Psych Health and Safety Podcast USA

In episode 88, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Rima Seiilova-Olson, a software engineer, founder, and CEO of Tenvos. This technology company is developing an objective software-based solution to monitor the well-being of workers by objectively identifying impairment. The World Health Organization defines impairment as “any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function.” However, impairment to many employers leads them to assume that there is a need to implement a drug or alcohol test on a worker, especially in the aftermath of an injury or property damage incident. Through years of research, Ms. Seiilova-Olson and her team have developed a solution that uses a person’s voice to evaluate their emotional and mental state compared to an individual baseline and determine impairment before assigning people to work that will expose them to hazards that could be harmful. The goal is to evaluate the human “operating system” more objectively and to determine the existence of impairment in a proactive but not intentionally punitive way.

In Episode 84, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Dr. Andrea Holman about the concept of “Cultural Mistrust.” Cultural mistrust is a feeling of suspicion toward people from a culture that is perceived as dominant. It can be caused by the lived experience of being treated in a way that the target of the behavior perceives as threatening or harmful. Cultural mistrust can also be described as the tendency to distrust others in personal, institutional, or social contexts. Most of the research into this concept has focused on Cultural mistrust as an adaptive attitudinal stance in which a person of color is suspicious and guarded toward European Americans, particularly European American authority figures. It is adaptive in that if one accepts the contention that the current social paradigm is inherently racist, then a person of color cannot assume that a European American person has his or her best interests at heart. This attitudinal stance was first described in William Grier and Price Cobbs’s classic book, Black Rage. Grier and Cobbs called this survivalist stance cultural paranoia. Many writers later changed the term to cultural mistrust to emphasize that it is an adaptive strategy rather than a form of psychopathology. Dr. Holman researched the concept and utilized what she learned as an academic, psychologist, and DEIB Senior Manager. In this conversation, she shares her understanding of the concept and her thoughts about how it impacts how people show up at work and how the workplace can be designed and managed as a safe place and space for all.

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Lili Tenney, the associate director for outreach and programs at the Center for Health, Work & Environment and an assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health, where she teaches graduate courses in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health. She is also president of the Society for Total Worker Health. The origins of TWH can be traced back to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initiative called “Steps to a Healthier US”. In 2014, NIOSH created the Office for TWH Coordination and Research Support (Office for TWH) to coordinate and advance these efforts. The comprehensive nature of Total Worker Health (TWH) approaches requires innovative thinking to design and inform current policies, programs, and practices that advance worker well-being. NIOSH funds ten academic Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health to inspire innovation in the field. One of these centers is located at the Colorado School of Public Health. The school is built on the collective expertise and vision of faculty at three leading educational and research institutions: the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the University of Northern Colorado. The Center for Work, Health, and Environment focuses on research, education, and practice. In this episode, Dr. Tenny will share her view on the concept of Total Worker health and share some of the work on-going at the Center for Health Work & Environment.

In Episode 85, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Mercedes Jiminez, a former corporate IT executive turned consultant, author, and founder of the Corporate Clapback Company. She regularly shares the combination of her lived experience, observations, and the stories she hears from her over 260,000 followers on her TickTok channel about corporate America's unwritten rules” of corporate America and how best to navigate them. Her videos have received over 2.5 million likes. One of the most challenging concerns about organizations' psychological health and safety culture is the gap between what is advertised as the culture and publicized as the rules and the reality people find once they get inside the organization. In many cases, the rules as advertised don’t match the rules as implemented. Dr. Jiminez is a part of a growing course of voices seeking to help people navigate what can be a minefield of potential psychosocial risks.

The week host, Dr. I. David Daniels, will speak with Amanda Muhammad, a mindfulness-based stress management and psychological safety consultant based in Plano, Texas. Ananda has built a consulting practice focused on the intersection and “bi—directional” relationship between stress management and psychological safety. With roots in the field of stress management, including several practices such as journaling, gratefulness, breathing, and other techniques, combined with a research-based focus on psychological safety, she has been designated a “LinkedIn Top Voice” who has a significant following across multiple platforms, both nationally and internationally.

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Trenell Boggans, the immediate past president of the American Industrial Hygiene Association‘s Minority Special Interest Group, about an industrial hygienist’s view of psychosocial hazards. Industrial hygiene is the science of identifying, evaluating, and controlling workplace hazards that can impact the health and safety of workers and the community. It's also known as occupational hygiene. Industrial hygienists use various methods, including environmental monitoring, workplace analysis, and scientific methods. Industrial hygiene standards include: · Proper handling, transportation, and storage of substances and equipment · Protective clothing · Workplace ergonomics · Ventilation design This episode will spotlight an industrial hygienist's role in ensuring the safety of workers in the workplace and the community at large. This conversation will also focus on psychosocial hazards from the view of a relatively new member of the IH profession.

This week's host, Dr. I. David Daniels, will speak with human resource professional Brandon Springle about the role of psychological safety as a strategy for development and success for both individuals and organizations. Bradon will also highlight the importance of focusing on the humans in the organization, which can be beneficial for both the individual and the organization alike. A culture of psychological health and safety can create an environment that encourages people to share their ideas and feedback without fear of judgment. This can lead to collaboration, creativity, growth, authentic communication, constructive feedback, and learning from mistakes. Conversely, a culture where people are discouraged from sharing their ideas and fearful of judgment or other potential negative consequences of being themselves makes it difficult for them to experience success. There is perhaps no function in an organization more important than addressing all aspects of member success than human resources, which will be the focus of this conversation.

Dr. I. David Daniels interviews Janet Williams about her caregiving journey and the importance of mental health. They discuss the statistics of caregivers in the US and how workplaces can support them. Topics include balancing work and caregiving, challenges faced, and ways to promote well-being in organizations.

In our last episode, we discussed some of the protections and inadequacies of our current laws to protect the psychological health and safety of American Workers. In the episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels will talk with Deb Falzoi, founder of “Dignity Together” cofounder of “End Work Abuse, and one of the leaders of the effort to end abusive behavior in the workplace through various efforts, including the establishment of the Workplace Psychological Safety Act. Ms. Falzoi has been actively involved in this work since her own experience of workplace bullying in the marketing industry over 15 years ago. She has recently been leading efforts to pass. Bill H 1882 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts would be one of the first state-level legislative efforts focused on psychological safety in the United States.

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Sheri Oluyemi, Esq, a practicing employment law attorney who began her practice in Canada but now practices out of offices in the State of Georgia. Throughout the history of the United States, labor-related laws have created protections from some of the exploitation commonplace at the founding of the country, and many of those protections remain in place today. However, there are still limits to what the law can do. This is especially true as it relates to protection from psychosocial harm. While microaggressions, overt insults, low-level incivility, hazing, and bullying may not be illegal, when these types of behaviors form a pattern that can be proven as discriminatory toward a protected class or a person engaged in protected class activity based on federal, state, or local laws, these very same behaviors may be deemed illegal in either a civil or criminal court. On the other hand, there are limits to what the law can do, based on the time it will take to process the claim and the energy it will take to work through the administrative and legal processes. Ms. Oluyemi will discuss various topics related to employment law from both the employer's and the employee's perspectives as she represents both. She also provides “breaking news” regarding a recent development that may change how federal agencies view psychosocial hazards such as bullying and harassment.