Mindfulness contributes to a host of positive outcomes for employees, and current research shows it also likely affects safety outcomes. ¹ Mindfulness is becoming a popular technique to reduce stress in everyday life. ² Mindfulness training helps people realize the benefits of being attentive and enjoying the present moment. Numerous courses and websites have emerged to instruct people how to perform mindfulness techniques. Many companies have incorporated mindfulness training as part of employee wellness programs as a preventive measure to sustain high levels of employee well-being and productivity. ³

To provide a comprehensive foundation of the association between mindfulness and safety, we conducted a systematic review of studies that assess the relation between mindfulness/trait situation awareness and safety at work. This review resulted in 34 relevant studies: 17 test the relationship between trait mindfulness and safety; 17 test the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention in improving workplace safety. The conclusions from this review are summarized below.

Mindfulness is Related to Increased Workplace Safety

Despite variation in mindfulness training and occupation type, almost all studies from the quantitative and qualitative review found a positive effect of participation in a mindfulness activity technique on promoting workplace safety. In general, applications of mindfulness-based activities in the working population lead people to perform more safety behaviors and are involved in fewer attentional lapses and concrete safety events, including injuries and accidents.

Benefits of Low Mindfulness Training Dosage

Training dosage (i.e., the quantity and length of mindfulness training sessions) ranges from three, 45-minute sessions across 8 days to a day-long workshop followed by five daily intensive group training sessions and 30-minute daily individual sessions over 8 weeks. However, regardless of training dosage, almost all studies observed a positive effect of mindfulness-based interventions on workplace safety. Thus, from a practical standpoint, researchers and practitioners alike may benefit from mindfulness techniques that are less time-intensive.

Modified Training for Different Occupations

In our review, the specific mindfulness training used was partially dependent on the study’s population as well as on the criteria variables used to assess safety, suggesting that different types of mindfulness training may have been modified according to the participants and safety-related outcomes of interest. The Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program is often applied to healthcare professionals to investigate its influence on patient safety or its impact on healthcare worker compliance with safety rules and participation in safety promoting activities. The Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training and Mindfulness-Based Attention Training are two mindfulness-based cognitive training interventions that have been tested exclusively among military groups to enhance their ability to cope with situations that involve high cognitive demand situations. Many studies using in targeting similar populations emphasized tailoring the mindfulness techniques to a particular population with the changes in the terminology and exercise components.