PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN SAFETY/MOTIVATION Psychological Factors in Safety/Motivation Rameika Clay Safety 600 Occupational Safety and Health Management February 6, 2022 Dr. Eltz PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN SAFETY/MOTIVATION Psychological factors in safety/motivation: Annotated Bibliography Psychological factors in safety stem from the feeling of motivation, feeling appreciated, and being informed. There are many other psychological factors to be considered when understanding why people act the way they do. Motivation is a learned behavior. Ensuring work environments are psychologically safe enhances worker motivation. Human factor of feeling safe decreases work stress, workplace violence, injury, and illness. Promoting a safe environment not only for engineering purposes but for the mental health of employees increases productivity and limits safety risk and incidents. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act was enacted to “assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women,” (DOL, n.d.). Employers are to ensure work environment is free of hazards per the OSH Act. Environmental factors are heat, excessive noise, poor air quality etc. A business cannot function hazard free alone. Humans are needed and therefore mental stability is pivotal within any organization. The psychological safety of human motivation, worker engagement and worker appreciation are human factors that cannot be overlooked. Farag, A., Lose, D., & Gedney-Lose, A. (2018). Western Journal of Nursing Research, 41(7), 954–972. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945918815462 Farag (2018) studied the motivation factors of how likely nurses would report a medication error. In the medical field it is important to seek out risk and be sure to report any safety events that occur. Those most likely to prevent patients harm are nurses and other clinical personnel because they are the hands-on personnel. Medical leadership must emphasize safety as priority. Leadership engagement gives motivation by informing nurses that its ok to report safety mishaps. Medication errors is one of the most common safety events in medical treatment PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN SAFETY/MOTIVATION facilities. Safety motivation is worker participation, engaging in culture safety, reporting mishaps without fear. Ford, M. T., & Tetrick, L. E. (2008). Safety motivation and Human Resource Management in North America. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190802200231 Ford (2020) studied how motivational human factors play a role in most safety events. The motivation of a worker can determine if a tasks, process, or piece of equipment will be used as productive as possible. Worker motivation can be positive through proper training and the understanding of daily responsibilities, and the possible risks involved. Fully training workers on tasks, equipment, environmental factors strengthen skills and ability to work a safer capacity. Having a constant open line of communication to share safety updates, new policies and sharing events that have occurred heightens safety awareness. The motivation of safety form through education, constant awareness, information sharing and accepting worker feedback. Worker involvement increases trust, participation and buy in of safety culture which decreases safety incidents. Jung, M., Lim, S., & Chi, S. (2020). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8304. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228304 Jung (2020) discussed impact on the work environment and occupational stresses of construction workers. Although the article used construction workers for the study, stress relate to all humans and all occupations. Occupational stress can be found in different ways. The demand of the job could be overwhelming. The job can have added stress due to lack of leadership support. The job isn’t rewarding enough to make one feel appreciated or the worker feels underpaid. These factors can lead to unsafe work conditions due to lack of motivation. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN SAFETY/MOTIVATION Workplace and occupational stress can lead to depression and anxiety. At this level the job and the worker are no longer psychologically safe. Sawhney, G., & Cigularov, K. P. (2018). Journal of Business and Psychology, 34(2), 237–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9538-9 Psychological Safety and motivation involve everyone within the organization. Leadership must provide a safe work environment and promote a consensus of safety for its employees. By providing a safe place and displaying feelings of safety leads to an organization gaining a safety culture. Safety norms must be identified to determine if the norm is adequate in maintaining safety. Understanding how the organization perceives safety controls is also a determining factor of psychological safety environment. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN SAFETY/MOTIVATION References Farag, A., Lose, D., & Gedney-Lose, A. (2018). Western Journal of Nursing Research, 41(7), 954–972. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945918815462 Ford, M. T., & Tetrick, L. E. (2008). Safety motivation and Human Resource Management in North America. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190802200231 Jung, M., Lim, S., & Chi, S. (2020). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8304. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228304 Sawhney, G., & Cigularov, K. P. (2018). Journal of Business and Psychology, 34(2), 237–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9538-9
