Across Canada and increasingly here in Manitoba, workplaces are entering a new era of occupational health and safety (OHS). For decades, physical hazards have been the traditional focus of occupational health systems. But today, we understand that work conditions affecting psychological health are equally real, measurable, and preventable.
Psychological risks like unclear expectations, excessive workload, incivility, poor work-life balance, and low job control or involvement have long shaped workers’ well-being. These are not “soft issues.” They can contribute to burnout, mental injury, staff turnover, short-staffing risk, and even physical injuries like musculoskeletal disorders (MSIs). The research has been clear for years. The regulatory environment is now catching up.
With Manitoba’s evolving legislative landscape and updates connected to Bill 29, employers will be expected to identify, assess, and control psychological risks with the same diligence used for physical risks. That can sound daunting, especially for smaller organizations or those without dedicated OHS staff.
At the Occupational Health Centre, we see this shift as an opportunity for workplaces to strengthen confidence, clarity, and culture, not simply add to compliance checklists.
The good news? You don’t need everything figured out before you start. What you need is a starting point, a willingness to learn, and a genuine commitment to involving workers whose voices often go unheard. Newcomers, equity-seeking workers, and young workers bring perspectives that are essential, not optional, to creating real psychological safety.
Here’s what this looks like in practice…
Compliance Is the Floor, Not the Finish Line
Compliance is essential. It protects workers, establishes expectations, and creates clear accountability. But when organizations approach psychological safety as a “minimum obligation,” they can inadvertently create harm.
Consider two fictional Manitoba workplaces responding to the same regulatory change:
Scenario A: Just follow the rules
A community-based organization receives a reminder about new psychological safety expectations. Already stretched, leadership quickly sends out a generic pulse-check survey to staff, hoping to “get ahead of it.” The results are collected, but there is no time set aside to unpack what they mean.
Questions from workers go unanswered because leaders don’t yet feel equipped to talk about psychological safety. A few people share honest feedback, but many stay quiet, unsure whether raising concerns will be welcomed or seen as negativity. Months later, nothing has visibly changed. Staff begin to assume the topic was simply another compliance exercise that came and went.
Scenario B: Let us learn and make this meaningful
A similar workplace takes a different path. Instead of rushing to act, the joint committee spends one meeting clarifying what psychological safety means in their context and identifying one or two realistic starting points. Managers receive a short primer on psychological safety and how to respond constructively when concerns arise.
Over the next few weeks, each team carves out five minutes during regular meetings to discuss one simple prompt, such as: “What helps you do your best work here, and what small change would help even more?”
Leaders don’t promise immediate fixes. They listen, document ideas, and follow up on one small improvement at a time. Staff start to notice the effort. Conversations become easier. Trust grows. The organization hasn’t solved everything, but it is building confidence and shared ownership instead of fear and silence.
Why This Matters: A Real-World Example
Imagine a newcomer worker in a busy food production facility. English is their second language. They notice that lifted boxes often contain more weight than the posted limit, especially during rush periods. They worry about injury and how rushing affects morale, but they don’t speak up because:
- They don’t want to upset their supervisor
- They are still learning the workplace culture
- They feel lucky to have the job
A psychological hazard (workload pressure) has now become a physical hazard (lifting risk). If this worker feels safe enough to speak up early, prevention happens. If not, the injury may come later and the cost of remedying the situation goes up.
Psychological safety is not “nice to have.” It sits at the core of OHS primary prevention.
A Strength-Based Approach: Start with What Works
Many organizations feel intimidated by psychological safety because they believe they need perfect systems in place first. In reality, meaningful progress often begins with strengths you already have:
- Coworkers who care about one another
- Committee members willing to listen and learn
- Supervisors with integrity who want to do right by staff
- Strong collegial relationships found in pockets across the organization
- Existing policies and practices that can be adapted (e.g. respectful workplace policies)
Building Workplace Psychological Safety: Four Practical Ways
1. Begin with Reflection and Shared Learning
Improving psychological health and safety begins with awareness, honesty, and curiosity, not perfection.
Reflect at the committee or leadership level:
- Where do we already excel in supporting worker well-being?
- Where do we hear concerns emerging, even informally?
- What skills or knowledge would help us move forward with confidence?
When reflection is normalized, learning becomes part of regular practice, not a reactive emergency response.
Try this: Add one 5-minute “learning moment” to monthly safety meetings (a short article, a question, a real example from your work).
2. Involve Workers Early and Authentically
Psychological health and safety grows when workers see that their perspectives matter and are helping to shape decisions, not just through one-way surveys or suggestion boxes.
Simple ways to do this well:
- Ask one open-ended question at regular staff meetings (e.g., “What helps you do your best work?”)
- Invite voices that might not always be heard: newcomers, casual staff, evening shift workers
- Use anonymous channels and direct conversations so people choose the format they feel safest using
Early engagement builds trust, strengthens insight, and prevents surprises later.
Try this: Rotate who speaks first in meetings. Senior voices going last signals that worker input is valued.
3. Strengthen Psychological Safety Through Everyday Behaviours
Psychological safety isn’t a slogan. It shows up in how people speak, listen, and respond in real moments.
Questions to guide this work:
- What happens the first time someone raises a concern in the group?
- Do we thank people for surfacing issues, even when solutions aren’t obvious yet?
- Do leaders acknowledge when they’re unsure and model how to seek input?
These behaviours tell workers whether it is truly safe to speak up.
Try this: When someone raises a difficult issue, practice a three-step response: Thank them. Ask a curious follow-up. Explain the next step (even if the next step is simply, “Let’s look into this together”).
4. Use Mixed Methods Thoughtfully: Tools are Gateways to Dialogue
Tools don’t create safety. Conversations and follow-through do. Instead of relying on a survey and filing the results, use light-touch, mixed methods to gather insight and test solutions:
- Short pulse questions during huddles, staff meetings or toolbox talks
- Committee walk-arounds or “inspections” that include relational cues: pace of work, tone, fatigue, isolation, early signs of stress
- Anonymous input channels for those less comfortable speaking up (e.g. email suggestion boxes)
- Follow-up discussions to explore context: What does this mean? What’s behind it? What small change could help?
These approaches make psychological health and safety feel practical, repeatable, and human-centred, not bureaucratic.
Try this: Pair any data point (survey comment, observation, concern) with reflective questions: “Are we seeing a pattern, what more can we learn, and what is one step we can test?”
When tools are used to start conversations, not replace them, trust, insight, and confidence grow naturally.
Moving from Awareness to Action
You don’t need a complex framework or outside consultant to begin. Small, consistent steps build momentum. What matters most is:
- Curiosity over certainty
- Conversation over silence
- Shared responsibility over hierarchy
- Learning over blame
And you don’t have to do it alone!
The Occupational Health Centre is here to support you, especially if you’re early in this journey, supporting newcomer or equity-seeking workers, or working with limited resources.
Connect with us to access guidance, tools, and learning opportunities to help your workplace build psychological safety confidently, sustainably, and one step at a time.