Psychological Safety in a Politically Divided Workplace

What if the biggest risk in your organization isn’t a missing procedure or a broken control—but the things people are afraid to say?

In this episode of The Safety Consultant Podcast, Sheldon Primus explores how political and ideological discord can quietly introduce psychological risk into the workplace. Drawing on recent research and real-world observations, Sheldon explains how distrust, self-censorship, and siloed communication create latent safety hazards that traditional safety systems often miss.

This conversation isn’t about debating politics—it’s about understanding how disagreement, when left unmanaged, leads to silence, broken information flow, and increased operational risk. You’ll learn how political tension can undermine psychological safety, weaken hazard reporting, and fracture safety culture from the inside out.

Sheldon also introduces a Learning Team–style approach to addressing sensitive workplace friction, offering practical ways organizations and consultants can surface hidden risks, rebuild trust, and keep critical safety conversations moving—without turning the workplace into a battleground.

Key takeaways include:

• How political discord creates psychological hazards
• Why silence is not harmony—it’s deferred risk
• The connection between trust, psychological safety, and safety performance
• How Learning Team principles can restore communication and visibility

If you care about safety culture, leadership, and real risk reduction, this is a conversation you don’t want to ignore.