The Intersection of Safety and Wellbeing in the Workplace
Host Atanu Das interviews Claire Bryant of the National Safety Council about workplace wellbeing and its connection to workplace and roadway safety. Bryant explains NSC’s wellbeing work began in 2012 with the overdose crisis and now includes fatigue, mental distress, psychological safety, workplace violence, and other psychosocial hazards, emphasizing research showing a strong correlation between wellbeing investments and improved safety outcomes. She discusses gaining organizational buy-in by linking wellbeing risks to costs like healthcare utilization, productivity, and turnover, and highlights pressing risks such as overdose on the job (about 8% of workplace fatalities) and over 12,000 EMS responses to potential opioid overdoses at worksites in the last year. The episode covers integrating wellbeing into safety management via risk assessment, EAP and incident data, tools like NIOSH’s Worker WellBQ, standards like ISO 45003, impairment detection technology, and practical steps for small organizations including naloxone and mental health first aid.
Program Manager
A public health professional, Claire Bryant works on the Council’s workplace wellbeing initiatives. She is responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating programs that address workplace concerns such as substance misuse and fatigue. Her role involves researching relevant topics and providing analysis for technical reports and initiatives to develop future programs.
As a Certified Health Education Specialist, Bryant creates tools to help employers address substance misuse and other workplace safety risks related to wellbeing. She develops and promotes holistic interventions that address various forms of workplace impairment, including workplace training programs and impairment detection technology.
Before joining NSC, Bryant worked in clinical quality improvement at Mercy Health Center, a nonprofit health clinic in Athens, GA. She also developed injury prevention programs at Atlanta-area nonprofits, including the Shepherd Center. Bryant earned both her Master of Public Health, with a concentration in policy and management, and her undergraduate degree in health promotion and behavior from the University of Georgia.