Stress, Burnout, and Safety: OSHA’s Modern Approach to Worker Well-being

Quick Hits

• OSHA is making mental wellness a significant part of its modern safety framework.
• Employers may want to ensure that their safety and health management systems include worker input to ensure psychologically safe environments.
• Psychological risk prevention may include employee assistance programs, leaves of absence accommodations, and other accommodations to prevent and mitigate risk exposure.

Psychological safety refers to the mental and emotional well-being of workers in the workplace, including well-being following traumatic workplace events, high-stress work environments, and employee substance use disorders. Improved psychological safety is directly correlated to employee retention, incident reporting compliance, and workplace violence prevention.

While there is no specific standard for psychological safety under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, OSHA addresses psychological risks through the General Duty Clause. The General Duty Clause requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm. To prove a General Duty Clause violation for psychological safety, OSHA would need to show a recognized hazard of workplace stressors specific to the worksite, that the employer was aware of the stressors, that feasible means of addressing the stressors existed, and that the employer’s efforts were insufficient.

OSHA has previously applied the General Duty Clause to investigations of workplace violence, severe harassment that causes psychological harm, and other emotionally traumatic events, especially those that are linked to physical injuries.

Mitigating Psychological Risks

In the face of OSHA’s increasing focus on emotional and psychological safety, employer programs that provide confidential support services, stress management resources, and mental health days are becoming expected benefits. OSHA now encourages employers to be aware of employees carrying unique emotional loads, identify possible emotional impediments at work and mitigate them if possible, demonstrate that employees are not alone, and provide access to coping and resiliency resources. Employers have many resources at their disposal to mitigate psychological risks within their workforce, including employee assistance programs (EAPs), leaves of absence (LOAs), and enhanced training on mental health. Genuinely accessible EAPs providing stress reduction systems often reduce psychological risks, including high stress and burnout. Many employers also offer LOAs following traumatic events, including workplace accidents and workplace violence incidents.

In anticipation of potential OSHA enforcement on psychological safety, employers may want to ensure any mental health initiatives, including employee and supervisor training, EAPs, and other tools are tailored to the unique stressors of the workplace. Documenting these efforts is also essential to demonstrating the commitment to ensuring workplace safety.

Ogletree Deakins’ Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group and Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and provide updates on the Employment Law, Leaves of Absence, Workplace Safety and Health, and Workplace Violence Prevention blogs as additional information becomes available.

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