We have to acknowledge that workers want to do a good job, and they do not go to work every day looking to be ignorant or incompetent. I recently visited one of our projects, and two carpenters were stripping the interior barrels of a 28' wide x 230' long box culvert.
As I observed the workers, I noticed they would traverse back and forth carrying a 50-pound sheet of plywood.
I started becoming more curious, so I started asking questions. It turns out the workers spent six hours of hard manual labor carrying out plywood piece-by-piece, at times walking the entire length of the box culvert. Why didn't they speak up and ask for a more efficient way to complete this task? Why couldn't we complete team lifts, use the fork tines of a forklift, or a cart on wheels to move the plywood? This is where learning teams are established to learn of the problem(s), spend time understanding it, and finally improve the activity.
How do we disturb the sound of silence and encourage psychological safety in the workplace? First, we have to treat others as they would like to be treated. Next, build a culture that embraces curiosity and asking questions when unsure.
Finally, invite and appreciate others' input who work at the stick's sharp end (workers encountering daily hazards and risks). They make mistakes, but they also have good ideas, so give them a voice.
There is also a lot of uncertainty and complexity in our work at FNF. Building relationships creates open communication channels and often leads to openness and trust. People are the solution, and I see this frequently in the field as they are building adaptive capacity. Creating an environment where employees feel safe to speak up without fear of punishment (psychological safety), along with having the ability to develop interdependency amongst our workforce, is a recipe for profitable, safe work.
Josh Welp, CSP, CHST, CRIS
FNF Safety DIRECTOR
Josh brings to FNF more than 20 years of experience in construction safety. He holds a Master’s degree in Safety, Health and Environmental Management, is a certified OSHA trainer, and holds a number of professional certifications.
Josh has both field and program management expertise from his prior positions as a safety professional in the construction industry. Earlier in his career, he spent 4 years as a Compliance Officer at ADOSH (Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health), which adds to his perspective from the compliance side.