Denver — Probably one of the most appreciated education sessions at this year’s American Society of Safety Professionals’ national conference, judging by the applause at the conclusion and the crowd around the panel of five speakers, was an open forum on psychological safety and health.

Approximately 100 pros in attendance were asked to raise their hands if they were responsible for other people. Almost every hand in the room went up. Next question: Do you think you have received the leadership training you need? Not one hand went up.

In the Q&A portion of the session, one attendee said she had just finished 40 hours of leadership training for her company and mental health and well-being issues “never came   up for a minute.”

The expert panel pointed out leadership responsibilities or factors that can damage mental well-being, causing burnout, sadness, anger, anxiety and other psycho-social disorders include:

• Loneliness — feeling isolated; not wanting to cross boundaries and become pals with workers who you direct and may have to correct or have hard conversations with.
• Role clarity — your leadership duties are not documented in any type of job description. Also, there may be a “let the manager do it” attitude in the workplace – servant leadership that becomes a burden.
• Always being on — Leaders as role models can’t have a bad day.
• Constant feedback — Either giving or receiving it, from above or below.
• Imposter syndrome — Feelings of inadequacy as a leader.
• Learning by doing — The lack of leadership training indicated by the audience when not a hand was raised if asked about receiving effective leader training.

An attendee asked: “So what are we going to do about it?” Answers came from both the panel and attendees. They included:

• Be honest with your team. You’re only human to be having a bad day.
• Be aware of leadership mental health challenges and hazards
• Set personal boundaries — for example, answer emails on the weekends in one brief period, and only from personnel who you know prioritize emails answered on weekends or whenever.
• Be self-aware of your state of mind and body.
• Use widely available research and data to show the ROI for investing in mental health and the high cost of months that can be lost by a mental health disability.
• Identify psycho-social issues for a team or work group, then prioritize and begin to mitigate using internal or outside expertise if needed.
• Don’t try to do it all yourself — One safety pro cannot change an organization-wide culture that could be a toxic mental environment. Top executive buy-in is necessary.
• “Be nice to people” said one attendee, to a round of applause.