Unsafe Work Practices Research Articles

Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue: Experiences of Rehabilitation Healthcare Workers in Rural and Remote Locations in Australia

Purpose. This study sought to gain an understanding of rural and remote rehabilitation healthcare workers’ perceptions and experiences of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Method. Sixteen rehabilitation workers from four national providers of rehabilitation services to rural and remote communities participated in semistructured interviews conducted by telephone over a four-month period in 2018-2019. Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework guided the thematic analysis. Findings. Quality of work life, organisational and workplace culture, and organisational management practices, particularly key performance indicators (KPIs), were reported as impacting compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Sources of compassion satisfaction were also common to the development of compassion fatigue, suggesting that it is unlikely for compassion satisfaction to be experienced without risk of compassion fatigue. Conclusion. Although there are similarities in experiences of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue with other remote healthcare workers, for rehabilitation workers, KPIs were a unique concern, mainly due to their uniformity regardless of geographic location. Participants’ concerns about meeting KPIs increased their work-related pressures, normalised unsafe work practices, and were a cause of recruitment and retention concerns. These perceived influences suggest that rehabilitation workers have a lower likelihood of developing and maintaining compassion satisfaction and a heightened risk of developing compassion fatigue than other rural or remote healthcare workers.

Analisis Resiko Terkait Kecelakaan Kerja di Tambang Batubara dan Faktor Risiko Terkait

Mining operations need to recognize potential hazards, evaluate the risks involved, and continuously control risk to a manageable level. In addition to statistical data, other factors contributing to the rise in industrial accidents in businesses include the effective tunnel temperature, which is between 27 and 29 °C, hazardous mine gases, employee neglect of personal protective equipment, and a lack of hazard awareness in some workplaces. Based on these issues, the study's objectives are to illustrate how corporate OSH is used, provide data on work accidents and potential risk factors in the workplace, and make recommendations for a number of work practice guidelines. The world's most hazardous occupation is mining. the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources' statistical data. In mining, accidents frequently happen. Hazardous field conditions, unsafe work practices, and a disregard for safety are the root causes of dangerous working circumstances. As a result, fatal work accidents frequently happen. In order for businesses and employees to reduce the risk of work accidents, this research's goal is to identify the factors that lead to accidents at work in the coal mining industry. Data sources for this study were gathered from "Google Scholar" using the keywords "The year of publication is limited to 2018–2022." This study used the systematic literature review (SLR) technique. Risk variables are the most crucial elements employed in preventing work accidents, according to a study of the literature on how age, job experience, the workplace, and body parts affect employee work accidents., and the role of the company in influencing the occurrence of accidents. work accident.

Examining the health and wellbeing of women sanitation workers in Ghana and Kenya

About 3.6 billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed sanitation service. To bridge service gaps, informal sanitation businesses have emerged as alternative service providers to meet the sanitation needs of unserved populations. Informal sanitation workers include persons who empty septic tanks, clean toilets, sewers, and manage public toilets. They provide a fundamental public service particularly in areas where access to municipal sanitation service is limited. Through qualitative methodologies, this paper explores the lived experiences and associated health risks of women working in the informal sanitation sector in urban Ghana and Kenya. Our findings show that female informal sanitation workers were exposed to injuries and infections, stigma and discrimination, emotional and psychological distress, sexual harassment, and unhealthy coping strategies. Distinctively, younger female participants were more likely to experience sexual harassment. Because of social stigma, many of the women developed unsafe work practices such as refusal to wear PPE and working at night. By paying close attention to the embodied effects of informal sanitation work, we can better comprehend the daily politics, lived experiences, and urban social infrastructure regimes that have a significant impact on the quality of life of informal sanitation workers. The results are also crucial for developing programs for women's empowerment and labour and social protection policies, especially in lowincome settings where gender norms interact with income disparities and other sociopolitical issues to affect women's participation in the labor market.

