Perceptions of psychological safety in high-containment laboratories: mixed method survey of community members and industry experts

• Published in: BMC Psychology Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 543 - 11
• Main Authors: Sargent, Moana, Sylvara, Ashley, Klos, Leah, Gallagher, Jacob, Cabrera, Kutina, Goff, Molly, Luna, Jesica, Clavijo, Alfonso, Lee, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 22.05.2025; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis; Behavior; Biosafety; Biosafety level facilities; Collaboration; Communication; Community psychology; Community residents; Corporate culture; Employees; Environmental health; Female; Health aspects; High-reliability organizations; Humans; Industrial safety; Knowledge sharing; Laboratories; Male; Medical laboratories; Middle Aged; Organizational learning; Pathogens; Perceptions; Psychological aspects; Psychological Safety; Public health; Safety; Safety and security measures; Social exchange theory; Subject matter experts; Surveys and Questionnaires; Work environment; United States; Biosafety level facilities; Psychological safety; Subject matter experts; Community residents; High-reliability organizations; Environmental health; Incident reporting
• ISSN: 2050-7283; 2050-7283
• DOI: 10.1186/s40359-025-02763-4

In high-reliability organizations (HROs), where safety is paramount, psychological safety is crucial for maintaining operational integrity and mitigating potential risks. The interdependence between HROs and surrounding communities necessitates examining the perceptions of conditions for safe and transparent operation from both community residents and subject matter experts (SMEs). This study aims to understand community residents' perceptions of psychological safety in the operation of a high-containment laboratory (HCL), how incident reporting reflects the psychological safety of a facility, and the alignment in community residents and SMEs' assessments of psychological safety in these laboratories. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data from community residents and high-containment laboratory SMEs. Community residents evaluated the potential impact of inadequate psychological safety on safe operations in high-containment laboratories and two incident reporting formats for their association with psychological safety. Both community residents and SMEs provided open-ended responses regarding the role of psychological safety in a high-containment laboratory. Community members emphasized that psychological safety plays a key role for safe and reliable operations within high-containment laboratories, and solution-oriented incident reports that focus on corrective actions appeared to indicate higher levels of psychological safety than problem-oriented reports focused on identifying the root cause of the incident. Thematic analysis showed overlap in key themes from community residents and SMEs, suggesting that psychological safety is important for safe operations, safety culture, and communication. Uniquely, SMEs offered more detailed insights into risk management, preparedness, and the impact on community and reputation. Findings underscore the importance of psychological safety in promoting safety culture and effective communication within HROs, which is recognized by the surrounding community of residents. Transparent reporting with a focus on corrective action may be perceived as more indicative of psychological safety than reports centered on root cause analysis. Lastly, there is a shared understanding of the importance of psychological safety between community residents and SMEs, with SMEs providing a more nuanced perspective on improving psychological safety in HROs.