Psychological Safety Indicators to Complement Existing Workplace Well-being Initiatives

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has considered developing workplace psychological safety indicators or benchmarks to complement existing workplace well-being initiatives; and (b) if not, whether the Ministry intends to do so.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Manpower (Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong) (for the Acting Minister for Manpower): The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recognises the role of psychological safety in fostering a positive work environment where employees feel comfortable in raising their ideas and views. At the same time, there are other important factors that influence workplace mental well-being, such as job demands, peer relationships and supervisor support.

MOM's approach is to support employers to assess and address mental well-being in their workplaces holistically rather than develop national level indicators or benchmarks for psychological safety alone.

For example, we have developed iWorkHealth, an online psychosocial health assessment tool that employers can use to identify common workplace stressors and psychosocial risks. Participating employers will receive an aggregated, anonymised report on the key work stressors or risks affecting their workforce, including psychological safety within the organisation. They will also receive recommendations to address the findings, which can be complemented by other resources on fostering a supportive workplace culture such as the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Health and Well-being at Workplaces.

Mr Speaker: Mr Tay.

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Pioneer): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his reply. Just one supplementary question, whether MOM can do more, especially with the stakeholders in the mental health ecosystem, to help workers feel safe discussing their mental health concerns, both at work and at workplaces.

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong: I thank the Member for the question. I agree that we can do more. In fact, for this particular case, there is no single stakeholder that can act alone. I suggest for Government employers and unions work together to foster a more conducive culture and ecosystem.

Mr Speaker: I am moving on.