Psychology in the Workplace

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What does it mean to actively care for people’s safety? Is this the mission of behavior-based safety (BBS)? Let’s understand the difference between “caring” and “acting.” No one wants to see an individual get injured on the job. This is caring. Yet, many workers admit they do not act on their caring by providing behavioral feedback.

Rules are so easy to make that safety offices are often accused of being a “Rule Mill” because they continuously produce their rule-of-the month. Why do we create so many rules? One particular cog in our mill that causes us to create rules is incidents. When we suffer an incident, we want to throw every tool in the arsenal to keep it from happening again.

Just by putting “Congo miners” in the title here will have most readers flipping to the next page. I learned this lesson years ago writing an article about workplace safety, or the lack thereof, in China. “Why did you write this article?” asked a reader. “I don’t read ISHN for articles about China.” Another reader opined: “Everybody knows nobody values life in a country like China.”

A large American Cancer Society (ACS) study links social isolation with a higher risk of death from all causes combined and heart disease for all races studied, and with increased cancer mortality in white men and women. The study says addressing social isolation holds promise if studies show interventions are effective, as they could be relatively simple and could influence other risk factors, as social isolation is also associated with hypertension, inflammation, physical inactivity, smoking, and other health risks.

In a psychologically safe workplace, every employee feels comfortable, accepted, and respected. Although it may seem to be a simple and understandable thing, many companies fail to create a safe environment for their employees. For example, on some teams, junior members are not taken seriously during meetings and their opinions may be criticized more than others’ because of their lack of seniority.

A tricky thing, disciplining employees. Every safety pro has a story about discipline:“I had to terminate a woman in 1987 because her body odor was so repulsive, affecting other workers (and her boss… me),” says a pro who requested anonymity. “I remember progressive discipline... You bet I asked the HR manager for assistance.”

Time is money. It’s an old saying that we have heard a thousand times, but why is it so memorable? Perhaps because it’s true. The problem with this maxim is that to save time, people often lose sight of safety

Headline issues, from immigration to sexual assault, are causing significant stress among members of Generation Z — those between ages 15 and 21 — with mass shootings topping the list of stressful current events, according to a report released by American Psychological Association (APA) entitled, Stress in America™: Generation Z.