Working Alone: The Role of Psychosocial Safety Climate and Working Conditions on Occupational Stress and Injuries Among Lone Workers in the U.S.

Abstract

The rise of lone working, characterized by the absence of direct supervision and coworker support, creates unique risks to workers’ physical and mental wellness by limiting access to social support and immediate assistance in hazardous situations. Lone workers (LWs) are employed across diverse industries and face elevated risks of occupational injury, including transportation incidents, falls, violence, and exposure to hazardous environments. Despite these risks, the psychosocial determinants of health and safety among LWs remain underexplored. This dissertation examines the role of psychosocial safety climate (PSC), defined as the workers’ perceived organizational policies, practices, and procedures that prioritize psychological health, and psychosocial working conditions (WCs) in shaping occupational stress and injury among LWs in the United States, with a focused qualitative exploration of lone janitorial workers in Washington State (WA). Using a mixed-methods approach, this dissertation addresses three aims. First, a cross-sectional analysis of the 2022 General Social Survey Quality of Work Life module compared 332 LWs and 1,436 non-LWs to assess associations between PSC, occupational stress, and injury. LWs reported lower PSC, greater stress variability, and poorer health outcomes. Higher PSC was associated with reduced odds of occupational stress (OR=0.55, 95% CI: 0.48–0.63) and injury (OR=0.78, 95% CI: 0.62–0.99), although interactions between PSC and lone work status were not statistically significant. Second, structural equation modeling among 339 LWs examined direct and indirect pathways linking PSC, WCs, occupational stress, and injury risk. Higher PSC was associated with more favorable WCs (β=0.38) and lower injury risk (β=−0.22). While PSC was not directly associated with occupational stress, WCs mediated the relationship between PSC and stress (β=−0.49), highlighting the importance of downstream WCs as mechanisms through which organizational climate is associated with worker wellness. Third, a constructivist interpretive qualitative study including interviews and focus groups with 23 lone janitorial workers in WA explored worker perceptions of PSC, WCs, and occupational health. Four themes emerged: (1) Productivity Over People, reflecting high demands and organizational indifference; (2) Low Support, High Risk, capturing supervisory mistreatment and barriers to reporting; (3) The Burden of Being Unseen, highlighting how structural factors such as race, language, and economic precarity limit access to safety systems; and (4) What Workers Know, emphasizing workers’ insights and recommendations for improving safety and dignity at work. Findings indicate that low PSC may operate as an active organizational force shaping occupational harm, while also revealing that psychosocial safety systems must be designed to reach workers whose structural position places them outside institutional visibility. Moreover, the results identify actionable intervention targets at both organizational and policy levels, including strengthening psychosocial safety climate through leadership accountability and worker-centered policies, improving supervisory practices and communication in isolated work settings, reducing excessive workload demands, and ensuring equitable access to safety resources for structurally marginalized workers. Findings from this dissertation point to the need for workplace and regulatory strategies that explicitly address the unique risks of lone work, including the development of OSHA-aligned protections such as enforceable safety protocols for isolated workers, accessible reporting systems, and language-appropriate training.