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PSC in Action
What is Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC)?
PSC is a specific aspect of organisational climate, defined as “policies, practices, and procedures for worker psychological health and safety”
PSC is largely determined by management and leadership within organisations. The PSC construct has four main aspects that connect to best practice principles in the stress prevention, intervention, and safety climate literature.
- First is senior management support and commitment to psychological health through involvement and proactivity. This aspect is evident when senior management take quick and decisive action to address and correct issues that affect psychological health.
- Second is priority the management give to employee psychological health and safety versus productivity goals. For example, job demands (e.g., work pressure, emotional labour, physical demands) may be modified to make them more manageable, and management have the discretion to offer a variety of resources, such as work flexibility, autonomy, and social support that may buffer demands and reduce work stress.
- Third is organisational communication that concerns how the members of the organisation communicate about psychological health and safety, including identification of risks to mental health, strategies for risk control and hazard management.
- The final aspect, organisational participation concerns expectations for involvement from all levels within the organisation regarding stress prevention. It includes the integration of stakeholders such as employees, unions, and health and safety representatives in occupational (psychological) health and safety processes.
(View this pdf file to learn more)
How to interpret PSC results?
PSC is measured using a 12 item scale (PSC-12) with scores ranging from 12 to 60. The following benchmarks were created to show risk levels and prognosis for PSC scores.
Learn More
See more about the PSC benchmarks from the Australian Workplace Barometer (AWB) for the 2014-15 data collection.
Psychosocial Safety Climate Fact Sheet
Download Australian Workplace Barometer Psychology Safety Climate Factsheet (PSC) in "pdf" format
How to cite the PSC map and league table (PSC Database)
Afsharian, A., Dollard, M., & Crispin, C., (2024), PSC map and league table (PSC Database). Retrieved from https://www.stresscafe.net/awbproject-278749-565613.html
A Report on the Status of Global PSC:
According to the review of the Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) database and related PSC extractions, 282 PSC studies were conducted in December 2024. An extensive array of studies and publications from various industries, countries, and occupational sectors have been documented since 2010. These contributions have significantly enhanced our understanding of the Psychosocial Safety Climate. The PSC literature spans a broad range of journals, books, and other academic outlets pertinent to psychosocial safety climate and workplace health research. The most frequently cited sources include the book “Psychosocial Safety Climate: A New Work Stress Theory” Book (5.7%), “Safety Science” (4.6%), “Frontiers in Psychology” (2.5%), and the “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health” (2.5%). Other notable journals encompass “Journal of Occupational Health Psychology” (2.1%), and “Work & Stress” (1.4%). This dataset showcases a comprehensive exploration of the subject, incorporating diverse sources, including peer-reviewed journals, books, conference presentations, and unpublished works.
The dataset reflects a broad representation of industries involved in the research. The largest proportion (28.7%) is categorized as “Various” industries, indicating extensive coverage across multiple sectors. The “Health and Healthcare” sector is the most prominently represented specific industry, accounting for 18.8%, followed by “Education” at 12.8%. Government-related industries constitute 3.9%, while “Finance and Banking” and “Mining” represent 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively. Additional industries such as “Accommodation,” “Construction,” “Electricity,” and “Transport” comprise between 1.4% and 1.8%. This diversity underscores the widespread applicability of the research across various sectors.
Participants from a multitude of occupations contribute to the depth of PSC studies, evidencing a wide array of professional representation. The most substantial group (34%) is classified as “Various,” indicating a diverse occupational landscape. Notable professions include “Nurses” (3.9%), “Teachers” (2.8%), and “Managers” (2.1%). Healthcare-related roles, including “Health Care Workers” (6.7%) and “Hospital Staff” (1.8%), are also prominently represented. A diverse selection of other occupations, such as police officers, engineers, lecturers, administrators, and miners, is represented at lower percentages (0.4%–1.8%). This dataset highlights the occupational diversity present across multiple sectors.
The distribution of respondents by country reveals that the highest representation is from Australia (26.6%), followed by Malaysia (14.5%). Other countries, including the United States and Canada, contribute 3.9% each. A small percentage of participants is drawn from countries such as India, Iran, and China, as well as several European nations, each comprising 1% to 2% of the total sample. Additionally, 9.2% of respondents fall under the “Various” category, reflecting a diverse and global sampling. The frequency of respondents varies by country, with many contributing only a modest fraction to the overall sample.
