Workplace Health And Psychological Safety Climate: Case Stud ✓ Solved

Workplace Health and Psychological Safety Climate: Case stud

Workplace Health and Psychological Safety Climate: Case study and HR response required. Review the case study of Jordan: Jordan, an entrepreneur, worked seven days a week and more than fifteen hours per day. He ignored mental and physical fatigue, became temperamental, created a stressful environment, and after twenty years was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). As an HR professional, what can you do to change the safety climate? Use the Wiley Blackwell Handbook chapters on Workplace Health Promotion and Psychosocial Safety Climate, and the articles 'Workplace Health Promotion Programs: Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation' and 'Leveraging Psychosocial Safety Climate to Prevent Ill-Being: The Mediating Role of Psychological Need Thwarting' to inform your response.

Paper For Above Instructions

Executive summary

This paper analyses the Jordan case to recommend evidence-based HR strategies to change workplace safety climate from hazardous to protective. The recommendations draw on psychosocial safety climate (PSC) theory, workplace health promotion, and organizational intervention literature. Key proposals include top-leadership commitment, workload and hours redesign, psychosocial risk assessment, manager capability building, employee participation, integrated health promotion programs, and monitoring and evaluation (Dollard & Bakker, 2010; LaMontagne et al., 2007).

Understanding the problem: psychosocial safety climate and the Jordan case

Jordan’s pattern of extreme working hours, chronic fatigue, and resultant temperamental behaviour created a psychosocially unsafe workplace. PSC is the shared belief about organizational policies, practices and procedures for protecting psychological health (Dollard & Bakker, 2010). Low PSC predicts heightened job stress, burnout, bullying and adverse health outcomes (LaMontagne et al., 2014). Jordan’s SAH episode illustrates extreme personal harm that can emerge where organizational systems implicitly reward unsustainable work patterns and ignore employee wellbeing.

Principles guiding HR interventions

Effective HR responses must be systemic, preventive and participatory. Interventions should focus on: 1) organizational-level change (leadership, policy, resourcing), 2) job- and team-level redesign (workload, hours, role clarity), and 3) individual supports (health promotion, EAPs). This multilevel perspective aligns with evidence that organizational interventions are most effective when they alter working conditions rather than only offering individual-level coping strategies (Nielsen & Abildgaard, 2013; LaMontagne et al., 2007).

Recommended HR actions

1. Secure visible senior leadership commitment

PSC improvement starts at the top. HR should obtain an explicit senior leadership statement committing to psychological safety, including measurable targets for working hours, rest breaks and staffing levels (Dollard & Bakker, 2010). Leaders must model healthy behaviours (e.g., not sending emails after hours) so messages translate into practice (WHO, 2010).

2. Conduct a psychosocial risk assessment

Use validated instruments and qualitative methods to assess workload, control, reward, clarity, support, and job insecurity (Kelloway & Day, 2005). The assessment should include staff surveys, focus groups, and analysis of absence and performance data to identify hotspots similar to Jordan’s team (Safe Work Australia, 2019).

3. Redesign work and working hours

Based on risk assessment findings, implement workload rebalancing, enforce maximum working hours, schedule protected breaks and ensure adequate staffing and skill mix. For entrepreneurs and managers, HR should develop coaching and limits on scheduled availability to prevent chronic overwork (LaMontagne et al., 2014).

4. Develop manager capability and accountability

Managers require training in psychosocial risk recognition, psychologically safe leadership, and supportive conversations (Nielsen & Abildgaard, 2013). Embed PSC-related responsibilities into performance goals and appraisals so managers are accountable for team wellbeing (Dollard & Bakker, 2010).

5. Establish health promotion and recovery programs

Implement evidence-based health promotion programs addressing sleep, stress management and cardiovascular risk factors, aligned with organizational risk controls (Goetzel & Ozminkowski, 2008). Offer confidential Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and structured return-to-work processes for employees recovering from serious conditions like SAH.

6. Enhance employee participation and voice

Co-design interventions with employees and their representatives; participatory approaches increase relevance and uptake (Nielsen & Abildgaard, 2013). Create regular mechanisms (safety committees, wellbeing forums) to surface issues early and co-create solutions.

7. Integrate policies and communicate consistently

Translate the PSC commitment into updated policies (hours, leave, flexible working, anti-bullying) and communicate them repeatedly through multiple channels. Clear, consistent messaging reduces ambiguity and supports cultural change (WHO, 2010).

8. Monitor, evaluate and iterate

Set key performance indicators (KPIs) for PSC (e.g., PSC-12 scores), absenteeism, turnover, and health outcomes. Use periodic surveys and process evaluations to assess implementation fidelity and effectiveness, adapting interventions as evidence accrues (LaMontagne et al., 2007; Nielsen & Abildgaard, 2013).

Practical implementation roadmap

Phase 1 (0–3 months): Senior commitment, baseline PSC assessment, policy review. Phase 2 (3–9 months): Manager training, pilot workload redesign, launch EAP and health promotion modules. Phase 3 (9–18 months): Scale successful pilots, embed PSC metrics into reporting, continuous improvement cycles. Ensure resources and timelines are documented and reviewed at executive level.

Expected benefits and return on investment

Improving PSC reduces psychological distress, sickness absence and turnover while improving engagement and productivity (Goetzel & Ozminkowski, 2008). Organizations investing in systemic change typically see measurable health and financial benefits over medium term when interventions target working conditions as well as individual supports (LaMontagne et al., 2014).

Conclusion

Jordan’s case highlights how unaddressed psychosocial risks at the leadership and job design level can culminate in severe health outcomes. HR can lead change by securing leadership commitment, assessing risks, redesigning work, building managerial capability, and implementing integrated health promotion and evaluation systems. A sustained, participatory, and evidence-based approach will shift the safety climate toward one that protects psychological and physical health (Dollard & Bakker, 2010; WHO, 2010).

References

• Dollard, M. F., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Psychosocial safety climate: A multilevel theory of workplace mental health. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15(3), 252–264.
• LaMontagne, A. D., Keegel, T., Louie, A. M., Ostry, A., & Landsbergis, P. A. (2007). A systematic review of job stress intervention evaluation studies. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 13(3), 268–280.
• World Health Organization. (2010). Healthy Workplaces: A Model for Action. WHO Press.
• International Labour Organization. (2019). Managing psychosocial risks at work: An overview. ILO Publications.
• Kelloway, E. K., & Day, A. L. (2005). Building healthy workplaces: Where we need to be. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 37(4), 305–306.
• Nielsen, K., & Abildgaard, J. S. (2013). Organizational interventions: A research-based framework. Work & Stress, 27(3), 234–256.
• LaMontagne, A. D., Keegel, T., & Ostry, A. (2014). Workplace mental health interventions: Evidence and practice. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 71(8), 602–610.
• Goetzel, R. Z., & Ozminkowski, R. J. (2008). The health and cost benefits of worksite health-promotion programs. Annual Review of Public Health, 29, 303–323.
• Safe Work Australia. (2019). Managing psychosocial hazards and risks at work: Code of practice and guidance.
• Tuckey, M. R., & Dollard, M. F. (2012). Leveraging psychosocial safety climate to prevent ill-being: The mediating role of psychological need thwarting. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(4), 159–170.