What is the Difference Between Psychological Safety and Psychosocial Safety?

Roderick Cross is a long time partner of The Leadership Sphere who is leading expert in psychosocial safety and one of Australia’s most highly sought after leadership coaches. We’ll be joined by Roderick on  September 4th, 2025 to chat with him live. Sign up here to join the conversation. 

This article was originally published by Roderick Cross on LinkedIn.

April marked the two-year anniversary of the enforcement of the ‘Managing psychosocial hazards at work’ Code of Practice (the Code) which provides direction and guidance on ways to achieve the standards for health, safety, and welfare under the WHS Act.

How do you use them to support your people and your business?

Many of you will be familiar with the story of space shuttle engineer Rodney Rocha. He raised the alarm of potential damage to the shuttle Columbia on the day of the launch ‘in an email to his immediate supervisor in bold-face type’. When his initial request for additional information was declined, he sent another email, referencing a NASA safety poster that stated: ‘If it’s not safe, say so’.

However, he shared the second email with fellow engineers, as ‘engineers were often told not to send messages much higher than their own rung in the ladder’. Feeling discouraged and knowing that saying more may be career limiting at NASA, he did not share his anxieties in subsequent mission team meetings- hoping others with more clout might offer their concerns.*

We can all appreciate that having tentative concerns and unproven ideas, and speaking up or remaining silent are traded off against the interpersonal risks and harm to performance and productivity, which in the case of Columbia was seven deaths, plus countless impacts on all staff, families and the wider community.

There are three ways to help change this for the better for your teams, business and communities.

The three ways to help change this for the better for you, your teams, business, and communities are explained in the graphic below.  The first two have some organisational attention e.g. in policy and meeting etiquette etc., which is great.  However, they are often misunderstood, used interchangeably and are distinct.

1. Psychological safety—this is good practice and a shared ‘could do’ conventions of interactions*.

2. Psychosocial safety—this is best practice and a shared ‘must do’ compliance with WHS regulations and Code. #

3. BACUPS—this is next practice and a shared ‘how to’ culture.

BAC UPS Can Help

The Building A Culture of Unifying Psychosocial Safety (BAC UPS) program is an integrated and innovative approach that leverages both psychological safety (in teams and interactions) and psychosocial safety. BACUPS includes workshops, tools, peer to peer support and team processes, as well as providing benchmark and baseline metrics into your current psychosocial health and safety, and opportunities for improvement.

BACUPS can be integrated into your current development initiatives, or it can be a stand-alone offering, e.g., 2-hours, half day or whole day workshop to quickly build knowledge, competence and confidence in your organisation to:

• Help create and maintain a psychological safe workplace environment.
• Help your organisation meet compliance with the Code of Practice.
• Helps you build a proactive, positive psychosocial safety culture where psychosocial health, wellbeing and safety are business priorities and drivers of business outcomes.
• Supports your systems, teams and individuals to be safer and healthier to sustain productivity and performance.

Although it may not be 2003 and you may not be working in NASA, we can all appreciate the need for our people to raise their hands and raise their voices to meet the changes of the current demanding and turbulent business context.

Hear more of Roderick’s insights into psychosocial safety and BAC UPS on September 4th, 2025 when he joins us to discuss all this and more. Register to the event and join us live by following this link.

*Adapted from Edmondson, A: Teaming 2012, John Wiley & Sons, p146 &147.

# Australian Legislation Framework. E.g. Code of Practice – Managing psychosocial hazards at work. SafeWork Australia 2002