Integrating psychosocial: From prevention to return to work > Psychosocial safety climate and workplace culture

Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) is a measurement tool that reflects how well workers perceive organisational policies, practices and procedures protect their psychological health and safety.

Measure your organisation's Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) regularly to identify improvement opportunities

—organisations with strong PSC scores experience better RTW outcomes, higher productivity, and improved worker wellbeing.

A strong PSC is characterised by:

•management commitment to workers’ psychological health

•psychological health being prioritised over productivity goals

•organisational communication about psychological safety issues, and

•worker participation in psychological health matters.

Research has shown a clear correlation between PSC, workplace culture and various organisational outcomes:

RTW rates

Organisations with a high PSC have significantly higher RTW rates following injury or illness.

Turnover

Lower turnover rates are observed in workplaces with a positive PSC.

Productivity

A strong PSC is associated with higher levels of worker engagement and productivity.

Sickness absence

Workplaces with a high PSC report lower rates of sickness absence.

Days lost

Organisations with a low or moderate PSC had significantly more average days lost per workers' compensation claim than those with high PSC scores.

Worker wellbeing

Improved mental health outcomes and job satisfaction are linked to positive PSC.