Psych Health and Safety Podcast USA

Episode 95 features a conversation between host Dr. I. David Daniels and Mark-Anthony Williams, a working safety professional, safety consultant, and podcaster about “Safety in the Real World.” One important reason for this podcast is to facilitate conversation about psychological health and safety from an occupational health and safety viewpoint and perspective. One way we do this is to chat with folks who understand physical health and safety and translate that knowledge into addressing psychosocial hazards. Issues related to stress, burnout, and overall workplace mental health are concepts that have traditionally landed on the desks of human resources staff. Recently, there has been a realization that hazards we can’t always see are, in most cases, at the root of incidents that result in physical harm or damage. In these situations, an environment or occupational health and safety professional is likely to be involved early on in both the conversation before and actions after an incident. The same skills used to address physical hazards can be utilized when addressing psychosocial hazards. This episode was filmed from Mark Anthony’s car after a work day. His approach to safety (both physical and psychological) is very practical and down-to-earth but exceptionally technically sound.

In this episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Suzi Craig, VP of Workplace Mental Health at Mental Health America, about Mental Health America's (MHA) Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health. This national certification program recognizes employers committed to creating mentally healthy workplaces. The program recognizes workplaces that lead the way in improving employee mental health and well-being. Bell Seal recipients receive a promotion toolkit to announce their certification to employees, clients, customers, and the communities they serve. Ms. Craig will share her views on mental health in the workplace, some of MHA's history, and a bit about the criteria used to determine the viability of workplace mental health efforts in organizations that apply.

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak to Torin Monet, a management consultant who has studied the data associated with psychologically unhealthy workplaces and made a profound business case for psychological health and safety. There is a significant amount of data to suggest the United States is destroying innovation, productivity, and productivity through emotional and psychological abuse in the workplace. - The US is #1 among developed nations for workplace stress, anxiety disorders, psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, homicide, and suicide - 70% of US adults, approximately 223.5 million people, have experienced psychological trauma, increasing their sensitivity to workplace abuse and subsequent mental health disorders - 30% of American workers (46.8 million people) are victims of psychological abuse, leading to anxiety, depression, PTSD, and the spread of sociopathy - Year-on-year increase in workplace toxicity and harassment is evident, with 22% of workers saying they were subject to workplace psychological abuse in the last 12 months compared to 14% in 2022 Torin argues that a clear set of business data points supports the value of a psychologically safe and healthy workplace as a business imperative.

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Laynnea Myles and Dr. Francene Scott-Diehl, the hosts of the SHE Unfiltered podcast, about their views on Safety, Health, and Environmental topics, including the role SHE professionals play in addressing psychological health and safety. The occupational health and safety professional is, for the most part, a traditional industry with its standards, practices, and views of what is required to create a safe workplace. The views of men have been the foundation of workplace safety standards. However, new voices have emerged with unique approaches to addressing safety that sound and look different. Laynnea and Dr. Fran started their podcast in 2023 and regularly share their views of the safety profession and topics in safety that need to be discussed but are often not.

In this episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Dr. S. L. Young, an educator, social entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and mental health advocate whose lived experience has led him to become a voice for psychologically safer workplaces. He has turned his experience of nearly ending his own life a decade ago after a series of events that included being exposed to bullying and abuse at work, as motivation to advocate for a law that will make the workplace more psychologically healthy and safe. Dr. Young’s passion for helping others is based on his ability to excel academically and professionally despite being encouraged to leave high school in tenth grade. In addition to completing his doctorate, Dr. Young completed two master's degrees. The topics of his nine books about overcoming challenges and living a purposeful life include belief, overcoming challenges, inspirational quotes, ethics, communication, living with intention, time management, negotiation, and workplace bullying.

