Psychological protection icon Psychological protection

Refers to the psychological safety of workers and is demonstrated when workers feel able to put themselves on the line, ask questions, seek feedback, report mistakes and problems or propose a new idea without fearing negative consequences to themselves, their job or their career.

“With care and protection, with safe havens in the ocean, there is still a good chance that we can turn things around.” – Sulvia Earle

Overview

What is psychological protection?

Psychological protection is present in a work environment where workers’ psychological safety is ensured. Workplace psychological safety is demonstrated when workers feel able to put themselves on the line, ask questions, seek feedback, report mistakes and problems or propose a new idea without fearing negative consequences to themselves, their job or their career. A psychologically safe and healthy organization actively promotes emotional well-being among workers while taking all reasonable steps to minimize threats to worker mental health.

An organization with good psychological protection would be able to state that:

  • The organization is committed to minimizing unnecessary stress at work.
  • Immediate supervisors care about workers’ emotional well-being.
  • The organization makes efforts to prevent harm to workers from harassment, bullying, discrimination, violence or stigma.
  • Workers would describe the workplace as being psychologically healthy.
  • The organization deals effectively with situations that can threaten or harm workers (e.g. harassment, bullying, discrimination, violence, stigma, etc).

When workers are psychologically protected, they demonstrate greater job satisfaction, enhanced team learning and improved performance. Workers are more likely to speak up, become involved, show increased morale and are less likely to experience stress-related illnesses. Psychologically protected workplaces also experience fewer grievances, conflicts and liability risks.

When workers are not psychologically safe, they experience demoralization, a sense of threat, disengagement and strain. Workplace conditions are seen as unclear and unpredictable. The organization is at a much greater threat from costly, and potentially crippling, legal and regulatory risk. This can, in turn, ruin shareholder, consumer and public confidence in the organization.

FAQs

  • Create a culture where psychological health and safety is valued, encouraged and promoted.
  • Ensure fairness in how workplace decisions are made and how procedures are carried out (procedural justice).
  • Ensure fairness in the outcomes of workplace decisions, such as promotion decisions (distributive justice).
  • When communicating decisions to staff, do so in a respectful manner, with sincerity, care and empathy (interactional justice).
  • Create a process where difficult workplace situations can be discussed and addressed in a safe and confidential manner.
  • Recognize that the assurance of psychological safety is more than just a policy – it involves an ongoing process of education, implementation and evaluation, with revisions as needed.
  • Provide incentives and reinforcement for the active demonstration of psychologically healthy and safe behaviour.

  • Provide ongoing orientation and training on policies and programs on harassment, discrimination, violence at work and conflict management.
  • Train all leaders, including human resource providers and union personnel, to be knowledgeable and accountable for ensuring a psychologically healthy and safe workplace.
  • Provide training on identifying and dealing with psychosocial stressors in the workplace (e.g. training in assertiveness, problem-solving and stress management).

  • Ensure staff is up-to-date on existing policies on harassment, discrimination, violence and conflict management, via both formal and informal communication.
  • Provide safe opportunities for team members to identify and participate in the remediation of psychological safety concerns.
  • Communicate the availability of resources, educational material and supports available to manage stress, including stress resulting from workplace crisis or trauma.

  • Comply with the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.
  • Develop policies and programs that assess and address factors that cause harm to team members (e.g. harassment, discrimination, violence).
  • Regularly review and modify policies and programs to reflect emerging case law and regulatory changes.
  • Ensure staff from all levels within the organization comply with company ethics, values and worker privacy statements.
  • For workers who have experienced harassment, discrimination or violence, provide internal programs and benefits, as well as information on external resources (e.g. employee and family assistance programs, access to psychologists or other regulated mental health professionals, community services).
  • Conduct regular risk assessments and reviews to help understand and monitor factors that may negatively affect workers’ psychological health and safety.
  • Provide programs and services for those working in vulnerable situations or environments, including those working off-hours (e.g. debriefing, peer support, safe-walk programs, secure parking access).
  • Provide adequate rests and breaks or job rotations for particularly burdensome mental or physical tasks (e.g. rest period for night-shift workers).

Action

Next steps: Ensuring employees’ psychological protection

A work environment where employees’ psychological safety is ensured.

  • reduced costs from work absence (e.g. sick time, disability costs)
  • reduced conflict
  • fewer job-related errors, incidents, accidents and injuries
  • fewer grievances and reduced legal liability

  • Do issues related to employees’ psychological protection present a greater risk to particular groups of employees (e.g. new employees, certain jobs, shift workers, etc.)?
  • What are the strengths in your workplace in terms of employees’ psychological protection (e.g. what do you do well and what should you continue doing)?
  • What could your workplace do to improve in this area (e.g. what could you do more of and what could you do less of)?
Psychological protection infographic

View sample action plan

Complete the action plan worksheet

Download the psychological protection infographic

Download social media card

Psychological Protection is psychosocial factor 12 from CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013 – Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Retrieved from: https://www.csagroup.org/article/cancsa-z1003-13-bnq-9700-803-2013-r2018/. See also Guarding Minds at Work (Samra et al.): Retrieved from https://www.guardingmindsatwork.ca/resources.