Neurodiversity in a Safety-Forward Workplace

“Neurodiversity” is a popular buzzword right now, with more and more workplaces normalizing the use of the term and workers feeling increasingly comfortable enough to claim it. While this is certainly a positive improvement, it should carry with it the understanding that the normalization of the terms of neurodivergence in an industry does not mean that the necessary changes have already taken place.

Acknowledging that neurodivergent people exist and struggle within the workplace is not equivalent to crafting solutions alongside them, especially when it comes to workplace safety, where these solutions can save lives.

Neurodivergent workers are more susceptible to safety hazards than neurotypical workers, and they make up a good 15 to 20% of the workforce, many without even knowing that they are neurodivergent. Taking care of their needs helps to make a less accident-prone workforce, while also being inclusive and welcoming to diverse mindsets and types of expertise.

Labels like autism, OCD, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia are tools that can be used to unlock helpful systems for a company to support their employees. Originally developed so that psychiatrists and doctors could better support their patients, the same principle applies to workplace management. These labels become entirely unhelpful when they are used against the person they belong to, to diminish what they can offer a team and gatekeep them from work they would excel at. Here, the goal of these labels is to help companies create effective systems, and not to limit extremely diverse groups of people to their struggles.

Here are a few of the most common types of neurodivergence that can cause difficulties within the workplace, and how their strengths and weaknesses can be best accommodated to improve the safety culture of their environment. Most people, even neurotypical people, experience some or all of these struggles at some point in their life, albeit less frequently and severely. Creating a neurodivergent-friendly work environment helps everyone in the workplace to thrive, not just the people fitting into the categories on this list.

Autism

• Work Environment:
  • Autistic individuals struggle with sensory issues, as sounds, textures, lights, and smells can be more overwhelming to them than for neurotypical employees. Much of this can be relieved by the presence of dimmable lights, silent areas, noise-cancelling headphones, and limiting employees from wearing strong perfume or cologne. Everyone can suffer from sensory overload, so these implementations can also help to decrease anxiety, distraction, and exhaustion for the workplace as a whole.
• Communications:
  • Many of the misunderstandings that arise between autistic and neurotypical employees boil down to difficulties understanding tone. They may not understand sarcasm or unwritten/unspoken rules that are more implied than openly discussed, and may ask a lot of questions about the intent behind the rules and procedures. This is not an attempt to undermine authority, but a miscommunication issue. Autistic individuals show great strength when it comes to memory, reliability, and observation, and are helped in these strengths by the presence of clear instructions with the intention behind the rules explained.

ADHD

• Work Environment:
  • Employees with ADHD are the ideal people to turn to in the case of an emergency, due to their skill with adaptability and problem solving, but they may struggle more in day-to-day work. They work with higher levels of distraction, so a work environment that prioritizes structure and frequent reminders, as well as frequent breaks, can help to harness their skills to the task at hand.
• Communications:
  • ADHD individuals might have trouble remembering verbal instructions, so written instructions and available procedural checklists are useful safeguards that prevent these issues from causing them extra stress in the workplace.

Dyslexia

• Work Environment:
  • Dyslexic employees have difficulties with reading comprehension and may take extra time to write something clearly. Offering speech-to-text tools for these employees can help them to overcome challenges with reading and writing if it is necessary for their position.
• Communications:
  • Written communications can be hard for dyslexic employees to sort through and comprehend, so utilizing verbal instructions or pictures as an alternative visual checklist can allow the workplace to communicate with greater ease.

OCD

• Work Environment:
  • Employees with OCD tend to be very solution oriented, but struggle when confronted with blame. As we discuss within our TapRooT® Courses, blame in an investigation hinders the process by dissolving the culture of trust necessary for successful results. For those with OCD, removing blame and keeping that culture of trust alive can help to relieve some of the excess fear and stress that an anxiety disorder can carry.
• Communications:
  • Tone can also be a struggle for those with OCD, and they may spend time ruminating on misunderstood communications or perceived guilt. The anxiety caused by this kind of rumination could lead the employee to struggle with distraction or having confidence in their work. Those with OCD best receive criticism when the intention behind it is fully explained and has simple steps that can be taken in order to immediately correct mistakes.

Dyspraxia

• Work Environment:
  • Dyspraxia causes difficulty with fine motor movements, such as those needed to write or type, and can cause decreased spatial awareness. Providing ergonomic keyboards and mice, as well as putting appropriate safeguards in place to keep important controls from being accidentally bumped into, can help make work easier for these employees.
• Communications:
  • Dyspraxia can also impact speech and information processing speed, making it difficult for others to understand what they are trying to express. Patience and text-based communication are simple and helpful solutions, especially when paired with ergonomic keyboards to make typing less of a hurdle.

The key to all of these solutions is a culture of understanding and respect. If an employee knows that their employer respects them, they are more likely to feel safe to bring up problems early on and to offer collaboration when it comes to solutions.

Neurodivergent individuals are used to feeling different, but oftentimes when it comes to the workplace, this can mean management labelling them as lazy, disorganized, or foolish due to circumstances outside of their control. Reconstructing the systems around neurodivergent employees allows them to take back control over their own workplace success.

The goal of TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis is to help organizations to discover where their system allows for failure. When it comes to human factor analysis, neurodivergence is an often overlooked factor, and a workplace that does not make it easy for their neurodivergent employees to follow critical safety procedures is a dangerous one. Implementing employee-centric policies can aid companies in overcoming this danger, and TapRooT® RCA can aid companies in knowing what employee-centric policies they need to implement.

To schedule a free executive briefing and learn more about what TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis could do for you, click here.

Read more TapRooT® Blog articles about neurodivergence here.

Read Barb Carr’s article “Designing Safe and Inclusive Work Systems for Neurodiverse Workplace” here.