Addressing the transportation industry’s human infrastructure

MTI perspective explores the human infrastructure of our nation’s transportation safety systems

In the wake of the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse, the East Palestine train derailment, and numerous other incidents whose root causes may lie in failed human infrastructures, it has become increasingly apparent that along with the need to address physical transportation infrastructure, the industry needs to address the human infrastructure of the nation’s transportation safety systems. The latest Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) perspective, Reinforcing the Human Infrastructure of our Nation’s Transportation System, explores this issue by synthesizing the results of a recent expert panel discussion that underscores the need for greater attention to mindfulness, psychological safety, and emotional well-being in industry workplaces.

In 2022, the U.S. Surgeon General released a new framework for mental health and well-being in the workplace that shows 76% of U.S workers reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition and 84% of respondents said their workplace conditions had contributed to at least one mental health challenge. The perspective digs into the discussion from a panel of leading experts from Harvard and Yale, mindfulness practitioners, and transportation safety professionals convened at the 2023 American Psychological Association’s Work, Stress, and Health conference. the expert panel offers the following for consideration by policymakers and safety leaders:

• Development of peer-to-peer influencing skills that improve social intelligence and conflict management.
• Leadership emotional intelligence training that fosters psychologically safe work environments that ensure employees feel comfortable speaking up.
• Integration of mindfulness practices into day-to-day work practices that supports employee’s awareness, empathy, openness, humility, and resilience to stress.
• Psychologically safe onboarding processes that welcome newcomers into an environment that supports speaking up and interpersonal risk-taking.
• Team building that helps foster agile self-improvement-oriented teams for improved organizational functioning, especially in high-hazard environments.
• Continuous learning and development that weaves psychological safety and emotional intelligence into the fabric of the organization across time.

“Even in the short term, toxic work environments and negative emotional contagion can be devastating to mental health, physical health, job performance, and safety. Over the long term, they can create a culture of such pervasive toxicity that it may affect public safety and the economic viability of our transportation systems,” reports Dr. Karen Philbrick, one of the experts on the panel, as she explained the role of toxic work environments in transportation catastrophes investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The experts’ reflections on these topics make it clear: To attend to this human infrastructure is to attend to the health, well-being, and safety of the thousands of employees spread across our national transportation system and beyond that of the public at large. Neglect of this infrastructure can have a serious negative impact on our nation’s safety, security, and economic viability.