Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
managing the stress level, the manager can have a strong impact on
the actual safety behavior of his employees. In Chapter 6, we already
discussed several ways to influence the stress level. The manager can
vary this level by these means:
Making demands regarding quality and quantity of the work (
“
I
want you to perform faster
”
/
“
Just take your time
”
)
Providing feedback on the way of working and the shown compe-
tences (
“
Come on boys, I
'
ve seen you do a better job
”
/
“
Well done
”
)
Focusing on safety issues (
“
Be careful for this task
”
/
“
Rely on the
sensitivity you showed last time
”
)
Displaying
his
own
level
of
stress
(
“
I
feel
really
uncomfortable about the progress
”
/
“
I estimate you are going to
make it
”
)
Building in an emergency break, stopping the work for a few min-
utes, having a drink and discussing what
'
s happening, in cases of
really high stress.
Summarizing, if we want employees to work safely, we need to
manage their stress level. Stress management training is a tool that can
help employees to be better prepared, but the manager has an impor-
tant role in regulating the amount of work to be done within a specific
time frame.
9.4 MANAGING THE READINESS TO TAKE RISKS
The manager can also influence another aspect of work that is closely
related to risk taking. It has been discovered that the readiness to take
risks varies with the perception of the possible outcome. The psycho-
logical law goes like this: We play safe if we can keep what we have,
and we take a risk if we can reduce a loss (Thaler, 1980, Tiemeijer,
2011). If outcome is perceived as a loss, we are more eager to take
risks. If we perceive outcome as a gain, we prefer to play safer. In
Chapter 2, we discussed the concept of loss aversion. This principle is
directly related to avoiding losses. During a game, we reduce risk once
we are winning, and we increase risk once we are losing. A gambler
who is losing is more willing to take risks and even trespass safety
boundaries if he can avoid a possible loss. It is the mechanism behind
huge gambling debts.
