Risks that are “worthy” to take: temporary workers’ risk-benefit and willingness perceptions

Abstract

ABSTRACT Differences in temporary and permanent workers’ risk-benefit appraisals need to be investigated due to its potential relationship with incurred risk and occupational risk-taking behaviours. A total of 158 temporary and 158 permanent workers were recruited and exposed to information on eleven different hazardous job contexts, the description of the required tasks, inherent occupational hazards, and suggested salaries. They were asked to report their perceptions on how hazardous the jobs are, their satisfaction with the accompanying salary, and their willingness to take the job for eleven different job contexts. Temporary workers reported lower job security, lower perceived control, and were more satisfied by salaries than their permanent counterparts; however, there was no difference in perceptions of hazard associated with the jobs. Temporary workers also reported greater willingness to take job opportunities. Temporary workers experience a unique array of stressors and may agree to hazardous work opportunities, not due to a lack of acknowledged safety and health risks, but rather a greater satisfaction from salaries. These findings need to be considered in the safety management of temporary workers, as organizations can improve safety and facilitate self-regulatory engagement in safer and healthier behaviours for both permanent and temporary employees with this appraisal system in mind.