The Importance of Psychological Safety in Injury Prevention

Psychological safety is a topic that has been growing in importance. EHS recently published an article highlighting how companies need to understand how employees’ unique characteristics influence how they experience psychological safety. 

This blog delves into psychological safety, its significance in injury prevention, and how StrongArm’s injury prevention training integrates this vital component into its safety protocols.

Psychological Safety and Its Impact on Physical Safety

Psychological safety is widely defined as an individual’s ability to take interpersonal risks or the belief that a workplace is safe for risk-taking in the face of potential embarrassment or threat. The EHS article identifies four stages of psychological safety:

1. Inclusion: Employees feel appreciated and welcomed for being themselves.
2. Learning: Employees feel safe participating in the learning experience.
3. Contributing: Employees feel safe using their skills, making a difference, and participating.
4. Challenging: Employees feel safe speaking up and challenging the status quo.

Companies can categorize the essential elements of psychological safety at work into areas that need consistent alignment to nurture a secure environment. These elements include:

1. Organizational norms: Shared standards of acceptable behavior that are socially enforced and guide all organizational interactions. For example, establishing ground rules for DEI sessions where people share their experiences.
2. Leadership behaviors: Actions, values, and characteristics that leaders incorporate to motivate their team and achieve their goals. These behaviors may look like practicing grace and humility by apologizing for mistakes rather than acting defensively.
3. Artifacts: The organization’s processes, policies, and procedures, such as introducing and consistently reinforcing an anti-discrimination policy.

How StrongArm Fosters Psychological Safety Through Injury Prevention Training

Our team at Strongarm understands the intertwined relationship between psychological and physical safety, enhancing physical safety and nurturing a culture of psychological safety. 

First, by providing personalized training directly to the employees, StrongArm’s training meets them where they are. With a focus on hands-on training and foundational human movement principles, the training is accessible to all employees regardless of their previous knowledge or experience. In addition to the foundations, StrongArm also curates a training program based on your operations and the types of jobs that employees encounter.

Our wearable technology also provides proactive safety insights. Hence, frontline employees and managers can intervene early and often, empowering employees to use their skills proactively in preventing accidents. Management can use the data collected to identify trends and areas for improvement, allowing them to see the tangible outcomes of their injury prevention training. 

Furthermore, StrongArm helps you create internal champions to drive the adoption of injury prevention techniques across your organization. By having leaders participate and endorse the training, StrongArm reinforces that feedback is welcome at all levels. In these ways, StrongArm’s injury prevention training supports a psychological and physical safety culture where employees feel included and empowered to learn.

Create a Highly Effective Safety Culture At Your Organization

Ready to enhance your injury prevention programming? 

At StrongArm, we aim to keep workers safe through our SafeWork Platform — an end-to-end workforce optimization and risk management solution. Our safety wearables are programmed to detect dangerous bends and twists. Sensors help Industrial Athletes™ move their bodies safely so they don’t have to think about it. They gather data points while providing real-time haptic feedback to help correct unsafe behaviors. 

Request a demo for more information and learn how to create a safer work environment!