The Intersection of Safety and Wellbeing in the Workplace

Host Atanu Das interviews Claire Bryant of the National Safety Council about workplace wellbeing and its connection to workplace and roadway safety. Bryant explains NSC’s wellbeing work began in 2012 with the overdose crisis and now includes fatigue, mental distress, psychological safety, workplace violence, and other psychosocial hazards, emphasizing research showing a strong correlation between wellbeing investments and improved safety outcomes. She discusses gaining organizational buy-in by linking wellbeing risks to costs like healthcare utilization, productivity, and turnover, and highlights pressing risks such as overdose on the job (about 8% of workplace fatalities) and over 12,000 EMS responses to potential opioid overdoses at worksites in the last year. The episode covers integrating wellbeing into safety management via risk assessment, EAP and incident data, tools like NIOSH’s Worker WellBQ, standards like ISO 45003, impairment detection technology, and practical steps for small organizations including naloxone and mental health first aid. 00:00 Show Intro and Links 00:36 Meet Claire Bryant 02:10 NSC Workplace Wellbeing Mission 04:29 Research Linking Wellbeing and Safety 05:44 Getting Buy In Across Teams 07:38 EHS Shift to Psychosocial Risk 09:07 Overdose and Impairment Risks 12:40 Beyond Safety Business Impacts 14:07 Integrating Wellbeing Into Systems 16:07 Tools Tech and ISO 45003 20:09 Small Business Starting Steps 21:55 Training and NSC Resources 27:00 Measuring Wellbeing With Data 29:27 Advice for EHS Pros 31:26 Key Takeaway and Wrap Up