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PSC-12 and PSC-4 Tools:
Original, Adapted, and Multilingual Versions

Psychosocial Safety Climate refers to the organisational policies, practices, and procedures to support employee psychological health and safety. PSC tools are designed to assess Psychosocial Safety Climate based on four key dimensions:

  1. Management Commitment – The extent to which senior management is committed to psychological health and safety.
  2. Management Priority – How highly psychological safety is prioritised relative to productivity goals.
  3. Organisational Communication – The effectiveness of communication regarding psychological safety issues.
  4. Organisational Participation – Employee involvement in psychological safety discussions, practices and decision-making.

Organisations can target suitable interventions to foster a safer, happier and healthier work environment by identifying areas that need more attention, taking action and improving. In high PSC contexts, managers will be cognisant of risk factors and help shape jobs with manageable demands and adequate resources. Therefore, if PSC is assessed, levels of demands and resources can be predicted.

Overview of Tools

The PSC-12 includes 12 items, and the PSC-4 is a shorter, 4-item version of the PSC scale developed for use in situations where time or space in a survey is limited. Both scale’s response lists range on a five-point Likert scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Thus, the total score range for PSC-12 could be between 12 and 60, and for PSC-4, it is expected that the scores will tally up between 4 and 20. PSC-12 is widely recognised for its reliability and validity in English and many other translated versions. PSC-4, despite its briefness, maintains robust psychometric characteristics that include high reliability and validity. The shortened version, PSC-4, is ideal for large-scale workforce surveys, industry benchmarking, or as a screening tool in settings where minimal burden on participants is a priority. While PSC-4 provides fewer questions than the PSC-12, it is still highly applicable in identifying PSC’s four domains and psychosocial safety trends in working environments.

Reliability and Validity

Both scales, PSC-12 and PSC-4, have shown strong reliability and validity across various studies and workplace settings. The PSC-12 consistently shows high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values typically exceeding 0.90, indicating excellent reliability. It has also demonstrated construct, criterion, and predictive validity, confirming its effectiveness in capturing the core dimensions of psychosocial safety climate and its association with outcomes such as job stress, emotional exhaustion, mental health, and engagement. Similarly, the PSC-4, despite being a shorter version, has shown good reliability (with Cronbach’s alpha generally above 0.80) and strong correlations with the full PSC-12 scale. Its validity has been confirmed through various validation studies, showing that it effectively captures the overall perception of psychosocial safety in the workplace. These psychometric strengths make both tools dependable and scientifically sound options for assessing organisational climates that support psychological health and safety.

Copyright and Licensing Information

The PSC-12 and PSC-4 scales, including all translated versions, are copyrighted by the American Psychological Association (APA). This included all rights and titles. To use either scale, you are required to first obtain formal permission from the APA.

How to Request Permission:

  1. Visit the APA’s International Journal of Stress Management
  2. Search for one of the following terms
    • “Garry Hall, Maureen Dollard, Jane Coward” or
    • “Psychosocial safety climate: Development of the PSC-12”
  3. Following the APA’s instructions to submit a permission request.

How to Request Permission:

  1. Visit the APA’s International Journal of Stress Management
  2. Search for one of the following terms
    1. “Garry Hall, Maureen Dollard, Jane Coward” or
    2. “Psychosocial safety climate: Development of the PSC-12”
  3. Following the APA’s instructions to submit a permission request.

 

Required Information for the Cover Letter

When submitting a request, you must provide a cover letter outlining the following details about your intended use of the scale:

    • Name of your organisation / requesting body (e.g. John Smith / Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory)
    • Distribution method (e.g., online, through a survey provider [please specify the provider], in-person, or other means)
    • Project title
    • Nature of the project (e.g., research, commercial, educational, workplace assessment).
    • Planned project commencement date (Month and Year)
    • Anticipated project completion date (Month and Year)
    • Target number of participants
    • If applicable: Number of waves and the anticipated date of each wave

Copyright Statement for Publications

When citing PSC scale items in any publication—including online formats—you are required to include the following copyright credit line after each reference: 

        ©American Psychological Association 2010. Reproduced with permission, on pages 382-383.

Licensing Support Documents

For more information on the application process (including step-by-step instructions with photos), refer to the guidance document:
“Accessing the PSC-12 License – External Procedure.pdf”

Note: the process for licensing the PSC-4 is identical to that of the PSC-12.

A sample permission request letter template for researchers and students is also available: “PSC-12 APA Letter Template Researcher-Student.doc”

Contact Information

If you have any questions or require further assistance, please contact:
Ms Ash Friebel
Email: ashira.friebel@unisa.edu.au

Collaboration Opportunities

The PSC-GO team welcomes collaboration with researchers, organisations, and practitioners committed to improving workplace psychological health and safety.

We may offer free access to PSC  tools for individuals or organisations engaged in collaborative research projects, workplace evaluations, mental health assessments, and other related initiatives.

By partnering with PSC-GO, collaborators benefit from:

  • Access to our expertise and research experience
  • Practical guidance on tool implementation
  • Opportunities to contribute to and advance global psychosocial safety climate research

    Please note: Access to PSC tools as part of collaborations may not be free in all cases. We are currently reviewing access models and will share updates as they become available.

Stay tuned for future announcements, special offers, and opportunities to get involved as we continue to promote the advancement of psychosocial safety climate research and practice worldwide.

Available PSC Translations

The Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) scales have been translated and validated in multiple languages through international research. Below are the available versions with links to the original sources and downloadable PDFs.

Tool Language Author(s) Year Reference Download the Tool
PSC-12 English Hall, G., Dollard, M., & Coward, J. 2010 View PDF
PSC-4 English Dollard, M. 2019 View PDF
PSC-12 Chinese Pien, L., Cheng, Y., Cheng, W. 2018 View PDF
PSC-4 Finnish Juutinen, S., Sjoblom, K., Dollard, M., Makikangas, A. 2023 View Contact the Author/s
PSC-12 French-Canadian Truchon, M., Gilbert-Ouimet, M., Zahiriharsini, A., et al. 2025 View PDF
PSC-12 Persian/Farsi Afsharian, A., Zadow, A., & Dollard, M. 2016 View PDF
PSC-4 Persian/Farsi Afsharian, A., Zadow, A., & Dollard, M. 2016 View PDF
PSC-12 German Formazin, M., Ertel, M., Kersten, N., & Nübling, M. 2022 View Contact the Author/s
PSC-12 Japanese Inoue, A., Eguchi, H., Kachi, Y., et al. 2021 View PDF
PSC-4 Japanese Inoue, A., Eguchi, H., Kachi, Y., Dollard, M. F., & Tsutsumi, A. 2025 View PDF
PSC-12 Malay Abu Baker, N., Bulgiba, A., & Isahak, M. 2025 View Contact the Author/s
PSC-12 Swedish Berthelsen, H. & Muhonen, T. 2019 View PDF
PSC-4 Swedish Berthelsen, H. & Muhonen, T. 2019 View PDF
PSC-12 Polish Jurek, P., Olech, M., Afsharian, A., & Dollard, M. F. 2025 View PDF

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