Email: belinda@belindacoghlan.com.au | Phone: 0414 642 921
Perth-based Psychological Safety System Diagnostic
WHAT
is a Psychological Safety System Diagnostic?
A Psychological Safety System Diagnostic is a structured, evidence-based assessment of how psychologically safe your workplace actually is — not how engaged people say they feel, but whether your systems, leaders and culture genuinely support people to speak up without fear of consequences.
It's not a general staff survey, and it's not a values workshop. The Diagnostic (Dx) Survey scores your organisation across nine statements spanning three core areas — human impacts, critical risk, and accountability — producing a Workplace Maturity Score that tells you exactly where you sit, from early maturity through to a genuinely mature, psychologically safe workplace.
As the founder of the Psychological Safety System Blueprint™, I run this as a structured diagnostic, not an informal gut-check — because knowing where you actually stand is the only reliable starting point for building genuine psychological safety, rather than another culture initiative that fades by Monday.
WHO
needs a Psychological Safety System Diagnostic?
Almost every organisation reaches a point where good intentions on culture and wellbeing stop translating into real results.
Why? Because the organisations I work with are usually facing one or more of the same warning signs.
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Significant investment in wellbeing, culture or psychosocial programs with little measurable shift in outcomes
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High job demand, bullying, harassment or low job control showing up as fatigue, stress or burnout
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Leaders who can't clearly describe how poor psychological safety is affecting the organisation's people, finances or reputation
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No current baseline or evidence base to know whether things are getting better or worse
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A Board or Executive wanting a defensible, structured measure before committing to a culture or psychological safety program
Whatever's brought you here, if you don't yet have a clear, evidence-based picture of your organisation's psychological safety maturity, I'm here when you need me.
HOW
does the Diagnostic work?
I run the Diagnostic against the Psychological Safety System Blueprint™ — three core areas, each scored through structured statements that build to a total Workplace Maturity Score:
The framework incorporates:
❶ Apply Human Impacts — how well your organisation understands the neuroscience, conditions and impacts of psychological safety, and whether leaders can describe the cost of getting it wrong
❷ Protect Critical Risks — whether you use evidence-based data to identify, monitor and mitigate risk from a fear of speaking up, and whether preventable costs and improvement targets are actually tracked
❸ Engineer Accountability — whether leadership and staff capacity is being built, whether psychological safety is integrated into policy, and whether it's linked to real performance accountability
Each of the nine statements is scored 0, 1 or 2. Your total score places you on the Workplace Maturity Scale: Score 13–18 is an Early Maturity Workplace, Score 6–12 is a Moderately Mature Workplace, and Score 0–5 is a Mature Workplace.
WHERE
to apply the Diagnostic?
Wherever you're investing in culture or wellbeing without a clear way to measure whether it's actually working, that's where the Diagnostic earns its place — you can't confidently say psychological safety has improved if you never measured where it started.
A completed Diagnostic gives you: a documented Workplace Maturity Score you can benchmark and track over time; a clear view of which of the three areas — human impacts, critical risk or accountability — needs attention first; a defensible evidence base for prioritising investment, not guesswork; and a foundation the Executive can use to report progress with confidence.
This Diagnostic Survey connects naturally to my other work. Where it surfaces legislative exposure, it feeds into my WHS Psychosocial Risk Audit. Where it points to a wider culture problem, it connects to Culture Change Consulting and Psychological Safety Consulting. Where individual leaders need support building the capability the Diagnostic identifies as missing, Human Skills Training and Executive and Organisational Coaching build that capability.
WHY
choose me?
I'm the founder of the Psychological Safety System Blueprint™, a certified assessor for the Barrett Values Centre Culture Values Assessment (CVA) and the Academy of Brain-Based Leadership Psychological S.A.F.E.T.Y.™ Model. The Diagnostic is grounded in neuroscience and evidence-based practice, not a generic engagement pulse-check - because a genuine measure of psychological safety needs to look past how people say they feel, toward whether the system supports them to speak up.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between the Diagnostic and a staff engagement survey?
An engagement survey measures how people feel about their job. The Diagnostic measures whether your organisation's systems, leadership behaviour and accountability structures actually support psychological safety - a team can report high engagement and still score poorly here.
Who should complete the Diagnostic Survey?
It works best completed by leaders with visibility across the organisation — People and Culture, WHS and senior leadership - though it can also be run as a structured conversation with a broader leadership group to surface differing views.
What do we receive at the end?
A Workplace Maturity Score, a breakdown across the three Blueprint areas, and a free 1:1 session to discuss your results, current situation and next steps.
Is this only useful if we already know we have a problem?
No - the Diagnostic Survey is equally valuable for organisations that believe things are going well and want a genuine, evidence-based check, not just confirmation of what they already assume.
How does this connect to a WHS psychosocial risk audit?
The Diagnostic Survey gives you an organisation-wide maturity score across the full Blueprint. The WHS audit is the deeper, legislatively grounded process for formally identifying, rating and controlling specific psychosocial hazards. Many clients start with the Diagnostic, then move to a full audit where it's warranted.