By Phil Molé, MPH
A growing number of safety professionals now agree that addressing psychosocial risks is essential for safeguarding employees’ mental health and overall well-being. Our recent webinar provided some background on psychosocial risks and the ways you can use the time-tested risk management tool of job safety analysis (JSA) to address them and build employee engagement.
For the benefit of those of you who couldn’t attend live, here’s a quick recap of the webinar.
Background on Psychosocial Risks
Psychosocial risks are sources of anxiety workers experience that are rooted in the work environment itself, and therefore, are under the employer’s control or influence.
Recent studies highlight the significant impact of psychosocial risks on employee well-being and productivity. Nearly one-in-three EU workers report experiencing stress at work, with stress-related diseases contributing to the loss of millions of workdays annually.
It’s important to understand that the same workplace hazards that create what we think of as ‘traditional’ safety risks (e.g., falls, “struck by” incidents, chemical exposures) also create psychosocial risks because employee exposure to those risks causes anxiety. These risks are exacerbated by poor communication, lack of employee involvement in safety programs, and inadequate visibility of safety data. That’s why ‘traditional’ safety management and psychological/psychosocial safety management work like interconnected pieces of a puzzle.
When employees are aware of potential hazards but feel excluded from decision-making processes, their anxiety levels can understandably increase. This anxiety is intensified when safety programs do not sufficiently represent the entire workforce, easily leading to feelings of neglect and further stress. One example of this would be employees with disabilities who are not given an opportunity to participate in planning key safety program policies such as emergency response procedures such as fire drills and evacuation procedures. If emergency response plans do not account for the needs of workers with disabilities, employees with mobility issues may not be able to evacuate the building as quickly and hearing-impaired employees may not hear alarms. These examples, in addition to the growing prevalence of workplace anxiety mentioned earlier, underscores the critical need for proactive psychosocial risk management. Doing so starts with identifying and controlling those risks with the active participation of frontline workers.
Psychosocial risks, which include organizational, physical, and human factors, have a profound impact on workplace safety and productivity, and these factors often interact synergistically. For example, rigorous production targets (organizational factors) can lead to greater employee fatigue (human factors), thereby increasing the risk for injuries such as slips, trips, and falls (physical factors).
The Interaction Between Psychosocial and Traditional Safety Risks
Understanding workplace safety involves examining the interplay between the physical and psychosocial risks. Physical hazards, such as exposure to noise or chemicals, can directly harm employees. The stress resulting from potential exposure to these hazards can also lead to indirect harm, such as anxiety that can lead to high blood pressure or muscle tension that can cause musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
This dynamic relationship underscores the need for a more holistic approach to risk management that considers both direct and indirect pathways to harm and addresses both traditional and psychosocial risk management strategies. By addressing the root causes of stress and anxiety, businesses can create a safer and more supportive work environment.
The Importance of a Safety Management System (SMS) Approach
Adopting a safety management system (SMS) approach to identifying hazards and risks can provide the framework for the holistic approach companies need to adopt to manage both physical and psychosocial risks. A prime example of an SMS approach is alignment with ISO 45001, the internationally recognized “gold standard” for safety management.
There are several key reasons why ISO 45001 is an ideal framework for managing both physical and psychosocial risks. One reason is that ISO 45001emphasizes the need for a proactive approach to safety management focused on identification of hazards, risks, and opportunities. Another reason is that it specifically emphasizes the need for “consultation and participation” of workers, including frontline workers who are most familiar with job hazards. That phrase, “Consultation and participation,” basically translates to not simply involving employees in safety, but giving them a seat at the table so we can learn from them when developing our safety program policies. This ensures we get better information and also directly addresses the problem of employees feeling like they’re “left out” of key decisions about their safety, a factor that so often contributes to psychosocial risks.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) also created a supplemental guidance document, ISO 45003, specifically to help employers address psychosocial risks within the context of an SMS as described by ISO 45001. ISO’s development of 45003 underscores the value and importance of integrating traditional and psychosocial safety management.
Enhancing Risk Management with Job Safety Analysis (JSA)
JSA is an effective tool for improving risk management and is an ideal exercise for engaging workers in addressing risks as envisioned by ISO 45001. One of the best examples of how JSAs help engage workers in addressing risks is the job task breakdown. During this step of the JSA, workers help define the individual tasks required to perform a job, and involving frontline workers and operators enables better identification of hidden hazards and risks.
