Safety is a basic human need. Creating psychologically safe working environment is not only a basic need, but also a critical necessity to ensure the high-performance of the teams. This becomes even more necessary in an industry like construction which is highly risky and vulnerable to accidents. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the construction industry accounts for one in every six fatal accidents at the worksite recorded annually. It was further estimated by ILO that at least 60,000 fatal accidents occur each year on the construction jobsites worldwide, thus representing one fatal accident every 10 minutes. Thus, creating a psychologically safe working environment for the workers is a dire necessity for the construction industry.
What Is Psychological Safety?
The term ‘psychological safety’ was termed by Amy Edmondson, a Harvard Business School Professor. According to Edmondson, psychological safety refers to “a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking”. Thus, psychological safety in construction jobsite means a working environment wherein the workers have a sense of safety to take up the risky tasks of construction.
Why Is It Important to Ensure a Psychologically Safe Working Environment?
Psychological safety in the workplace is as important as physical safety. Psychological safety in the workplace is required because it:
Boosts Employees’ Engagement
Employees who feel safe at work are more sincere towards work. Moreover, better employee participation can be obtained in a psychologically safe working environment.
Promotes Inclusive Workplace Culture
Safe workplaces allow all the employees to flourish irrespective of their gender, color, race and background. In such workplaces every employee has a sense of inclusion that results in a rich give-and-take experience where everyone feels connected.
Improves The Well-Being of The Employees
Mental health highly impacts the overall well-being of the individuals. Psychologically safe working environment improves the mental health of the workers that allows them to perform at an optimal level and avoids such stressors that restrict them from doing their best.
Reduces Employee Turnover
According to studies, the probability of employees leaving the workplace is less in the workplaces where they feel psychologically safe. Thus, psychologically safe working environment lowers the employee turnover that in turn saves time and lowers the costs incurred in the entire process of hiring new employees.
Boosts Team Performance
A workplace that has an inclusive workplace culture with highly engaged and healthy employees who are unwilling to leave is ideal for boosting team performance.
How AI Helps in Boosting Psychological Safety in Construction Jobsite?
Technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), computer vision and automation have been playing a profound role in boosting the psychological safety in the workplaces, especially one like construction, which is prone to risks and accidents.
AI and other modern technologies have been boosting the psychological safety in the construction jobsite in the following ways:
All the stakeholders remain aware of the ‘wrongs’ in the jobsite
Allows instant and more efficient detection of errors which could otherwise be hazardous if not detected and rectified
Can send instant alerts in case of situations where the safety has been compromised, like accidents, free fall etc. before it is too late
Holistic monitoring with zero error and minimal human interference
Corporate governance powered by data and not by human
Thus, all these factors infuse a sense of security in the minds of all the construction employees helping create a psychologically safe working environment especially for the lower strata of workers.
How Deployment of viAct in Your Construction Jobsite Ensures Psychological Safety?
Looking into the unsafe nature of construction works, viAct recognizes well the importance of psychological safety in the construction jobsite. In this regards, viAct’s tailor-made safety modules are effective to ensure psychological safety in the construction workplace for both the workers as well as the stakeholders. The AI and computer vision enabled safety modules such as the ‘Safety Helmet Detection Module’, ‘Safety Jacket Detection Module’, ‘Shackle Detection Module’, ‘High Rise Work Safety Management Module’, and the like ensures the safety of the employees in the jobsite. These modules are well-trained and tested to detect any instance of safety non-compliances on the part of the employees and instantly alert the stakeholders so as to avoid any mishappening in the construction sites.
Thus, these modules act as an ‘extra eye’ in the construction jobsite that looks into the safety of the workers round-the-clock. Workers working in construction jobsites that use these safety modules can have a sense of security that they are constantly under the supervision of an ‘extra eye’ that would detect any unsafe situation before it is too late. Similarly, the stakeholders can also have a sense of relief since they need not worry about the safety of the workers all the time and thus concentrate better on other tasks. Thus, these safety modules made by viAct not only ensures the physical but also the psychological safety of both the workers and the stakeholders in the construction jobsite.