Workplace Well-being: The Overlooked Safety Risk

I believe that organizations that truly value the well-being of their employees in their daily lives are also able to create safer, healthier, and higher-performing workplaces.

Today, many companies place great emphasis on health and safety regulations, procedures, and legal compliance. However, I see that companies often overlook a crucial point: How do modern working conditions affect people's mental and psychological well-being?

Human resources are often considered a consumable commodity by companies. Long working hours, exhausting commutes, intense stress, toxic behaviors, poor communication, and constant pressure to meet project deadlines negatively impact employee well-being over time. Mentally exhausted and burnt-out employees are much more prone to making mistakes, experiencing loss of concentration, avoiding communication, and feeling exhausted. This, in turn, perpetuates a cycle of low project performance.

Well-being is not inherently a concept that reduces performance. On the contrary, when employees feel valued, safe, and rested, they generally perform better, communicate more openly, make healthier decisions, generate new ideas, and pay more attention to workplace safety regulations.

Research also supports this. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model shows that problems arise when workloads increase but employees lack sufficient support, energy, or resources to meet them. This can increase workplace accidents, absenteeism, stress, and unsafe behavior.

Major disasters also highlight the importance of workplace culture. Many fatal accidents in construction companies in Turkey clearly demonstrate how poor communication, intense pressure, and a weak organizational culture can lead to major mistakes and serious accidents.

Today, many organizations treat health, safety, and well-being separately. However, perhaps they should be considered as parts of the same system.

An official working at an airport management company told me that they had drastically reduced compensation claims due to slips and falls within a few years. Interestingly, this was not solely due to new procedures or technologies, but rather to a more respectful, collaborative, and supportive workplace culture. In conclusion, organizations should not only focus on reducing damages. They should also aim to create environments where people can work in a healthy, motivated, and productive manner.

Do you think psychological safety and employee well-being should be central to occupational health and safety strategies?