Risk Perception, Safety Behaviour, Employment Precarity and Community Attachment: The Case of Newfoundland and Labrador Fibreglass Boatbuilding Workers

Abstract

AbstractFibreglass boat-building and repair plays an important economic and cultural role in Newfoundland and Labrador, and in many cases is one of the few viable businesses in economically depressed rural areas. However, the process of constructing and repairing fibreglass vessels requires the use of styrene, a known neurotoxin, excessive exposure to which can have negative impacts on physical and mental health. Based on the concerns of provincial health and safety regulators who have suggested that workers are not using their personal protective equipment, citing a lack of perceived health risk concerning styrene exposure, the purpose of this study was to assess the attitudinal, cognitive, organisational and economic factors that may have an impact on perceptions of risk and safety behaviours. Given that this industry has never been the subject of previous occupational safety and health inquiry into employee attitudes and behaviour, the research objectives were quite fundamental. Accordingly, an explora...