# Workplace Safety Management Practices, Fear, Resources, and Employee Involvement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how workplace safety practices, fear, and resources affected employee engagement during the pandemic.

## Contribution

The study highlights the dual impact of fear and anxiety on safety compliance and employee exhaustion during the pandemic.

## Key findings

- Fear and anxiety promote safety compliance but also lead to employee exhaustion and turnover intentions.
- Strengthening social and psychological resources is necessary to address the dilemma of employee engagement.
- Future research should explore integrating conservation of resource theory and behavioral theory to support employees.

## Abstract

There are important workplace health lessons to be learned from the pandemic.

This study summarizes the relationships between workplace safety practices, fear, resources, and employee engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic through a narrative review on articles published between January 2020 and June 2025 using a primary literature search base.

Organizations have had to implement workplace safety management practices aligned with their occupational safety and health management systems in response to COVID-19. Safety management practices include safety initiatives and training as well as employee involvement. Methods to increase employee involvement include fear and anxiety. However, although fear and anxiety promote safety compliance and safe behavior, they also wear down employees and increase their work distraction and turnover intentions. Therefore, social and psychological resources need to be strengthened to overcome this dilemma. These resources can also help safety management practices today as the pandemic begins to wind down.

Future research should focus on identifying ways to strengthen employees' social and psychological resources without relying on disasters. To this end, an integration of conservation of resource theory and behavioral theory may be useful.

•During the COVID-19 pandemic, fear and anxiety promote safety compliance and safety behaviors, but they also exhaust employees and lead to reduced concentration on work and increased intention to quit.•To overcome this dilemma, it is necessary to strengthen social and psychological resources.•Future research should focus on finding ways to strengthen employees' social and psychological resources, and the integration of conservation of resource theory and behavioral theory may be useful.•This narrative review summarizes the relationship between workplace safety practices, fear, resources, and employee involvement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, fear and anxiety promote safety compliance and safety behaviors, but they also exhaust employees and lead to reduced concentration on work and increased intention to quit.

To overcome this dilemma, it is necessary to strengthen social and psychological resources.

Future research should focus on finding ways to strengthen employees' social and psychological resources, and the integration of conservation of resource theory and behavioral theory may be useful.

This narrative review summarizes the relationship between workplace safety practices, fear, resources, and employee involvement during the COVID-19 pandemic.