Following the job task breakdown, the team performing the JSA assesses risk levels for each hazard, selects appropriate controls to reduce risks, and then performs a follow-up assessment to calculate a residual or “post-control” risk level. These steps also benefit tremendously from the consultation and participation of workers who are most familiar with the job, ensuring a diligent and accurate risk assessment and improving both traditional and psychosocial risk management.
Once you complete the JSA you need to implement processes to ensure it stays up to date. Periodically reviewing your JSAs to identify areas for improvement, rather than simply filing them away and not revisiting them until something bad happens, is key to proactive risk management. Incident investigations should always inform the JSA process and prompt a review to identify gaps and improve controls but keeping your JSAs front-and-center will enable everyone, including workers, to be more responsive to new or previously unforeseen risks before they can lead to an incident.
Depending on your facility’s complexity and your operational risk management maturity level, you may also need to supplement JSAs with other risk assessment tools. Techniques such as Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Event Tree Analysis, and the ‘Five Whys’ method can provide deeper insights into risks. A risk bowtie diagram is a particularly useful tool for visualizing risk pathways, causes, and consequences, making it easier for employees to understand and engage with risk management processes. Risk bowties consolidate information from various risk assessments into a simple, intuitive format, enhancing comprehension and facilitating better decision-making.
For high-risk facilities, Process Safety Management (PSM) is essential. PSM involves a structured approach to managing risks associated with highly hazardous chemicals, often requiring compliance with specific regulations. A Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) is a key component of PSM, providing layers of protection to prevent accidents. Effective PHA requires input from knowledgeable employees and can reduce both traditional and psychosocial risks. Facilitators can help ensure meaningful participation and improve the quality of PHA output. Executive summaries and inclusive brainstorming sessions can further enhance employee engagement and understanding.
Technology Can Help You Create and Use Better JSAs
Even though JSAs can help you improve your management of both traditional and psychosocial risks, there are often challenges to overcome. There can be variability in the JSA process itself which can lead to very different JSAs findings for identical processes at two different company work locations, and that compromises the effectiveness of your JSA process. You may also have a difficult time selecting appropriate controls for identified risks or identifying correct risk reduction factors for those controls. Finally, the problem of JSAs often languishing without use or updates is often worse due to employers lacking effective tools to access and share JSAs, and operational risk software helps overcome that challenge.
Technologies such as operational risk software can significantly enhance the effectiveness of JSAs by making JSAs more accessible and functional, helping organizations to revise them as needed and visualize patterns in risk controls. Software also helps employees participate directly in the process, which is the type of “consultation and participation” envisioned by ISO 45001.
Closing Thoughts on Psychosocial Risks and JSAs
Managing psychosocial risks is essential for workplace safety. Understanding these risks and their impact enables businesses to develop effective mitigation strategies. This proactive approach involves the active participation of frontline workers and the integration of both traditional and psychosocial safety management practices. Creating a supportive and inclusive work environment enhances employee well-being, reduces absenteeism and turnover, and ultimately boosts the bottom line.
Employee engagement in risk management not only improves safety but also reduces psychosocial risks, promoting a healthier and more productive work environment. Continuously refining risk management practices and using advanced tools like risk bowties and PHA ensures better risk governance, safeguarding the workforce, improving overall business performance, and reducing both traditional and psychosocial risks in the workplace. Make sure the software tools you’re using facilitate your ability to create and use better risk assessments with the collaboration of your team.
For more information about JSAs and psychosocial risks, watch our on-demand webinar.
Let VelocityEHS Help!
VelocityEHS Operational Risk software provides advanced JSA capabilities that are purpose-built to help you standardize the JSA process across your entire organization and manage it from a central dashboard. Users get a flexible, intuitive JSA management tool that makes it easy to accurately identify hazards to your workers, assess risks confidently and consistently, select, assign and verify risk controls, and communicate vital JSA information in real-time to help prevent incidents and continuously strengthen worker safety.
Operational Risk is only one of the innovative solutions included in the VelocityEHS Accelerate® Platform, alongside our Safety, Chemical Management and Industrial Ergonomics solutions. Ready to see for yourself how our software can help you? Set up a meeting to learn more!