Small Business Employees' Top Workplace Safety Concern: Mental Health
A recent survey reveals a startling insight into the priorities of small business employees: mental health is their primary concern, surpassing physical injury and environmental hazards. This finding comes from Pie Insurance's 2025 Employee Voice on Workplace Safety Report, which surveyed 1,021 U.S. small business employees.
The survey uncovered several eye-opening statistics:
- 32% of employees identified mental health as their top safety concern, compared to 20% for physical injury and 9% for environmental hazards.
- 43% of employees feel pressured to work through fatigue, illness, or unsafe conditions to meet deadlines or quotas.
- 91% of employers believe they can address mental health issues, but only 62% of employees share this confidence.
- Three-quarters of employees believe that some form of mental health support would significantly improve their work and well-being.
To further emphasize the disparity, Pie Insurance compared the employee survey with a survey of small business employers, who were more focused on physical risks. The 2025 State of Small Business Workplace Safety Report surveyed 1,018 small business owners and decision-makers in January 2025.
The findings were striking: 52% of employers reported having mental health protocols in place, but only 30% of employees observed these protocols. Employees expressed a desire for flexible work hours (19%), mental health days (17%), and basic counseling or peer groups (12%).
The impact of workplace stress and safety concerns on personal life is significant. 36% of employees reported that these concerns affected their personal lives, leading to reduced motivation or burnout (63%), increased anxiety or depression (62%), physical symptoms like headaches or fatigue (59%), difficulty sleeping or insomnia (51%), trouble focusing at home (40%), and strain on personal relationships (35%).
When it comes to speaking up about safety concerns, 17% of workers hesitate due to fear of retaliation or negative consequences (35%), not wanting to seem difficult (33%), believing nothing would be done (31%), resolving issues independently (29%), uncertainty about the validity of their concerns (25%), and not wanting to get anyone in trouble (19%).
Another area of disconnect is safety training. 63% of employers claimed to provide structured safety training sessions, but only 29% of employees reported receiving regular, structured training. Furthermore, 28% of workers had never received formal safety training.
In terms of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, 44% of employers reported using AI applications, but only 20% of surveyed employees were aware of their company's AI usage. Employers were more confident in AI's role in safety, with 64% believing AI will enhance worker safety in the next five years, while only 23% of employees agreed.
The report offers four key recommendations to address these issues:
- Close the mental health gap by auditing and aligning mental health protocols with employee experiences, implementing flexible work arrangements, and adding mental health days to policies.
- Integrate safety into project schedules, treating it as an integral part of the timeline rather than an afterthought.
- Ensure reporting safety by establishing anonymous reporting systems and training managers to respond supportively. Share the actions taken based on employee feedback.
- Verify the effectiveness of training by tracking completion rates, identifying those who have missed training, and making the training interactive and relevant to actual job situations.