A Study of the Relationship between Safety Perceptions and Mindfulness

It is well known that the construction industry has a high rate of workplace accidents, resulting in complex legal situations and legal cases. Researchers are debating whether the majority of workplace accidents and injuries are the result of employees' unsafe work practices or unsafe working conditions. In this context, it has been determined that we must comprehend the trait predictors of safety behaviors, which influence workplace accidents and injuries. This study's primary objective is to identify the factors that influence safety behavior in construction workplaces. In previous studies, the effects of employee perceptions of safety culture on safety behavior performance were typically measured with the aid of various mediators. This study, unlike previous ones, focuses on revealing the mediating effect of employee mindfulness perceptions in the relationship between safety culture and safety behavior. Using a sample of 387 employees from the Turkish construction industry, a 58-item survey was conducted to determine the impact of safety culture perception and mindfulness on self-reported safety behavior. A structural equation model was used to analyze and explain the relationships between the proposed framework's constructs. The results of the study indicate that safety culture is associated with safety behavior, and that mindfulness mediates this relationship. There are significant relationships between employees' perceptions of safety culture, mindfulness, and safety behavior, according to the findings. Safety culture and mindfulness are significant predictors of safety behaviors, and mindfulness is an essential personal resource for a successful safety-focused organization.

TAR-Based Domino Effect Model for Maritime Accidents

To thoroughly figure out the distribution and formation mechanism of maritime accidents, this study proposes a domino effect model based on temporal association rules (TAR) to analyze and mine the secrets behind the accident—the formation mechanism of accident chains. In this study, the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) accident reports are gathered and examined. Of which, Ro-Ro ships, general cargo ships, and container ships are the top three ship types discussed. The domino effect model is applied to the detected accidents, yielding a series of results. These show that the resulting values from unsafe working practices to death while working are very high and are 8.622 (Ro-Ro ship), 5.920 (General cargo ship) and 6.441 (Container ship), respectively. It indicates that unsafe working practices are very prone to accidents involving death while working. The approach is ubiquitous, and the accident chains compiled from them may be widely employed in marine accident prevention and proactive safety management.

Occupational Health and Safety Challenges among small- scale miners in Ghana

Mining is a key bedrock of Ghana’s economy, second only to agriculture. Artisanal and small-scale mining has expanded and become increasingly influential. Unfortunately, small-scale miners encounter a lot of occupational health and safety (OHS) challenges in their mining operations, in part due to the mode of mining. However, very few research studies touch on the OHS challenges small scale miners face in their day-to-day operations. The object of the present study was, therefore, to quantify and examine the OHS challenges among small scale miners in Ghana using Pameng gold mining site as a case study. The study assumed a quantitative research approach. Purposive sampling was used to select 100 small-scale miners. The results of the study revealed that small scale miners considered mining accidents and injuries as the most important OHS challenge, followed by occupational hazards and environmental pollution, with unsafe work practices and behaviour being viewed as the least important as it registered the lowest mean Likert score. It is recommended that the small-scale mining industry with help from government should execute OHS awareness initiatives.

Trade union rights in Peru

Trade union rights in Peru Gianina Echevarría (bio) Peru is one of the countries in South America where it has been more difficult to exercise trade union rights in recent decades. The major labour reform implemented in the early 1990s by the government of Alberto Fujimori, which was considered the most “flexible” reform in the region, has had very severe effects on the organisation of workers and the defence of their rights. Although there have been some improvements in the regulatory framework in several subsequent periods, the tendency towards reducing the exercise of trade union rights has not been reversed. For more than 10 years, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) and the Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) have been formulating observations and recommendations related to aspects of Peruvian legislation that do not meet the universal minimum standards recognised by ILO conventions. Until ten years ago we had 105 complaints filed with the CLS, which made Peru the first country in the Andean region and the second worldwide with the most complaints during the period 1990-2012. The problematic features that remain in labour laws, and that directly or indirectly limit the exercise of trade union rights are: ■ The existence of many temporary hiring options that produce instability in employment and that make union organisation difficult; ■ The absence of effective protection measures against employer hostility towards unionised workers and their leaders; ■ Serious limitations to the exercise of collective bargaining, especially to implement bargaining at the sector level; ■ Many restrictions on exercising the right to strike. Likewise, the existing legal framework reinforces the model of unionisation at the company level, which is inadequate for building union power in a country in which more than 80 percent of workplaces are micro or small businesses, in which it is impossible to form unions because they do not employ the legal minimum of workers required by law to form a union. Even in the cases of companies with between 20 and 100 workers, the unions tend to be very weak, and it is a very difficult task to defend them from corporate hostilities. The fact that the government does not have a policy to favour unionisation, and that the labour inspectorate is inefficient in detecting and remedying anti-union acts committed by private and public sector companies adds further difficulties for union organising. For example, in 2020, only 2.2 percent of labour inspections dealt with matters related to trade union rights, and there are no statistics on the results of these inspections; that is to say that it is unknown whether the companies were penalised. It is important to point out that in the case of a union leader who has been dismissed without justification the labour inspectorate can do no more than make a finding; it cannot order reinstatement, nor does the inspectorate have competence to inspect public sector entities. In the judicial system, the processes in which cases related to trade union rights are litigated are very slow and with results that often affect the rights of workers. The processes are rarely resolved within three years. On the other hand, and no less important, there is a tendency for labour judges to interpret labour rights restrictively. The contested issues include trade union immunity, the unilateral extension by employers of the benefits of collective bargaining with the aim of weakening the union, or the sanctions that can be applied to workers when a strike is declared unlawful. These questions have not had an adequate result from the judiciary. In all these cases, judicial reasoning underestimates trade union rights and departs from the general principles of the right to freedom of association. To further aggravate the situation, the health emergency caused by Covid 19 had direct effects on production and employment, and also on the exercise of trade union rights. Three main effects of the health emergency can be identified, as well as the labour measures that were implemented by the government to deal with it. In the first place, the loss of life among workers (both union members and non-members) and of trade union representatives, as a result of unsafe work practices...