The global PSC average stands at 38.05. The majority of studies have reported low-risk and medium-risk PSC levels (n = 112, 39.7%); however, concerningly, a significant number of studies indicate high-risk and very high-risk PSC levels (n = 74, 26.4%). Ongoing research and data collection continue across different countries. Please ensure that you upload your PSC research results, including the Mean and Standard Deviation, to stresscafe.net via the provided link below.
Congratulations to PSC scholars for their recent PSC studies, which are below.
Omorede, A., & Berglund, R. T. (2024). The level of burnout and cognitive stress in managers when teleworking: The impact of psychosocial safety climate and the mediating role of demand-control-support. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 17(3), 220–240. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-12-2022-0197
Toropova, A., Rödlund, A., Björklund, C., Elinder, L. S., Jensen, I., & Kwak, L. (2023). The effectiveness of implementing the Guideline for the Prevention of Mental Ill-health Problems at the Workplace on health outcomes, organizational and social risk factors: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in Swedish schools. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 49(6), 428. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.4108
Cedstrand, E., Augustsson, H., Alderling, M., Sánchez Martinez, N., Bodin, T., Nyberg, A., & Johansson, G. (2022). Effects of a co-created occupational health intervention on stress and psychosocial working conditions within the construction industry: A controlled trial. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 973890. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.973890
Duarte, J., Berthelsen, H., & Owen, M. (2020). Not all emotional demands are the same: Emotional demands from clients’ or co-workers’ relations have different associations with well-being in service workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 7738. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217738
Truchon, M., Gilbert-Ouimet, M., Zahiriharsini, A., Girouard, A., Thibeault, J., Parent, N., Lachapelle, É., & Biron, C. (2024). Assessing the psychometric properties of the French-Canadian version of the Psychological Safety Climate Questionnaire (PSC-12). Safety and Health at Work. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2024.11.001
Nasharudin, N. A. M., & Rui, Z. (2024). Effect of psychosocial safety climate on work-family conflict and psychological health among working couples. Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 36, e27. https://doi.org/10.35371/aoem.2024.36.e27
Potter, R. E., Dollard, M., Lerouge, L., Jain, A., Leka, S., & Cefaliello, A. (2024). National Policy Index (NPI) for worker mental health and its relationship with enterprise psychosocial safety climate. Safety Science, 172, 106428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106428
Amoadu, M., Obeng, P., Cobbinah, G., Salu, P. K., Ofori, G. O., & Ansah, E. W. (2024). Methodological issues in measuring psychosocial safety climate: A systematic review protocol. BMJ Open, 14(8), e087315. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087315
van Duijnhoven, A., de Vries, J. D., Hulst, H. E., & van der Doef, M. P. (2024). An organizational-level workplace intervention to improve medical doctors’ sustainable employability: Study protocol for a participatory action research study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(12), 1561. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21121561
Yusef, N. N. R. A. E. A. E., Bassiouni, N. A., & El Sayed, B. K. M. (2024). Correlation between nurses’ attitude toward 5S Kaizen technique, its implementation, and their perception of psychosocial safety climate. Alexandria Scientific Nursing Journal, 26(4), 228–241.
Furness, T., Bardoel, A., Djurkovic, N., Fullam, R., & Ogloff, J. R. (2024). Workplace culture for forensic mental health services: A mixed methods descriptive study. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-11779-2
Pahuja, S., Garg, P., & Punia, B. K. (2024). Workplace spirituality and psychosocial safety climate: Moderating role of gratitude. Journal of Human Values. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/09716858241287480
Tripney Berglund, R., Izabelle, B., Johansson, P. E., & Omorede, A. (in press). Employee-driven innovation: Exploring the significance of psychosocial safety climate and implications for management. International Journal of Innovation Management. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1363919624500348
Zhang, S., Lee, M., Loh, M. Y., & Carr, S. (2024). Cross-cultural comparison of emotional labour (PhD thesis, in progress). Massey University, New Zealand.
Tuckey et al 2024 [Unpublished]
ZamirKhan, A. D. L., Rubel, M. R. B., & Kee, D. M. H. (2024). Exploring the effect of psychosocial safety climate on employee outcomes: The moderating roles of workload and organizational training. Journal of Advances in Management Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-04-2023-0096
Luu, X., Rathjens, C., Swadling, M., Gresham, B., Hockman, L., Scott-Young, C., … & Kent, L. (2024). How university climate impacts psychosocial safety, psychosocial risk, and mental health among staff in Australian higher education: A qualitative study. Higher Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01376-x
Laloo, E., Coman, R., & Hanley, N. K. (2025). The association of leadership styles with psychosocial safety climate: The case of authentic leadership. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 18(1), 12.
