BL Management Consultants Pty Ltd

02/09/2026

Is your workplace psychologically safe?

Psychological safety is not just something to talk about. It is something worth understanding and measuring.

When people feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to speak up, ask questions, raise concerns, admit mistakes and contribute ideas. That has a direct impact on communication, learning, innovation and workplace health and safety.

If you are curious about how psychologically safe your workplace feels to you, we have a quick place to start.

Our Workplace Psychological Safety Survey is based on Amy Edmondson’s seven-question psychological safety measure and takes around one minute to complete.

Once you have completed the survey and entered your details, you will see the range your responses fall into and gain a clearer indication of how psychologically safe your workplace currently feels to you.

Your individual results are not shared with your employer or workplace.

Take the one-minute Workplace Psychological Safety Survey here:

Psychological Safety is important to understand and measure. This quick 7 question survey was developed by Amy Edmonson of Harvard Business School. By completing this along with your details you can see a range that you fall in for how psychologically safe it is for you at work. Your personal result...

31/08/2026

What does high adversity actually look like at work?

For some people, pressure is not occasional. It is built into the role.

High-adversity workplaces can involve repeated exposure to critical incidents, trauma, distress, conflict, unpredictable situations, high-stakes decisions or responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of others.

Over time, that pressure can affect the way people think, communicate and respond.

You might notice changes in concentration, decision-making, sleep, patience, emotional regulation or the ability to switch off after work. People can become more reactive, withdrawn, fatigued or feel as though they are constantly operating on high alert.

That does not mean people are incapable of doing the work. It means high-pressure roles require strong protective skills and practical strategies to support resilience over time.

This is where High Adversity Resilience Training (HART) can help.

HART is advanced resilience training designed for people working in demanding environments, including emergency services, frontline teams and leaders navigating challenging situations.

It focuses on building the skills people can draw on before, during and after periods of significant pressure.

Our next HART course is on 25 - 26 November.

If high adversity is part of your workplace, building resilience should be part of the preparation too.

Book now: https://blmc.com.au/hart

26/08/2026

Psychological safety is not something an organisation gets to simply declare.

You can include it in your values, tell people your door is always open and encourage everyone to speak freely in meetings. But your people will ultimately decide whether the workplace feels psychologically safe based on what they believe will happen after they speak.

By the time someone enters a meeting, they have already collected evidence. They have seen how leaders respond when someone challenges an idea, raises a concern or admits a mistake. They have noticed whether difficult news is welcomed, whether questions are encouraged and whether speaking honestly comes with social or professional consequences.

That is why I believe one of the most useful questions leaders can ask is not, “Do we have a psychologically safe workplace?” but, “What have our people learned to expect when they speak up?”

If someone admits they made a mistake, what happens next? If someone raises a safety concern, how is it received? If an employee disagrees with a decision or challenges a senior leader, what does the organisation do in response?

Those everyday moments shape culture over time.

Psychological safety does not mean avoiding difficult conversations, lowering standards or agreeing with every idea. A psychologically safe workplace can still have high expectations, robust discussion and challenging feedback. The difference is that people feel able to participate honestly without fearing punishment for speaking up, asking for help, admitting an error or challenging an assumption.

This has a direct impact on workplace health and safety. When people feel safe to speak, they are more likely to raise concerns early, report hazards, identify problems, contribute ideas and ask for support when they need it.

In my latest blog, I explore how everyday leadership behaviour shapes psychological safety, why patterns matter more than statements, and what workplaces can learn by paying attention to what happens when someone takes the risk of being candid.

Read the full article here: https://blmc.com.au/post/psychologically-safe-workplace

26/08/2026

Going a bit personal here, business ownership and being self-employed is both lonely and a hard slog. I've been at it for 27 years now with every cent of my income and minute of my work time over those years invested in trying to help others be healthy and safe. This includes volunteering on committees and boards when possible.

I have invested literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on my education and in developing skills. Being accredited, qualified and experienced in my field is important for so many reasons.

My life is about giving not taking. Later in my life and career I discovered giving also includes to self. Giving time to reflect, rest and recover. To fill one's own bucket. That is one of the reasons I feel I have achieved longevity as a business owner.

I also take nothing for granted or as a given. Things change all the time and so much of it is out of my control. Boundaries and letting it go is important if you are unable to change it.

Sometimes business ownership is exhausting and full of worry. It is also full of potential, reward and satisfaction.

Give to self and others. Life is not all about the paid work we do, but if we want to stay doing it and all it brings, we need to invest in self. Take care and don't forget to have fun along the way.

24/08/2026

Psychological safety is not just about whether people feel comfortable at work. It influences whether they speak up, share ideas, raise concerns, ask for help and contribute to better ways of working.

When people are too worried about how they will be received, innovation can stall. Important information can stay hidden. Opportunities to improve can be missed.

A useful question for organisations is not simply, “Do we have a psychologically safe workplace?” but, “Have we assessed it, and do we have a plan to strengthen it?”

That is where practical capability matters.

BLMC has a range of upcoming training designed to help individuals and organisations build resilience, strengthen mental health capability and create safer, healthier and more productive workplaces.

Upcoming training:

3 September: Resilience First Aid Starter Training
13 October: Personal Resilience Essentials
21 - 22 October: Mental Health First Aid
3 November: Mental Health First Aid Refresher
10 November: Resilience First Aid Refresher
18 - 19 November: Resilience First Aid
25 - 26 November: High Adversity Resilience Training

These courses give people practical tools they can use in everyday workplace situations, from strengthening personal resilience and supporting others through to building confidence around mental health and responding effectively during periods of high adversity.

Psychological safety, resilience and mental health capability all work together. When people feel safer to speak, better equipped to manage pressure and more confident supporting one another, workplaces are better positioned to learn, adapt, innovate and perform.