Work ability of Thai older Workers in Southern Thailand: a comparison of formal and informal sectors

BackgroundThai society is becoming an ageing society. Independent older persons need to be able to continue to work after retirement. The Work Ability Index (WAI) is an assessment tool for improving the health and work environment of the older workers. The objective of this study is to explore work ability and its related factors among older workers in formal and informal sectors in southern Thailand.MethodsThis cross-sectional study with multistage sampling focused on 324 Thai older workers, aged between 45 and 70 years, working in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Data on sociodemographic status, health history, and work-related factor questionnaires were collected, including anthropometric measures and the WAI instrument between March and September 2019. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations.ResultsThe participants were predominantly general labourers (23.8%) and female (70.7%). Nearly half of them had noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs) (48.2%) and were obese (more than 60%). Approximately 60% (59.9%) engaged in safe working practices. The participants sometimes received occupational health services (51.9%) and frequently accessed health promotion services (78.1%). There was a significant difference in the total average WAI score of the formal and informal workers: 40.6 (S.D. = 4.6) and 37.5 (S.D. = 5.0), respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that workers aged 55 years and older (adj. OR = 1.45; 95% CI [1.21, 1.74]), those with NCDs (adj. OR = 2.85; 95% CI [1.69, 4.80]), and those who were exposed to unsafe working practices (adj. OR = 2.11; 95% CI [1.26, 3.55]) had a higher risk of a poor to moderate WAI.ConclusionsMost of the older workers had good to excellent work ability. Older age and the presence of NCDs were negatively associated with good to excellent work ability. Safe working practices improved older workers’ work ability. Integrated occupational health protections and health promotion programmes for older informal workers should be provided by community health services to improve work ability.

Application of digital technologies for prevention of accidents in construction of high-rise building projects: A review

Over several decades, the building sector has been regarded as a high-risk sector with a low degree of creativity and a reluctance to adopt change. Likely reasons for building incidents include human misconduct, unsafe work practices, faulty machinery and dangerous working conditions. Furthermore, to have a better and safer operating climate, the company can take advantage of new health and safety technology. This paper seeks to investigate the use of various emerging innovations and how they can be used to improve health and safety in the construction of Highrise building projects. Detailed analysis of literature from previous researchers on new technologies and interventions for construction job site safety such as Virtual Reality (VR), online databases, Building Information Modelling (BIM), RFID, 3D Computer-Aided Design (3D CAD), 4D Computer-Aided Design (4D CAD), wearable robotics, and sensor-based technologies was carried out. It was evidenced from the analysis that not only the utilisation of these new technologies can contribute in improving health and safety in high rise building projects, but also the viability of their implementation in the building industry.

Reproductive Injustice at the Southern Border and Beyond: An Analysis of Current Events and Hope for the Future.

Reproductive Injustice at the Southern Border and Beyond: An Analysis of Current Events and Hope for the Future.

A Cross-Sectional Survey on Occupational Blood and Body Fluid Exposure Risk in a Tertiary Hospital in East Malaysia.

