RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The article addresses the issue of attitudes towards safety at work in the context of subjective variables such as psychological stress and the subjective self-efficacy of workers in the aviation sector. The research was exploratory in nature. It focused on capturing the individual experiences of ground handling staff at Polish and Slovak airports. Among the 326 people surveyed were engineers, firefighters, mechanics and electricians - a crew that works in difficult and threatening working conditions on a daily basis, often experiencing unexpected accidents and breakdowns. The psychosocial factors in industry 4.0 and this branch of industry itself are - according to the authors - verified empirically quite poorly. Taking care of safety at work and strengthening a positive attitude towards safety seems to be a key aspect of management in such units. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Polish Questionnaire of Attitude towards Safety by M. Znajmiecka-Sikora, the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale and the Plopa and Makarowski Stress Feeling Questionnaire were used in the research. RESULTS: The statistical analyses carried out, including regression analyses and a model of analysis of mediation between variables, have indicated that this sense of effectiveness is a key positive predictor of every aspect related to strengthening attitudes towards safety (a cognitive aspect [ß = 0.21, p < 0.001], an affective aspect [ß = 0.15, p = 0.001] and a behavioral aspect [ß = 0.15, p = 0.002]), as well as the overall level of attitude towards safety (ß = 0.19, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The sense of effectiveness is an important mediator between the level of perceived stress and attitudes towards safety, which means that as the subjectively perceived sense of self-efficacy increases, the level of experienced stress decreases and thus the positive attitude towards safe actions and behaviors in the workplace is strengthened. Med Pr. 2021;72(5):479-87.
Assuntos
Aviação , Autoeficácia , Humanos , Estresse Psicológico , Inquéritos e Questionários , Local de TrabalhoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Employees in the aviation sector constitute an especially interesting professional group due to a lack of empirical data on their psychological functioning, and the fact that this industry is currently experiencing a phase of dynamic development. However, taking into consideration the automation and specific qualities of the sector, human resources should be given much more attention as they are constantly challenged and face diverse difficulties at work while cooperating in various organic and non-organic teams. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 326 employees of Pyrzowice (Poland), Szymany (Poland), and Kosice (Slovakia) airports (however, people employed at the Polish airports were predominant, N = 250). The average age of the participants was 39.3 years, and the sample was predominantly male (N = 278, 85.3%). During the research procedure, the following questionnaires were used: the Feeling of Threat in the Workplace Questionnaire, the Feeling of Stress Questionnaire, the 10-Item Personality Inventory, and the Mini-COPE Stress Inventory. RESULTS: The regression analysis indicated that personality variables did not allow for predicting the level of stress. However, the helplessness-oriented style (ß = 0.191, p = 0.004), avoidant behaviors (ß = 0.244, p < 0.001), and the feeling of threat (ß = 0.147, p = 0.009) were significant predictors of the feeling of stress, and their high level corresponded with a higher level of stress. The final model explained 23% of the total variance in the feeling of stress. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, practical recommendations should concern developing employees' skills related to monitoring stressors and strengthening proactivity in difficult or threatening situations. Such proactive strategies may decrease the tendency to use avoidant and helplessness-oriented behaviors that may cause a higher level of stress perceived by employees. Also, the authors recommend providing training and support using some cognitive behavioral techniques because it seems that the regular application of those methods supports the development of agency and control while facing challenging situations. Med Pr. 2021;72(5):467-77.