Accident history, risk perception and traffic safe behaviour.

This study clarifies the associations between accident history, perception of the riskiness of road travel and traffic safety behaviours by taking into account the number and severity of accidents experienced. A sample of 525 road users in Cameroon answered a questionnaire comprising items on perception of risk, safe behaviour and personal accident history. Participants who reported involvement in more than three accidents or involvement in a severe accident perceived road travel as less risky and also reported behaving less safely compared with those involved in fewer, or less severe accidents. The results have practical implications for the prevention of traffic accidents. Practitioner Summary: The associations between accident history, perceived risk of road travel and safe behaviour were investigated using self-report questionnaire data. Participants involved in more than three accidents, or in severe accidents, perceived road travel as less risky and also reported more unsafe behaviour compared with those involved in fewer, or less severe accidents. Campaigns targeting people with a less serious, less extensive accident history should aim to increase awareness of hazards and the potential severity of their consequences, as well as emphasising how easy it is to take the recommended preventive actions. Campaigns targeting those involved in more frequent accidents, and survivors of serious accidents, should address feelings of invulnerability and helplessness.

Control beliefs and engagement in hygienic and safety behaviours: the case of foodborne illness.

Foodborne illness is an ever-growing concern in public health. Studies found that conventional training is not enough to cause employees to apply the hygiene and safety measures. The present study explores control and fatalistic beliefs as potential factors for explaining engagement in preventive actions. Two-hundred and seventeen employees of a fast-food restaurant (75 % of all staff) answered a questionnaire assessing their control beliefs, fatalistic beliefs, risk perception, and engagement in hygienic and safety behaviours. The results validated our hypotheses. Control beliefs were positively related to engagement in hygienic and safety behaviours (b = 0.43, p < 0.001). The inverse relation was observed for fatalistic beliefs (b = - 0.24, p < 0.001). The perceived effectiveness of the prescribed measures seems to be the best predictor of engagement in preventive behaviours, followed by perceived self-efficacy. To increase adherence to preventive measures, it is recommended to enhance staff's self-efficacy and perceived effectiveness of these measures.

Fatalistic Beliefs, Cultural Beliefs and Socio-Instrumental Control Beliefs: What are the Links? Can We Speak of an Active Fatalism?

Taking into account beliefs and culture is essential in behaviour analysis in various areas of life and work. However, knowledge about the links between these beliefs is sparse and imprecise. This article analyses the links between fatalistic, cultural and socio-instrumental control beliefs, by a questionnaire on a sample of 515 Cameroonian partcipants including male (N = 290) and female (N = 225), workers from the public (N = 208), formal private (N = 265) and informal (N = 40) sectors. The questionnaire consisted of the fatalism scale designed by Kouabenan (1998), the Cameroonian cultural beliefs scale by Ngueutsa et al. (2021), and the socio-instrumental control beliefs scale derived from Spector (2004). Regression analyses showed that cultural beliefs partially mediated the link between fatalistic and socio-instrumental control beliefs. The results call into question the conceptualization of fatalistic beliefs, often seen as inducers of passivity. They suggest that cultural beliefs and practices may activate a 'non-inhibiting' form of fatalism that would justify the use of cultural entities to exercise indirect control over events. The concept of active fatalism is discussed.

Incidence and prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage among healthcare workers in geriatric departments: relevance to preventive measures.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcs aureus (MRSA) nasal carriage was assessed among healthcare workers caring for elderly patients in contact precautions in geriatric departments. Monthly incidence ranged from 0% to 3.3%. Carriage was observed only among nurses and nursing assistants. MRSA was thus infrequently acquired using precautions and carriage was usually transient.

Effects of the feeling of invulnerability and the feeling of control on motivation to participate in experience-based analysis, by type of risk.

Experience-based analysis (EBA) refers to a set of safety-management practices consisting of detecting, analyzing, and correcting the individual, material, and organizational causal factors of accidents in order to prevent their reoccurrence. Unfortunately, these practices do not always garner the adherence of employees. This article presents a study that examines the impact of risk perceptions on agents' motivation to participate in EBA in various production sectors. The study was conducted at two sites, a chemical factory and a nuclear power plant, by means of a questionnaire administered to 302 employees. The results indicated that the feeling of control was not only positively linked to the feeling of invulnerability, but that these two factors were negatively linked to risk perception. In addition, the actors in both production sectors were more motivated to participate in EBA of accidents linked to the core processes of their industry (which were more accurately perceived) than in EBA of ordinary accidents (accidents not specific to chemical or nuclear processes). Moreover, the agents' feeling of invulnerability and feeling of control both reduced EBA motivation for ordinary accidents to a greater extent than for chemical and radiation-related accidents. Recommendations are made in view of encouraging agents to get more involved in EBA.

How perceptions of experience-based analysis influence explanations of work accidents.

INTRODUCTION: This article looks into how perceptions of experience-based analysis (EBA) influence causal explanations of accidents given by managers and workers in the chemical industry (n=409) and in the nuclear industry (n=222). METHOD: The approach is based on the model of naive explanations of accidents (Kouabenan, 1999, 2006, 2009), which recommends taking into account explanations of accidents spontaneously given by individuals, including laypersons, not only to better understand why accidents occur but also to design and implement the most appropriate prevention measures. The study reported here describes the impact of perceptions about EBA (perceived effectiveness, personal commitment, and the feeling of being involved in EBA practices) on managers' and workers' explanations of accidents likely to occur at the workplace. RESULTS: The results indicated that both managers and workers made more internal explanations than external ones when they perceived EBA positively. Moreover, the more the participants felt involved in EBA, were committed to it, and judged it effective, the more they explained accidents in terms of factors internal to the workers. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Recommendations are proposed for reducing defensive reactions, increasing personal commitment to EBA, and improving EBA effectiveness.