Background and AimHealthcare workers (HCWs) routinely experience occupational blood and body fluid exposure (OBBE), including percutaneous injury and splash exposure to non-intact skin. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of OBBE and identify associated risk factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed on 334 HCWs at 9 workstations. Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire that consisted of four parts: sociodemographic variables, work-related information, knowledge about needle stick and sharps injury and splash exposure, and information regarding previous OBBE incidents. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 22.0 software.FindingsThe prevalence of OBBE was 25.1% (95% confidence interval: 20.6–30.2), mostly due to percutaneous injuries, which were not reported to authorities. The highest proportions were among nurses and those working in the medical ward. Needle recapping practices were associated with almost a four-times higher risk of OBBE compared to no-recapping practices. HCWs who did not have any infection prevention training had a three-times higher risk of OBBE.ConclusionFactors associated with OBBE are unsafe work practices, inadequate infection prevention training, and lack of knowledge regarding blood-borne infection. There is a need for more training and increased awareness about the risks of OBBE to reduce unsafe practices.

Needlestick and sharps injuries in an Indonesian tertiary teaching hospital from 2014 to 2017: a cohort study

ObjectiveNeedlestick and sharps injuries among healthcare workers (HCWs) pose significant occupational health problems. We aim to provide incidence and other epidemiological aspects of needlestick and sharp injuries (NSSIs) among HCWs...

Using grounded theory and mental modeling to understand influences on electricians’ safety decisions: Toward an integrated theory of why electricians work energized

Why people engage in unsafe work practices, especially when advised not to, is an important question about human and organizational behavior. We seek insights into such behavior by examining questions about electricians’ safety decisions, with focus on why electricians work “energized” (or “live” meaning with electrical energy on) even when safety standards call for de-energizing. Using a grounded theory approach augmented by a mental models methodology, we develop from literature and 19 experts an ‘expert model’ of influences on electric worker safety decisions. From 60 in-depth electrician interviews we develop an integrated theory, summarized in a decision tree, describing key influences, decisions and events leading to energized work. Findings show electricians’ work is cognitively demanding. Working energized is not a simple yes/no choice, but instead is a decision influenced by many task, worksite, individual, organizational, and external factors. Working energized may better be thought of as an outcome arrived at via several pathways, including paths that lead to unknowingly working energized. Each path to knowingly or unknowingly working energized suggests different interventions to reduce risk. Additional key findings include that some electricians omit hazard assessments, perceive that past work by people not trained in electric work increases risk to electricians, and sometimes must negotiate to achieve prioritizing safe work practices over time or production pressures.

System Safety in Healthcare

Unsafe work practices can happen in many ways. The following lengthy list includes examples of potential causes:
 
 Excessive work for clinicians
 Too many unnecessary reports and requirements
 Over-dependence on technology
 Conflict between the need for professional autonomy and establishing the dynamically changing best processes
 Care delivery “silos” resulting from lack of interdepartmental teamwork
 Constant distractions and interruptions
 Too many policies and procedures, leading to a tendency to follow marginally effective methods
 Over-reliance on electronic medical tracking taking precedence over bedside discussions with patients
 Inattention to detail
 Lack of motivation to get, or resources for, a second opinion
 Quick diagnosis based on past observations
 Inadequate attention to medical equipment dangers
 Insufficient effort in infection prevention
 People pretending the negative would not happen to them
 Hospitals looking for quick profit
 Questionable alternate boards certifying physicians who may not be qualified
 A lack of passion for work
 Unfavorable workflows, such as labs located far from the emergency department
 A lack of clarity of what is required to assure patient safety
 Too much team consensus instead of challenging the quality of intervention

Percepción del riesgo mediante sus atributos psicosociales en trabajadores de la industria metalmecánica en la ciudad de Bogotá, D.C (Colombia).

Introducción. La percepción del riesgo en el ámbito laboral se convierte en un elemento crucial para entender las prácticas de trabajo inseguras de los trabajadores, teniendo en cuenta no solo las variables cognitivas sino también las psicosociales. Objetivo. Describir la percepción del riesgo mediante sus atributos psicosociales en trabajadores de la industria metalmecánica en la ciudad de Bogotá. Materiales y métodos. Estudio descriptivo transversal realizado en la ciudad de Bogotá, D.C, a través de una encuesta aplicada a los participantes del estudio.
 Resultados. La aplicación de la Guía NTP 578 a los trabajadores del sector metalmecánico permitió la realización del perfil comparativo de la magnitud del riesgo percibido y sus atributos para cada una de las actividades que se evaluaron. Conclusiones. Los trabajadores del sector metalmecánico, se sienten más vulnerables a las consecuencias que pueden generarles el uso de herramientas cortantes, la exposición al ruido y la exposición a gases y vapores, y le temen a lagravedad del daño que se puede derivar estos riesgos a los cuales están sometidos en su diario vivir en su entorno laboral.

ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS OF GLUTARALDEHYDE AND ITS RELATION TO WORKPLACE SAFETY MEASURES AND WORK PRACTICES OF HEALTH CARE WORKERS

AbstractIntroduction: Glutaraldehyde (GA) is a broad-spectrum biocidal agent for high level disinfection of heat sensitive equipments. It is widely used in hospitals especially in endoscopy units. Aim of work: This study aimed to identify adverse health effects of GA and to determine the impact of workplace safety measures and work practices on occurrence and severity of such health effects among health care workers (HCWs) at Ain Shams University hospitals. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted including 160 HCWs from different departments of Ain Shams University hospitals divided into two groups according to exposure to GA, exposed group (No=80) and unexposed group (No =80). Both groups were interviewed using a structured questionnaire in addition to clinical examination and spirometry. An observational checklist was used to evaluate workplace safety measures where GA solution has been used and work practices of the exposed HCWs. Results: Exposed HCWs had a significantly higher frequency of nasal, lower respiratory tract, ocular, skin, headache and other symptoms than unexposed group. They also showed impairment of Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) which was significantly correlated to the years spent in the current occupation and the daily work hours. Regarding workplace safety measures in areas where GA was used, the availability of effective general ventilation systemwith Air Change per Hour (ACH) > 15, automatic washer and specific area for GAdisinfection had a significant effect in reduction of some adverse health effects. Unsafe work practices were associated with some adverse health effects of GA. Conclusion: Exposure to GA may lead to many adverse health effects and applying workplace safety measures together with adopting safe work practices can reduce such risks.

Tractor safety and related injuries in Iranian farms

BackgroundSeveral thousand worker injuries and fatalities worldwide per year is the consequence of agricultural activities especially working with farm tractors. The aim of this study was to determine current levels of farm tractors drivers' safety attitudes in Iranian agriculture besides type and severity of tractor-related injuries. MethodSocio-demographic properties of a sample of 281 tractor drivers and their injuries were investigated using face to face interview. The severity of injuries were also determined. The drivers' attitudes toward safety issues were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis. ResultsThe results revealed that drivers aged 30–45 years had higher rates of injuries. Most of injuries were moderate (41%) occurring due mainly to oily surfaces on the tractor or implements, carelessness or fatigue during the work. The low-income group had also higher injuries since the drivers in this group work with no regular work-rest schedule and they usually work with old tractors equipped with unsafe facilities. Those that do comply with safety measures are likely to have fewer exposures to unsafe work practices and consequence injuries. Further education of tractors drivers in various aspects of farm safety besides enforced regulations to adjust safety issues are the possible approaches to prevent tractor-related injuries.

Safety and Multi-employer Worksites in High-risk Industries: An Overview

This paper focuses on safety on multi-employer worksites in high-risk industries. Relevant industries are those that utilize flexible labour arrangements and specialization, such as construction, mining and petroleum production, and that traditionally have been high-risk due to hazards in the physical work environment and the occurrence of unsafe work processes and practices. These industries also share common characteristics in matters of overall work environments, multi-employer worksites (including subcontracting chains), as well as tasks performed by contractors, making it relevant to explore and clarify the situation regarding the safety of the affected groups. A comprehensive review is performed of 43 peer-reviewed research articles published up until early 2015, with a main focus on international studies covering safety issues on multi-employer worksites in construction and industrial work settings such as mining, petroleum production and manufacturing. The results show that previous research has focused on a number of key issues that may be divided into three broad categories: 1- contract work characteristics; 2- structural/organizational factors and conditions; 3- cultural conditions. Much of the focus is on structure and organization, for example, how multi-employer arrangements can lead to breakdowns in communication and overall disorganization effects in relation to safety. There is, however, a need for further studies on the nature of these structural and organizational factors and conditions, such as focused studies on the consequences of power asymmetry for the ability of contractors to adhere to safety laws and regulations. Furthermore, we argue that the development towards blurred organizational boundaries in these networks due to extensive outsourcing and long-term contracts may be a worthwhile avenue for future research into safety on multi-employer worksites.

