Psych Health and Safety Podcast USA

Jaimie Feinberg is not only a safety professional; with nearly 20 years in safety, she is a millennial who has a lived experience in several organizations of not feeling safe herself. While her experience is not unique, her courage and ability to share it are unique, especially for younger workers. Jaime shares what she has seen in the past and what she is currently experiencing in a start-up company where she feels safe and feels that she belongs. She attributes much of this feeling to her company's focus on workers, safety culture, and maintaining this culture as they grow. Jaime will also share how this employee-focused perspective is fuelling their work as a company as they prepare to launch a new product into the substance testing space. This episode will challenge many traditional views on psychological health and safety, impairment, and the approaches that some have taken to respond to these issues. The conversation also provides pointers for leaders and employers looking to become more psychologically safe for those who work with them.

This episode features a conversation with one of the co-founders of Hummingly whose vision is “Everyone has access to the world's best advice in the toughest of times.” Jolie Wills is a cognitive scientist who utilizes her lived experience as a survivor of a major disaster, as well as a body of research conducted across the globe, to help individuals, teams, and organizations focus on the psychological health and safety of those they interact with. Lessons learned in the aftermath of significant events, can apply to every level of the organization in disaster situations or in many of the routine challenges that face us all.

In the aftermath of the suicide of a 31-year-old firefighter in 2016, family and colleagues suggested that one contributing factor was lewd and harassing comments that had been made about the firefighter in a popular online forum. In response to this and other incidents, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) established a Task Force to help identify and prevent bullying, harassment, and violence in the fire rescue service. Across the United States for the past 100 years, October has been celebrated as National Fire Prevention Month. In 2022, October is also the 16th celebration of World Bullying Prevention Month. In this episode of the Psych Health and Safety USA podcast, Fire Chief Dr. Scott Kerwood and Fire Chief David Emanuel discuss their involvement in ongoing efforts to address one of the most commonly occurring and best understood psychosocial hazards (bullying) and how it impacts one of America’s most respected occupations.

For over 20 years, Antoinette Tull has been a professional facilitator and an accomplished Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). With her assistance, the Richmond (VA) Police department became the most inclusive law enforcement agency serving a mid-sized city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As the Founder and CEO of Antionette Tull of Hurtle, LLC, which focuses on facilitation, HR business, and career coaching, she delivers comprehensive HR-centric facilitations designed to address the workforce challenges uniquely specific to law enforcement agencies, fire service, and emergency communications personnel. Her experience as an HR professional fuels her passion for ensuring that workers, especially those in public safety organizations, are seen as human beings and supported in ways that help them provide the highest service levels. In this episode, she shares her views regarding the connection between effective human resource management of psychologically healthy and safe organizations.

Rosa Carrillo, an expert in relationship-centered leadership and psychological health, shares insights on the vital link between effective leadership and employee well-being. She highlights how managers significantly influence retention, with many employees willing to quit due to poor leadership. Carrillo discusses the importance of emotional intelligence, inclusivity, and open dialogue in fostering a supportive workplace. Her unique perspective emphasizes that strong relationships and understanding diverse needs are crucial for transforming safety and organizational culture.

Much of the focus regarding safety in the United States is on private sector organizations, given that the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 exempts state and local governments that do not have state plans. This fact, combined with the complex and often highly political nature of public services, often creates significant risk for government and public sector employees based on the diversity and extent of hazards they are exposed to, including psychosocial hazards. The environment can be even more hazardous for workers with cultural differences from the majority in a workplace. The episode features Mayor Maria Mitchell of the City of Miami Springs, Florida. She is not only an extremely skilled and experienced safety professional but a national leader in efforts to provide for the safety of government and public sector workers. Mayor Mitchell will share her perspective on physical and psychological safety in the public sector, drawing on her experience protecting the safety of a highly diverse community in south Florida. Mayor Mitchell’s lived experience as a daughter of immigrants, bilingual safety professional, and sitting elected official is particularly poignant during the celebration of National Hispanic American Heritage Month.

EMS practitioners face challenging and traumatic events that can impact their daily mental well-being. The mounting effect of patient needs, family, long workdays, nutrition, physical health, and sleep deprivation all contribute to an individual’s sense of wellness. Paramedics and EMTs responding to the COVID-19 pandemic have also experienced increased stress levels over concerns about exposure to the virus, self-quarantines, and the health and safety of their families. Lisa Gurruzzi and Robbie MacCue are the co-founders of the EMS Leadership Academy and their signature event the EMS Leadership Summit. They bring their experience in organizational coaching and EMS leadership to help Emergency Medical Services become places designed for the individuals in the organizations with their psychological health and safety in mind.

While the U. S. may lack a specific set of laws that address psychosocial hazards in the workplace, some have a depth of understanding of the intersection between safety and the law. Adele Abrams is not only a safety professional but a licensed attorney with a law practice in three states. Attorney Abrams has expertise in both general industry and mining, including involvement in over 400 fatality investigations. She believes that many of the root causes of these incidents could have been traced back to psychosocial hazards had these kinds of hazards been better understood and investigated. Attorney Abrams will discuss some of the challenges that organizations face when dealing with workers' mental and emotional well-being, including some of the unfounded fears that stand in the way of focusing on the total health of workers. She will share the experience of workers and advise workers, employees, and safety professionals to improve psychological health and safety.

“Labor Day” is celebrated on the first Monday in September. However, in the workplace, there is often an imbalance of power between management and labor that creates a hazard for both. The COVID 19 pandemic, compounded by the rise of concerns about diversity and the Great Resignation, has helped workers recognize their power to influence how they are treated has changed. One way of balancing the scales is collective bargaining. This episode will feature a labor leader who, though multiple instances of serendipity, led a group of workers to a historic collective bargaining agreement.

While a psychosocial hazard is unique to the experience or perception of an individual, a culture of psychological health and safety is an organizational issue that requires organizational attention. This episode will focus on the role that an organizational psychologist can play in workers' emotional and mental health.