If your organisation has identified psychological safety as an area to strengthen, or you are simply looking for practical ways to build capability across your team, there are several opportunities to start.

View the upcoming training calendar and book your place via the link in comments

19/08/2026

If you completed your initial HSR training more than 12 months ago, refresher training is an opportunity to bring your knowledge back up to date and strengthen the skills you use in the workplace.

Our upcoming Health and Safety Representative Refresher Training (HSRR) is a SafeWork NSW approved, one-day course designed for HSRs who want to refresh their understanding of current WHS requirements and continue representing their workgroup with confidence.

The refresher covers:

• Work Health and Safety legislation
• Consultation, representation and participation
• The role of the HSR, issue resolution and support
• Monitoring, risk management and notifiable incidents
• Provisional Improvement Notices and ceasing unsafe work

It also gives you the opportunity to revisit practical skills around risk management, investigations and effective communication, while staying across legislative updates and emerging safety practices.

If your refresher is due, now is a good time to secure your place and make sure your knowledge stays current, as this is the last time we are running this training this year.

Upcoming HSR Refresher Training: 8 September

Book your place here: https://blmc.com.au/hsrr

17/08/2026

Not every workplace challenge needs a full-day training course.

Sometimes you just need practical guidance on one topic, which is exactly why we created the BLMC WHS Video Library.

Choose from more than a dozen practical training topics, including:

• Workers' compensation
• Incident and injury reporting
• Consultation
• Contractor management
• Psychological safety
• Psychosocial hazards
• Trauma-informed investigations
• Resilience
• Manual handling
• Mental health basics
• Inspections and audits
• WHS management systems

Purchase the topic that's most relevant to your workplace for just $25, or unlock the entire library for $250.

Whether you're a business owner, leader, Health and Safety Representative or simply looking to strengthen your knowledge, these videos are a practical way to learn from Bjelkie at your own pace.

Explore the library and start building safer, healthier workplaces today.

17/08/2026

Workplace Mental Health First Aid accredited training led by a qualified Counsellor and WHS professional on the 21st and 22nd October 2026.
If you have wanted to be more effective and confident in approaching and helping someone who is struggling, or in crisis, with their mental health, this is the course for you.
Last course for 2026 so email [email protected] or visit the training tab of our website blmc.com.au

17/08/2026

Over the past few weeks I have been making calls to check in on people in my networks. It has left me really concerned and asking "Who is supporting the people who support everyone else?".

Mental Health professionals have structured professional supervision to maintain safe and effective practice due to what we are exposed to, why don't others in the workplace with similar exposures have access to this?

What began as simple check ins, on a few occasions, became something very different requiring me to utilise both my coaching and counselling skills. Of concern were the number of conversations with low mood and motivation due to overwhelm to notable distress including crying all due to psychosocial work stressors.

These people are not unfamiliar with mental health and wellbeing systems and skills. These are leaders in the WHS and People space supporting others and doing some really tough stuff, and they are struggling.

Holding such important roles in a business exposes them to all sorts of stressors and difficult people. And, what happens when the behaviours or leadership practices come from their own Leader or Board?

How do these people cope? What options do they have?

Apparently they don't, nor should they, but by providing free, spur of the moment support as I did, nothing changes in the environment or to the people who are the source of the stress!

These unplanned but essential interventions, may never be reported, even though they should be. None will be lodged as an incident and no one inside the organisation will know the extent of the harm.

These people and interventions do not show up in the statistics nor is there accountability to the people causing the psychosocial hazard and unsafe environment.

This is widespread and is not about one WHS / P&C /HR Coordinator, Manager or Executive in one business. It is not about small, medium or large business or an industry. This is common to all of those who support others in a business and have to be vulnerable in making the hard decisions, and they do, regularly. Often being the bearer of bad news, or doing the tough stuff on behalf of the business.

Speaking to someone on the phone whose voice is shaking, who is sobbing with distress, or so flat they can hardly speak due to work pressures and lack of support is not OK in our workplaces in 2026.

These professionals spend their careers looking after organisations and the people within them. They deserve somewhere safe to turn. Mental Health professionals require supervision as part of our accreditation. Where is this for our WHS, People and Culture or HR professionals?

A place with no judgement, to talk, reflect, challenge thinking, regain perspective, be heard, recover and work constructively through difficult situations.

If you are working in the WHS, People and Culture, HR or an other role where you carry responsibility for others, and want to have somewhere safe to take some of the weight, please reach out.

CEO's, Directors, Officers, Executives and Business Owners -
You rely on these people leaders, perhaps a question to ask is, have you considered if they feel safe and are supported in a genuine, evidence based way?

Coaching /Supervision works for mental health professionals, I am hearing it is time for our people leaders as well.

Please message or email me if you need immediate assistance or would like to be part of the BLMC community supporting each other in a safe, confidential and constructive space.

I'm here for you - [email protected] or visit blmc.com.au see our coaching or membership options, or contact us option.

12/08/2026

After more than 30 years working alongside businesses and their people, I still love seeing the moment something clicks in a training room.

Someone leaves with a little more confidence to have a conversation, support a colleague, speak up about safety or step into their role.

That's why I'm looking forward to our next round of public training:

20 - 21 August
Resilience First Aid

3 September
Resilience First Aid Starter Training

8 September
Health & Safety Representative Refresher Training

I'm particularly looking forward to welcoming HSRs back for their refresher. It's an opportunity to update your knowledge, explore what's changed and strengthen the skills you use to represent your workgroup.

I only offer the public HSR Refresher twice each year, so if you're eligible to refresh your training, this is your opportunity for 2026.

View the upcoming courses and secure your place via the BLMC website.