The Neuroscience of Safety: Its time to Stop Talking about Safety & focus on Creating Integrated & Holistic Workplace Experiences.

In today's fast-paced, ever-changing work environment, organisations constantly seek ways to improve their safety performance and create a more engaged and resilient workforce. And while traditional approaches to safety have served us well in the past, they often treat it as a separate entity, resulting in information overload and employee disengagement. This article explores a more human-centred, inclusive approach to workplace safety that integrates physical and psychological safety into the company's DNA by applying neuroscience principles, creating holistic employee experiences, and fostering a community culture of safety.

By redefining how we approach all things people, safety and culture-related, organisations can significantly enhance employee wellbeing, engagement, and overall performance.

So let's start with the Why - Why should we do this?

Let's face it; unless we are working with robots, we need to consider the 'human' in everything we do in the workplace, and that includes understanding how the human brain works, including its limitations and designing our workplaces, our systems and our processes to work with the human brain not against. We need to declutter, simplify, integrate, and create the space to enable people to thrive in all aspects of their work because we know that when people thrive, business thrives.

However, when it comes to workplace safety, many organisations continue to treat it as a separate entity, leading to disengagement and information overload among employees. By taking a more integrated and human-centred approach to safety, we can create a workplace where safety is an inherent part of the culture and owned by everyone."

By embedding safety into an organisation's culture, we can create an environment where everyone owns safety and not just the concern of the safety and operations teams. This stands in stark contrast to traditional approaches that often lead to information overload and disengagement. By understanding the neuroscience behind brain overload and overwhelm, creating integrated employee experiences, and fostering a community culture, organisations can move beyond safety talks and truly improve safety performance. In doing so, they will not only enhance the wellbeing of their employees but also contribute to the organisation's overall success.

The Neuroscience of Brain Overload and Overwhelm

Understanding the neuroscience behind brain overload and overwhelm is essential to create an integrated safety culture. When employees are bombarded with information, their brains become overwhelmed, leading to decreased cognitive function and a lack of focus on the presented message. This is especially true when safety is treated as an add-on, separate from employees' daily tasks and responsibilities.

When we focus on creating a culture where safety is an integral part of the organisation, we reduce the likelihood of brain overload and overwhelm. Employees can better understand and internalise safety concepts when presented as a part of their daily work routines rather than as a separate and often repetitive topic.

The Neuroscience of Safety and Engagement

When discussing safety, it is essential to consider neuroscience's role in employee engagement and information processing. By applying neuroscience principles, we can better understand how to:

1. Capture attention: Utilise engaging, memorable, and emotionally resonant safety messages to ensure employees are more likely to internalise safety concepts and practices.
2. Facilitate learning: Design safety training programs considering different learning styles and cognitive abilities, promoting better understanding and retention of safety principles.
3. Encourage habit formation: Implement strategies that encourage the development of safe behaviours as habits, increasing the likelihood that employees will consistently practice safety measures.

Creating Integrated and Holistic Employee Experiences

To build a culture where safety is genuinely embedded in the company's DNA and not treated as a separate entity or requirement of our roles, we must first redefine the organisation's values to prioritise safety as an inherent aspect of work. By doing so, we create a solid foundation for developing integrated employee experiences that naturally incorporate physical and psychological safety. Once effectively embedded, the concept of safety should become so ingrained in the company's operations that the word 'safety' could be removed from the vocabulary. This transformation can be achieved by:

1. Reframing the onboarding process: Ensure new employees understand the company's values and expectations from day one, emphasising that safety is an integral part of the organisation's culture and way of working. It's time to move away from dull company safety inductions that often lead to disengagement and instead create interactive, engaging onboarding experiences that captivate employees and effectively convey the importance of safety in the workplace without explicitly calling it out.
2. Fostering psychological safety: Encourage open communication and promote a non-judgmental environment where employees feel safe to share their concerns, suggestions, and learnings related to safety.
3. Prioritising employee health and wellbeing: Recognise the connection between employee wellbeing and safety performance, implementing initiatives that address physical, emotional, and mental health. By promoting a comprehensive approach to wellbeing, organisations can create a supportive environment that fosters resilience, reduces stress, and boosts overall satisfaction. This includes offering resources such as health and wellness programs, flexible working arrangements, and mental health support. As employees feel cared for and valued, they are more likely to be engaged and committed to the organisation's values and safety culture, further enhancing safety performance while keeping the paragraph concise.
4. Implementing safety-focused design: Optimise the physical workspace to minimise hazards and promote a safe work environment, making safety an inherent aspect of the workplace experience. Recognising the importance of designing workspaces for high performance is essential, as well-designed environments can improve employee productivity, engagement, and wellbeing. Expanding the traditional design thinking that includes ergonomic principles etc., by integrating elements such as collaborative spaces, quiet zones, and biophilic design, can enhance psychological wellbeing and foster a sense of belonging. As a result, a thoughtfully designed workplace can improve safety performance while promoting employee satisfaction and overall organisational success.
5. Fostering a safety-conscious, safety-always mindset: Encourage employees to consider safety a natural part of their daily tasks and responsibilities, making it an essential element of their workflow rather than an added burden.
6. Aligning training and development with organisational values: Offer regular learning and development opportunities that not only focus on role-specific skills but also emphasise the importance of physical and psychological safety as a core aspect of the company's values and operations and equip employees with the necessary skills to contribute to a safe, supportive and inclusive work environment. This includes building employees' empathy, emotional intelligence, communication skills, active listening, coaching ability, diversity and inclusion, team building, conflict resolution, collaboration, and resilience.
7. Encourage curiosity and diversity in thought: Creating an environment of psychological safety is essential for fostering innovation and collaboration within the organisation. By encouraging curiosity and diversity in thought, employees are empowered to explore new ideas, challenge assumptions, and learn from their mistakes without fear of negative consequences. This can be achieved by promoting open communication, celebrating intellectual risk-taking, providing a safe space for feedback, and encouraging collaboration across departments and teams. By nurturing an environment where curiosity and diverse perspectives are valued, companies can effectively foster psychological safety, resulting in a more innovative, inclusive, and resilient workforce.
8. Recognising and rewarding alignment with company values: Implement a system that acknowledges and rewards employees who demonstrate a strong commitment to the organisation's values, fostering a sense of pride and ownership in creating a safe work environment. By establishing the right values encompassing a holistic approach to employee wellbeing, organisations can encourage their people to engage with these values and prioritise safety without explicitly calling out workplace safety as a separate aspect. This integrated approach promotes a seamless connection between company values and a safe work environment.