Dispositional Optimism, Affective States and Judgements of Future Life Events

People are not objective in their judgements about the future, but rather they have the tendency to expect that their future will be better than that of other people (Taylor & Brown, 1988; Weinstein, 1980). This bias towards positive outcomes appears for various positive and negative events (see Shepperd, Klein, Waters, & Weinstein, 2013 for a review). These distortions in judgements are related to favourable attitudes and health outcomes (see Armor & Taylor, 1998 for review) and influence the manner in which people process the information and engage in unhealthy and risky behavior (Radcliffe & Klein, 2002; Rafaely, Mantsur, BarDavid, & Meyer, 2011). However, previous literature concerning the role of personality traits, such as dispositional optimism, on the judgements of future events and factors that could explain these relationships, is very limited (see Gherasim, Mairean, & Rusu, 2016 for an exception). Moreover, to our knowledge, there is no evidence regarding the links between personality characteristics and judgements of future events on adolescent samples.Adolescence is a critical stage in terms of selecting healthy or unhealthy lifestyle behavior that will continue into adulthood (Martinelli, 1999). Adolescents have the tendency to underestimate the probability of occurrence of different negative events (e.g., automobile accidents, school aggression, divorce, and healthrelated problems; e.g., Arnett, 2000; Chapin & Coleman, 2012). Understanding the factors related to judgements of future evens represents an important step in making adolescents recognize their personal risk and take self-protective measures (Harris, 2007; Sparks, Harris, & Raats, 2003; Weinstein & Klein, 1996). In order to advance the literature, the first goal of this study was to explore the relationship between dispositional optimism and judgements about the likelihood of experiencing positive and negative life events on a sample of adolescents. Furthermore, the second goal was to investigate whether the relationship between adolescents' dispositional optimism and their judgements of events may be explained by affective states.Dispositional OptimismDispositional optimism is defined as generalized expectations of positive outcomes that determine the differences in how people cope with adversity and how they feel when they are faced with problems (Carver, Scheier, & Segerstrom, 2010). A high level of dispositional optimism has been associated with better mental and physical health, as well as with more protective practices, and resilience to stressful life events on samples of adults (see Carver et al., 2010; Rasmussen, Scheier, & Greenhouse, 2010 for reviews). Previous studies also showed that dispositional optimism is related to various indices of the adolescents' positive adjustment, such as healthcare attitudes, physical and psychological quality of life, or motivation to pursue their goals (e.g., Jones, DeMore, Cohen, O'Connell, & Jones, 2008; Mannix, Feldman, & Moody, 2009; Huan, Yeo, Ang, & Chong, 2006). Recent research suggests that optimism is a modifiable variable that can be developed in adolescents through certain psychological interventions, becoming a stable personality trait throughout adulthood (Mannix et al., 2009; Tusaie & Patterson, 2006).There is little empirical evidence about the relationship between dispositional optimism and judgements of future events, and most existent studies explored the role of optimism on judgements of future negative events (Harris & Hans, 2011). Studies conducted on adult samples showed that the optimists display more positive life evaluations than pessimists and were less likely to expect negative events in the future, such as unsafe work practices, overweight or dental health problems (e.g., Fowler & Geers, 2015; Gherasim et al., 2016; OginskaBulik & Juczynski, 2001). Other studies found no association between dispositional optimism and judgements of negative events, such as perceiving the risk of heart attack, obesity or severe acute respiratory syndrome on samples of adults (e. …

How nurses who are sensation seekers justify their unsafe behaviors

Sensation seeking, risk-taking propensity and openness to experience are known predictors of unsafe behaviors. The aim of this study is to determine if individuals with these characteristics justify their unsafe behaviors by attributing them to external factors such as a lack of organizational support. We explore the interaction between sensation seeking and risk-taking propensity, explain how nurses justify their unsafe work practices, and investigate the effect of openness on directing sensation seekers' behavior. In this cross-sectional study, 108 nurses completed questionnaires and an objective task measuring risk-taking propensity. Conditional direct effect analysis showed that nurses with sensation-seeking characteristics and high level of risk-taking propensity were likely to perceive external factors as accounting for their unsafe behaviors. Furthermore, sensation seeking re-expressed as openness to experience predicted increased blame externalization. Additionally, nurses with high risk-taking propensity, leading to a focus on rewards and learning experiences, attributed unsafe work practices to external factors.