The Entrepreneur – need of Understanding Psychology of Safety

What this session covered

This webinar, part of NISSMAT's continuing programme, addressed the psychology of safety in the context of the enterprise and the entrepreneur. An opening address framed the subject in two dimensions: psychological safety within an organisation — described as a shared belief among employees that they belong and will not be condemned or humiliated for raising ideas or for an inadvertent error — and the safety of those outside the organisation with whom it deals, such as customers. This framing drew on established motivational theory and the hierarchy of needs. The moderator noted that participants had joined from a range of countries. Several speakers then addressed the theme from different professional fields, each presenting in turn rather than in debate.

One speaker, working in travel risk management, distinguished between security (protection from harm), safety (the state of being safe) and psychological safety (the perception of being safe and free from threat), and argued that a travel risk process must attend to the human factor to be effective. The elements set out included top management support, training for management, organising staff and travellers, a travel risk policy, the management of trips before and during travel, crisis communications and follow-up. Emphasis was placed on communication with travellers' families, on clear policies covering dependants and leisure travel, and on training travellers to understand and respect the role of on-site security personnel. A second speaker, from the shipping and oil-transport sector, discussed how risk is commonly framed as likelihood multiplied by consequence, the difficulty of estimating either, and the distortion of hindsight in accident analysis; this speaker described the trade-off between efficiency and thoroughness, the influences that shape an individual's mindset when taking decisions, and argued that trust and psychological safety had enabled crews to keep operating during the pandemic, including where they were unable to return home for extended periods. A third speaker, an activist on women's safety, addressed the psychological and social effects of the shift to remote working, the increased exposure of women and children to online harassment, sexual harassment and domestic violence, and gaps in the applicable legal and policy framework for harassment occurring in virtual and work-from-home settings.

In a closing question-and-answer segment, the moderator invited speakers to respond to the proposition that psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. Responses touched on the building of trust, formal complaints procedures, the training of employees to raise concerns, the distinction between harassment and assault, and confusion over which legal provisions apply to harassment in virtual settings. The session closed with concluding remarks summarising the three contributions.

Key points raised

• The session framed the psychology of safety along two axes: safety experienced within an organisation and the safety of those the organisation serves.
• Travel risk management was presented as dependent on top management support, training and family communication, with the human factor treated as central to its effectiveness.
• In the shipping context, one speaker emphasised trust, individual mindset and the efficiency–thoroughness trade-off over blame in understanding safety decisions.
• The discussion of women's safety focused on a pandemic-driven rise in online and domestic harassment and on gaps in the applicable legal framework for virtual and work-from-home settings.
• A closing exchange considered psychological safety as the freedom to speak up without punishment, and the trust and procedures needed to support it.