Managers play a key role in ensuring a safe and healthy workplace, including the management of psychosocial risks (PSRs). While employers retain overall responsibility, for ensuring a safe work environment, managers organise and oversee day-to-day work and are crucial for putting occupational safety and health (OSH) policies and prevention measures into practice. Their leadership, commitment, and awareness are essential for fostering a strong OSH culture and for complying with respective OSH legislation . Managers are often tasked with creating appropriate working conditions and identifying psychosocial risks. Employers remain ultimately responsible and must ensure that managers have the necessary resources, competence and information to carry out these tasks; failure to do so may amount to organisational negligence under national law.
Psychological safety
Psychological safety refers to a shared belief that the workplace is safe for speaking up, admitting mistakes and showing vulnerability (e.g. allowing interpersonal risk-taking). It is based on a climate of openness where workers feel able to express themselves, question decisions and propose new ideas without fear of negative consequences. This can facilitate learning, innovation and creativity. Psychological safety is often a prerequisite for workers to voice opinions or criticism, including towards managers, and to speak up when others are treated unfairly, without fear of repercussions. Psychological safety has been associated with reduced risk for burnout and improved job satisfaction and well-being.
Managers have an important role in fostering psychological safety by promoting open communication and feedback without negative repercussions. For example, managers who foster open communication by actively sharing feedback and criticism they have received themselves, were not found to jeopardise their reputation as a competent leader. Instead, such practices facilitated more actionable feedback, enhanced accountability, and supported ongoing practices that foster again psychological safety. Eventually, creating psychological safety within organisations is a shared responsibility and also materialises in horizontal work relationships. Workers and colleagues play a central role in daily interactions and can foster a safety climate inter alia by communicating appropriately and treating other colleagues with respect.
Psychosocial safety climate
The employer has the power and ability to create the conditions necessary for psychosocial safety at work, thereby preserving workers’ physical and mental health. Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) refers to the shared perception by workers within an organisation that its policies adequately protect workers’ mental health and safety, reflecting the employer’s values, priorities, practices and commitment for workers’ psychological safety and health, including whether mental health is regarded as equally important as productivity and profit. PSC also reflects the quality of communication regarding psychological safety issues and the extent to which the employer demonstrates active involvement and commitment to PSR prevention across all organisational levels.
Psychological safety and PSC should be a strategic priority, a core part of organisational governance, to strengthen stability, resilience, and sustainability towards meeting future challenges. Adequate PSR management at company level support PSC, by enabling job satisfaction, work engagement, better job performance and productivity, while preventing adverse effects of PSRs such as increased sick leave and turnover.