The Role of Leadership in Supporting a Holistic and Integrated Safety Culture

Leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone and expectations for the organisation, and their commitment to promoting and supporting a holistic and integrated culture is essential for its success. This includes promoting physical and psychological safety as an inherent part of the organisation's values rather than as a separate entity.

Leaders can demonstrate their commitment to an integrated culture by:

• Leading by example: Embodying the organisation's values and demonstrating a personal commitment to physical and psychological safety in their actions and decisions (without explicitly talking about safety) sets a powerful example for employees to follow.
• Communicating the importance of a holistic approach: Clearly articulating their personal commitment and the organisation's commitment to physical and psychological safety and its role in the company's overall success, ensuring employees understand the significance of maintaining a safe and inclusive work environment that goes beyond the traditional workplace safety thought processes.
• Empowering employees: Encouraging employees to take ownership of creating an inclusive, physically and psychologically safe work environment and providing them with the necessary resources and support to address potential hazards and implement solutions.
• Fostering a culture of trust and psychological safety: Creating an environment where employees feel safe to express their concerns, ask questions, and share ideas related to all aspects of their work, including safety and wellbeing, without fear of retribution or judgment.
• Recognising and rewarding alignment with organisational values: Implementing a system that acknowledges and rewards employees who demonstrate a strong commitment to the organisation's values, including physical and psychological safety, fostering a sense of pride and ownership in creating a safe and inclusive work environment.

By promoting and supporting a holistic and integrated culture that focuses on Employee engagement, leaders can inspire employees to take ownership of physical and psychological safety and create a work environment where everyone feels safe, valued, and supported without calling out 'safety specifically'.

Building a Community Culture of Safety

A key component of embedding safety into an organisation's culture is fostering a sense of community and ownership among employees. This community culture recognises our inherent social nature, as highlighted by theories such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which emphasises the importance of social connections and a sense of belonging. By creating a community culture of safety, organisations can strengthen employees' commitment to safety, enhance collaboration and ensure that employees feel supported, engaged, and invested in maintaining a safe work environment. This can be achieved by:

1. Encouraging open communication: Create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their concerns and ideas about all aspects of their role and interaction with the company (including safety) without fear of retribution or judgment.
2. Empowering employees to take action: Encourage employees to take ownership of and accountability for important issues (including safety), providing them with the tools and resources necessary to address potential hazards and implement solutions.
3. Promoting teamwork and collaboration: Facilitate team-building and cross-team activities and interactions that encourage collaboration on workplace initiatives, removing silos, helping employees feel more connected to their colleagues and fostering a collective sense of purpose and responsibility for workplace safety and wellbeing.
4. Nurturing a sense of purpose and belonging: Establish a supportive atmosphere that values each individual's unique contributions and perspectives, ensuring that employees feel like they are part of a larger community committed to creating a harmonious, physically and psychologically safe and inclusive work environment that enables everyone including the business to thrive.

"By adopting a human-centred, inclusive approach to workplace safety and redefining the way we think about and approach safety, organizations can significantly enhance employee well-being, engagement, and overall performance." Deanne Boules, Founder & Chief Enabling Officer, Insync Workplace Solutions

Where to from here?

If we genuinely want to make a significant difference in our workplaces, organisations must adopt a human-centred, inclusive approach to workplace safety that integrates physical and psychological safety into the company's DNA. By redefining how we think about and approach safety, organisations can significantly enhance employee wellbeing, engagement, and overall performance.

To achieve this, organisations must challenge the status quo and shift their mindsets from treating safety as a separate entity to embedding it into the organisation's culture through the application of neuroscience principles, the creation of holistic employee experiences, and fostering a community culture of safety. And leaders play a critical role in this. By leading by example, communicating the importance of a holistic approach, empowering employees, fostering a culture of trust and psychological safety, and recognising and rewarding alignment with organisational values, leaders can inspire employees to take ownership of physical and psychological safety and create a work environment where everyone feels valued, a sense of purpose and belonging, physically and psychologically safe and supported.

Finally, building a community culture of safety is essential for strengthening employees' commitment to safety, enhancing collaboration, and ensuring that employees feel supported, engaged, and invested in maintaining a safe work environment. By encouraging open communication, empowering employees to take action, promoting teamwork and collaboration, and nurturing a sense of purpose and belonging, organisations can create a harmonious, physically and psychologically safe, and inclusive work environment that enables everyone, including the business, to thrive. It is time for organisations to prioritise safety as an inherent aspect of work and foster a culture that promotes safety without explicitly calling it out.