In episode 90, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Brian Turnage, owner and founder of Mental Edge Performance, a business focused on improving the mental performance of athletes in baseball as well as other competitive sports. He also translates these skills into organizations by connecting competition, business, coaching, and leadership. This episode is being released at the beginning of the season of a sport called “America’s Pastime.” Baseball, like other competitive sports, requires: Strong physical strength and hand-eye coordination are essential for batting and pitching. Players should also be strong sprinters with the agility to move quickly between bases. A great player can consistently hit the ball with power and accuracy and field the ball cleanly and accurately. Baseball players also need mental agility, mental toughness, a fast reaction time, and a good understanding of the game. Many learn how to compete, how to win, and even how to lose in competitive sports. But even more important than physical skills, the mental aspect of sports can follow a person into their professional life. It can tremendously affect how they perceive and experience the work environment. Taking his background as an athlete and former firefighter, Brian works with athletes, business leaders, government officials, and others to convert their focus on winning into a focus on performance. This focus on the mental side of performance can be a key to establishing, maintaining, and thriving in, a psychologically healthy and safe environment.

In episode 89, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Enoh Ukpong, a professor of Nursing who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria. She will share a bit of her lived experience of surviving child abuse at the hands of a family member before deciding to come to the U. S. to pursue education as a way out of those circumstances. Though she had never been on an airplane or used a telephone before her arrival, she worked through her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She worked her way to the highest levels of the healthcare industry before becoming an educator. Dr. Ukpong’s story helps shed light on the experience of those attempting to operate in systems, organizations, and even communities that were not designed with their psychological or emotional needs in mind and how various coping strategies, including one’s faith, can help a person succeed despite the trails and challenges that they face.

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.

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Janet Williams, host of “The Dementia Diaries” podcast, about her experience as a caregiver and what she learned and now attempt to share with other regarding the mindset necessary to be effective in the role. This is an inspiring story of what it is like to be in a flexible working culture while being responsible for caregiving. An informal caregiver—is an unpaid individual (for example, a spouse, partner, family member, friend, or neighbor) involved in assisting others with activities of daily living and/or medical tasks. Formal caregivers are paid care providers in one’s home or a care setting (daycare, residential facility, long-term care facility). · Approximately 43.5 million caregivers have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. · About 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months. · The majority of caregivers (82%) care for one other adult, while 15% care for two adults and 3% for 3 or more adults. · Approximately 39.8 million caregivers care for adults (aged 18+) with a disability or illness. · About 15.7 million adult family caregivers care for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease or other form of dementia. These data points suggest that many workplaces have people who have either informal or formal caregiving roles. How can the workplace be aware of and support these efforts?

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.

During this episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Dennis Stolle of the American Psychological Association (APA) regarding the 2023 Work in America Survey to get a sense of the “state of psychological health and safety in the American workplace.” In October 2022, the U.S. Surgeon General released the office’s first-ever Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being. The APA’s Work in America Survey was recently revised to consider the framework and add to their decades-long pursuit of data relative to workplace mental health in the United States. The survey results confirmed that psychological well-being is a very high priority for workers themselves.

THIS IS A REPLAY OF EPISODE #24 This week's guest, Georgia Bryce-Hutchinson, was educated and trained as an environmental engineer when her lived experience in the workplace motivated her to understand better how the workplace was causing her to feel. This exploration led her to become certified as a Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Health Consultant. She is also a speaker and author of "On Your Way to Meeting You: The Journey That Changes Everything" and owner of Building Families According to Pattern, LLC. Georgia combines her ability to think logically with her passion for robust mental health as a motivator to help individuals and families in her clinical practice, including those exposed to psychosocial hazards at work. She has also recently begun to focus on helping large organizations address mental health through training and consulting efforts. She believes that "you can not separate the person from the worker," and the work environment should be a place that facilitates growth rather than harm. In this episode, she'll share her thoughts with host Dr. I. David Daniels on why "Work Shouldn't Hurt Emotionally."

THIS IS A REPLAY OF EPISODE #4 Dr. Namie will discuss his journey as a workplace bullying researcher and advocate over the past 25 years and his efforts to change the nature of work through the adoption of the Healthy Workplace Bill. From his experience of vicarious exposure to his wife’s experience of bullying, through their formation of an organization to train and develop anti-bullying advocates across the United States, supporting bullying targets and consulting with organizations, unions, and leadership groups as well as serving as an expert witness. Dr. Namie, his wife Dr. Ruth Namie, and the Workplace Bullying Institute have been pursuing healthier workplaces for years. He will discuss a number of important concepts that are essential in establishing a psychologically healthy and safe environment.