Psychosocial Safety USA Podcast

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Michael Zalle, founder and CEO of Yellowbird. Michael will share his experience as a Health and Safety entrepreneur, despite the challenges of being born without a right hand. He has been highly successful in the “business of safety” despite living in an often ableist world. Ableism is a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate...

The majority of the current workforce in the United States (roughly 35% of the total) were born between 1981 and 1996. They are part of a social cohort known as Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y. In 2025, as much as 75% of the workforce worldwide will be millennials. While they are not monolithic, engaging millennials in the workplace could be much better if they were appropriately...

In this episode, Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Wayne Pignolet, the Head of Operations at White Males, as Full Diversity Partners (WMFDP). Given the reality that a psychosocial hazard is a psychosocial factor perceived or experienced by the individual exposed, it should be no surprise that people of different ages, races, gender or sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and ability status wi...

In this episode, Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Joe Grasso, Senior Director of Workforce Transformation at Lyra Health. He is a clinical psychologist, mental health researcher, educator by training, and a partner to employers on workforce mental health strategy by trade. In the U.S., there are an estimated 350 individuals for every mental health provider. However, these figures may overe...

One of the standard ways to avoid physical injuries and reduce the overall effect of exposure to significant hazards is to be physically fit. Physical fitness is achieved in many ways depending on the individual and their current state of fitness. Similarly, psychological fitness can be essential in maintaining mental health in the workplace. In this episode, Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with D...

In this episode, Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Eric Gislason, the Executive Director of the National Association of Safety Professionals. Traditional safety professionals are, in many cases, still beginning to understand the concept of psychological health and safety and how psychosocial hazards relate to an effective safety management system. Eric will share his perspective as a tenured safety...

In this episode, Dr. Daniels will talk with Mary Ann Bayton of Mary Ann Bayton & Associates. She has been called the “godmother of psychological health and safety.” Mary Ann also proudly serves as the Director of Strategy and Collaboration for Canada Life’s Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, which provides free, practical ideas, tools, and resources to help with the prevention, intervention,...

In this episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Lisa Jones-Chandler, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Psychotherapist, and Chief of Corporate Excellence at Vibrant Emotional Health. Vibrant is the administrator of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Ms. Jones will share her perspective as a mental health professional and clini...

In this episode, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Chauncia Willis, the co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Diversity in Emergency Management. Ms. Willis is a seasoned emergency management professional with experience in city, county, and state emergency management agencies and private sector consulting. The physical and psychological impact of disasters don’t necessarily end as the physic...

One of the core indicators of the level of psychological health and safety in an organization is the degree of freedom that workers have to share their concerns about various topics that affect their safety and their comfort level after doing so. In this episode, Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Jessica Martinez, the Co-Executive Director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Hea...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that 51.7% of the workforce is female. However, according to Zippia.com, 27.2% of occupational health and safety specialists are women, and 72.8% are men. This suggests that many policies, procedures, and practices relative to safety are created for and by men. This discrepancy can contribute to physical and psychosocial hazards that harm women and may not b...

In this episode, we’ll close out our celebration of Black History Month with a conversation involving three 2022 Safety Scholars from the National Association of Black Compliance and Risk Management Professionals Leila Ruggs of North Carolina A&T University, Garrett Washington of American University and Emmanuel Winful of Auburn University. They will delve into their views on a variety of safety-r...

This podcast focuses on psychological health and safety from the perspective of an occupational health and safety professional. However, there is no question that discussions regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion are certainly more common, as is the focus on psychological safety. While there are many voices in these conversations, they are most commonly DE&I professionals and enthusiasts OR l...

Dr. Yasser Arafat Payne is a full Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. Dr. Payne completed his doctoral work at the Graduate Center-City University of New York where he was trained as a social-personality psychologist. Also, Dr. Payne completed a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIH-NIDA) whereby he work...

This week’s guest is Dr. Reginald Freeman, whose doctoral research focused on servant leadership. Dr. Freeman has served in leadership roles in both private and public organizations and currently serves as Fire Chief in the City of Oakland, California. Servant leadership is a philosophy in which the leader aims to serve. This is different from traditional leadership, where the leader's primary foc...

In this week’s episode, Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Dr. Jerry Carbo, the President of the National Workplace Bullying Coalition. Dr. Carbo is not only an attorney but also a Professor of Management at the Grove College of Business at Shippensburg University. He teaches courses in employment law, Labor Relations, Business and Society, HRM, and organizational behavior. Dr. Carbo’s research...

The guest for this episode is Jerel Harvey, founder of Fedway Financial. One of the factors that influence people’s decisions to stay in jobs that they hate and tolerate exposure to toxic culture is related to their financial situation. When a worker is being exposed to micro-aggressive behavior, hazing, bullying, harassment, or even violence, the decision to speak up, ask for help, and especially...

In this episode of the Psych Health and Safety USA podcast, host Dr. I. David Daniels speaks with Russ Burnham, the Founder of Front-Line Mobile Health, a company that assists police, fire, and EMS agencies with both physical and behavioral assessment and support. Russ has an extensive military background and began when he enlisted as Combat Medic in 2001, shortly after the events of 9/11. During...

As much as the organization has the most significant responsibility for creating a psychologically healthy and safe environment, it would be naive to suggest that focusing on resiliency for people in the organization is not also important. There are real-life situations where emotional and even physical survival may depend on how resilient an individual can be in situations where the psychosocial...

In this episode of the Psych Health and Safety USA podcast, host Dr. I. David Daniels will talk with two friends whose relationship is almost exclusively the result of their common interest in addressing workplace bullying. Janet Glover-Kerkvliet and Sonja Pitts are the co-founders of the Maryland Healthy Workplace Task Force, which continues to advocate for legislation to prevent bullying in the...

This week's guest, Georgia Bryce-Hutchinson, was educated and trained as an environmental engineer when her lived experience in the workplace motivated her to understand better how the workplace was causing her to feel. This exploration led her to become certified as a Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Health Consultant. She is also a speaker and author of "On Your Way to Meeting You: The J...

In Episode 23, host Dr. I. David Daniels is joined by a workplace bullying researcher with experience as a social worker and civil rights attorney. Ellen Cobb is also an attorney and author of three books, including her most recent “Managing Psychosocial Hazards and Work-Related Stress in Today’s Work Environment. International Insights for U. S. Organizations.” In the book and this episode, Ms. C...

Oil and Gas account for approximately 3% of the global GDP. Petroleum products can be found in everything from personal protective equipment, packaging, and aspirin, to clothing, fuel for transportation, and even solar panels. Workers in this industry are exposed to a range of potential hazards at different production stages—whether on the electric lines, using heavy equipment, or working around f...

In the OSH Act, the U. S. Congress declared it to be “its purpose and policy, through the exercise of its powers to regulate commerce among the several States and with foreign nations and to provide for the general welfare, to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources …by providing for research in t...

Every year, approximately 200,000 U. S. military service members transition to civilian life. Many of these veterans become incredibly valued members of the civilian workforce. Most employers recognize and value the wide-ranging experience and transferable skills that veterans bring to the civilian workforce: An overwhelming 94% say that hiring veteran workers is appealing to their organization. A...