Psychosocial Risks training in FribourgPsychosocial risks in the canton of Fribourg: can employees raise a concern in either language?

In the bilingual canton of Fribourg, the agri-food sector, industry and the university community often work across the Sarine, with switching between French and German forming part of everyday management. For SHR's “Psychosocial Risks” programme, this raises a question worth examining: can employees report a work-related difficulty without being deterred by language or fear of an adverse reaction?

1. What the literature establishes: speaking up requires interpersonal safety

Amy Edmondson (1999, Administrative Science Quarterly) observes an association between team psychological safety and learning behaviours, such as seeking help or discussing mistakes. Psychological safety refers to a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. The study therefore sheds light on the conditions for speaking up, without demonstrating that a bilingual reporting arrangement can, on its own, prevent harm to health.

2. A mechanism: silence can become collective

Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison and Frances Milliken (2000, Academy of Management Review) propose a theoretical model of organisational silence: certain management practices and beliefs can foster the view that speaking up is pointless or risky. Silence may therefore reflect shared expectations about the consequences rather than an individual lack of initiative. In Fribourg, it would be relevant to examine whether being required to switch languages creates an additional obstacle to speaking up; this is a local hypothesis, not a finding of their article.

3. The premature conclusion: translation alone would enable people to speak up

Providing a form in French and German may improve access without making the process safe. An employee may understand every question yet still fear being viewed as unreliable after reporting exhaustion or a persistent difficulty. The distinction matters: linguistic accessibility and the managerial response are separate dimensions to examine. (our executive and employee training programmes)

4. The limitations: reports do not measure health

Neither article is a study of bilingualism in Fribourg or a clinical assessment of psychosocial risks. The first concerns team learning, while the second develops a theoretical framework. An increase in reports may reflect greater trust, deteriorating working conditions or both; a decrease is therefore not sufficient evidence of improvement.

5. A practical check in Fribourg

As a hypothetical example, an agri-food site, a bilingual industrial company or a university service in Fribourg could test the same reporting procedure in French and German for one month, with a named contact and the option of receiving a response in the chosen language. The check would measure the proportion of reports acknowledged in that language and given a documented follow-up by the agreed date: action taken, further examination or a reasoned refusal. A restricted-access register would record these steps without medical details, and the collective review would present only information that does not identify individuals. Within SHR's “Psychosocial Risks” programme, this exercise can support practice in receiving and following up on concerns, without confusing procedural traceability with evidence of improved health. To go further: explore the Psychosocial Risks training in Fribourg in the canton of Fribourg, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.

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