Publication Status
Accepted/In press
Document Type
Journal article
Department / Unit
Department of Applied Psychology
Journal Title
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publication Date
6-25-2019
Language
English
Volume
16
Article Number
2427
Keywords
quantitative job insecurity, qualitative job insecurity, error detection, behavioral data, cognitive errors, burnout
Abstract
(1) Background: Work-related stress is a major contributor to human error. One significant workplace stressor is job insecurity, which has been linked to an increased likelihood of experiencing burnout. This, in turn, might affect human error, specifically attention-related cognitive errors (ARCES) and the ability to detect errors. ARCES can be costly for organizations and pose a safety risk. Equally detrimental effects can be caused by failure to detect errors before they can cause harm. (2) Methods: We gathered self-report and behavioral data from 148 employees working in educational, financial and medical sectors in China. We designed and piloted an error detection task in which employees had to compare fictitious customer orders to deliveries of an online shop. We tested for indirect effects using the PROCESS macro with bootstrapping (3) Results: Our findings confirmed indirect effects of job insecurity on both ARCES and the ability to detect errors via burnout. (4) Conclusions: The present research shows that job insecurity influences making and detecting errors through its relationship with burnout. These findings suggest that job insecurity could increase the likelihood for human error with potential implications for employees’ safety and the safety of others.
DOI
10.3390/ijerph16132427
ISSN
1661-7827
Fulltext file version
Final published version
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Pure ID
12831308
Pure UUID
ce07c2a0-7412-470d-8465-fb9c8e304f12