Psychological safety is when workers feel safe to express concerns, raise questions, or talk about mistakes without thinking they’ll be judged or punished for it. Having a psychologically safe space in the construction industry is crucial due to the dangerous nature of the work. Open communication, respect, and constructive responses to failure are a few ways to improve psychological safety in the workplace. 

Quick look

• Psychological safety is a team belief that it’s okay to take risks and workers won’t be punished, judged, or rejected for raising opinions or concerns.
• Construction is a dangerous field, and improving psychological safety on job sites is a moral obligation for employers and is critical to team unity and success.
• Respect, open communication, and making leaders approachable are simple ways to improve psychological safety on construction sites.

What is psychological safety?

Psychological safety is a team belief that it’s okay to take risks. By doing so, others won’t reject, punish, or embarrass a worker for raising ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. It’s a 50-plus-year-old concept that gained prominence recently after Google discovered it is the most crucial factor in a team’s success.

Put simply, an environment that’s psychologically safe reduces “a person’s anxiety about being basically accepted and worthwhile.” An individual will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes, and the team as a whole is safe for interpersonal risk taking.

Why psychological safety matters in construction

“When we’re confident and comfortable, we’re capable of great things. When we’re worried, uneasy, or distracted, our work will suffer, said Kaitlin Frank, eMOD Founder and Superintendent at Dome Construction. “And in construction, being just a little ‘off’ puts you in harm’s way.”

Adopting psychological safety in your strategy isn’t just a moral obligation for employers—it’s crucial for team unity and success. It’s also essential to build a foundation where every worker feels safe to speak up, regardless of the situation, where mental health is a priority, and where workers feel supported and heard. 

Workers must be able to freely share their opinions, thoughts, and concerns without fear.

But psychological safety is also about intentionally creating a workplace or team culture that supports the inclusion and engagement of workers. Cultural stigmas and mental health are huge pain points in the industry, but a psychologically safe space for workers recognizes and works to overcome those challenges.

Put simply, a psychologically safe workplace increases productivity and performance. Forming deeper relationships increases motivation—it keeps workers focused on the job, improves workplace cohesion, and gets people engaged and speaking. 

Here are five tips to engender psychological safety in your team. Doing so can build a more successful group while reducing the number of safety incidents and accidents.

5 tips to improve psychological safety on your job site

1. Openly communicate with your team

Encouraging open dialogue is the easiest way to foster psychological safety. Encouraging disagreements, in some instances, can even be beneficial. Find ways to help team members express their ideas or concerns and solicit their opinions.

Increasing your team’s comfort level through free speech reminds them they are valued.

Openly addressing the stigma attached to mental health is another component of fostering psychological safety in the workplace. Incorporating these discussions into toolbox talks, meetings, and even weekly or monthly newsletters can raise awareness and make issues more mainstream. 

Having peer-to-peer drop-in hours for managers also fosters a safe space and supportive environment for employees to connect and engage in meaningful conversations to address specific individual needs.

2. Always be respectful to team members

Engendering psychological safety helps replace the fear of speaking up with permission. A psychologically safe community means everyone respects other people and their views, regardless of where they sit in the pyramid.

Don’t just solicit workers’ opinions and concerns—actually consider them. Evaluate them, and let them inform how you work and move forward.

3. Respond constructively to failure

Change your view of failure—losses and mistakes are an opportunity to learn. Failures will happen, but responding calmly and constructively will ensure they bring team unity and success. 

Encourage innovation among team members and recognize their contributions.

4. Make leaders approachable by rank-and-file

Leaders must be available to listen to concerns or help settle disputes, and it’s their responsibility to ensure workers know their availability.

Regularly ask for input from employees—your workers are immersed in the field daily. Asking team members questions shows you value their input and will encourage them to speak freely.

5. Establish an open-door policy

Leaders must create spaces and hours for their employees to share concerns or raise issues, but it’s also about establishing a space where employees feel comfortable doing so. Leaders must be available to team members for face-to-face conversations and to opine anonymously if they choose.

Creating a true open-door policy is one of the simplest ways to improve psychological safety.

Most workers do their best to succeed at their jobs and be part of a successful team. But to do so, they must feel safe—this comes through encouragement, open communication, and respect.