Ontario Municipal Human Resources Association

In a psychologically safe workplace, workers feel able to speak up, ask questions, raise concerns, and acknowledge mistakes without fear of blame or negative consequences. It reflects how work is designed, how people interact, and how decisions are made. The National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace describes a psychologically safe workplace as a workplace that promotes well-being and prevents harm to worker psychological health, shaped by organizational or psychosocial factors such as workload, leadership practices, respect, support, and opportunities for involvement.

In practice, a psychologically safe workplace is observable:

• Workers raise concerns early.
• Leaders provide clear expectations and respond constructively to feedback.
• Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities rather than sources of blame.

These daily interactions shape not only safety outcomes, but also employee engagement, workplace perceptions, and employee experience.

Despite growing awareness of psychological health and safety, recent findings from Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC, 2025) suggest that psychological safety remains a concern across Canadian workplaces, with 41% of Canadians reporting that they do not feel their workplace is psychologically safe. In organizations with more than 500 employees, costs associated with poor psychological safety can reach 3.4 million. These findings suggest that creating psychologically safe workplaces requires more than good intentions alone.

Psychological Safety as Part of Workplace Health and Safety

Psychological safety is often discussed as an important component of organizational culture, but in Ontario, it is closely connected to occupational health and safety responsibilities.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) establishes a legislative framework for protecting workers from hazards and outlines duties for all workplace parties. A central concept within the OHSA is the Internal Responsibility System (IRS), which recognizes that maintaining a safe and healthy environment is a shared responsibility. Everyone has a role, including employers, supervisors and workers.

While the OHSA does not explicitly refer to “psychological health and safety,” it requires employers to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect workers. This obligation includes identifying and controlling workplace hazards. Increasingly, this is understood to include psychosocial factors that contribute to psychological harm, such as excessive workload, lack of role clarity or exposure to workplace violence or harassment.

The Ontario Human Rights Code reinforces this responsibility, requiring employers to accommodate mental health disabilities, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act recognizes work-related mental stress claims. Together, these laws make it clear: protecting workers includes protecting psychological health and safety.

Psychological safety is not just about organizational culture; it is also about how workplaces meet their legal and ethical obligations to protect workers, including through the systematic identification, assessment, and control of psychosocial risks.

How Responsibilities are Shared in Practice

Under the Internal Responsibility System, responsibility for health and safety is shared, but each workplace party has a role:

• Employers hold the greatest responsibility. They set the policies, programs, expectations, and supports needed to protect both physical and psychological health and safety.
• Supervisors and leaders help translate these expectations into practice. Their day-to-day decisions, communication, and responses to concerns shape whether workers feel safe to speak up and report concerns.
• Workers must follow safe work practices, participate in health and safety efforts, report concerns, and contribute to a respectful workplace.

Psychological safety is not created through a single initiative or policy. It is shaped through ongoing interactions, decisions, and behaviors across all levels of the organization.

The Impact on Culture and Employee Experience

Prevention is the foundation of a positive workplace culture and employee experience. When workers feel heard, respected, and supported, the impact is significant. Trust increases, communication improves, workers are more engaged, and issues are addressed before they escalate.

Conversely, in environments where psychological safety is lacking, workers may withhold concerns, avoid speaking up, or disengage. Over time, this can contribute to increased stress, burnout, and turnover, as well as missed opportunities to identify and address risks early. Recent findings from MHRC indicate that 39% of Canadian workers report feelings of burnout and 50% face mental health challenges, underscoring the importance of prevention-focused approaches to psychological health and safety.

Creating a psychologically safe workplace is not the responsibility of one individual or department. It is the result of employers, supervisors, and workers each fulfilling their role within the Internal Responsibility System. When psychological health and safety is integrated into everyday decisions and practices, organizations are better positioned to prevent harm, strengthen workplace culture, and enhance employee experience.

Written by: Laura Villeneuve, Health, Safety & Wellbeing Consultant, PSHSA