Why are security and safety important?

The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) requires leaders to be competent to manage, lead and supervise workers in a way that is psychologically safe. One of the core aspects of psychologically safe leadership relates to ensuring the psychological and physical security and safety of all team members.

What are security and safety?

Security and safety require proactive, prompt and supportive responses to all threats to psychological and physical safety in the workplace.

Why are security and safety important?

There are many benefits to having people leaders effectively trained in security and safety:

  • The risk of critical incidents is reduced, or even eliminated.
  • Stress-related absences, illnesses and injuries are prevented.
  • There is enhanced loyalty from workers and retention rates are increased.
  • Trust in leadership is increased.

So, how do leaders increase the level of psychological security and safety in the workplace?

  1. Value a balance in worker’s work as well as personal lives. This helps to ensure work stress doesn’t spill over into workers’ lives outside of work.
  2. Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable coming forward if they’re struggling. Supporting staff with personal or work struggles will help them to maintain a better work-life balance which will help them to manage stress and be more productive at work.
  3. Effectively identify and address threats to psychological safety, such as bullying, harassment or violence. As well, encourage workers to come forward if they have experienced or witnessed harm or threat to psychological safety in the workplace.
  4. Be vigilant when it comes to threats of physical safety and acknowledge the potential psychological impact of physical illnesses and injuries on team members at work.

Good leaders foster an environment where everyone looks out for the well-being of each other. Consider your individual and organizational strengths with respect to security and safety. and steps that can be taken to enhance it.

Security and safety is a key aspect of psychologically safe leadership from the Psychologically Safe Leadership Assessment (PSLA), an assessment tool developed by Dr. Joti Samra, MyWorkplaceHealth’s CEO & Founder, made for leaders to self-assess how they fare across five key domains of leadership, which align with the requirements of the CSA National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. These five domains are: communication and collaboration; social intelligence; problem solving and conflict management; security and safety; and fairness and integrity.