As I have been writing about fundamental safety practices and how they play a critical role in OSH and Process Safety in the workplace, my views get pounded by the HOP and Psychological safety gurus. As I have said countless times, HOP and Psychological Safety have roles in a world-class safety management system; however, they are just supporting roles and are not core to the SMS. I believe in, and practice BOTH in the SMS’s I develop for clients.
But I draw the line at how employees “feel mentally” vs. having a physical injury/ailment.
This all goes back to the MATURITY of the SMS and where we need to emphasize making substantial improvements in reducing hazards (physical and behavioral) within our workplaces. Sure, how employees feel mentally while at work matters, but damn it, we are safety professionals, educated and trained to:
- Identify Hazards
- Analyze those hazards
- Assess the risks of those identified hazards, and
- Reduce the risks those hazards pose
We are NOT mental health professionals! Some of this psychological safety crap floating around is WAY OUTSIDE our skill sets! Stick to what we know and do well; those workers who do the dirty and dangerous work will be better off under our care and leadership if we can just do this.
There is SO MUCH opportunity in the vast majority of workplaces if we just practice these four (4) fundamentals of safety and as we mature in our SMS, we can then begin to incorporate these supporting measures that take our SMS to the next level.
