Details:

Alternative Title:
J Safety Res
Personal Author:
Sigurdsson, Sigurdur O. ; Taylor, Matthew A. ; Wirth, Oliver
Sigurdsson, Sigurdur O. ; Taylor, Matthew A. ; Wirth, Oliver Less -
Description:
Introduction

Although falls from heights remain the most prevalent cause of fatalities in the construction industry, factors impacting safety-related choices associated with work at heights are not completely understood. Better tools are needed to identify and study the factors influencing safety-related choices and decision making.

Method

Using a computer-based task within a behavioral economics paradigm, college students were presented a choice between two hypothetical scenarios that differed in working height and effort associated with retrieving and donning a safety harness. Participants were instructed to choose the scenario in which they were more likely to wear the safety harness. Based on choice patterns, switch points were identified, indicating when the perceived risk in both scenarios was equivalent.

Results

Switch points were a systematic function of working height and effort, and the quantified relation between perceived risk and effort was described well by a hyperbolic equation.

Conclusion

Choice patterns revealed that the perceived risk of working at heights decreased as the effort to retrieve and don a safety harness increased.

Impact on industry

Results contribute to the development of computer-based procedure for assessing risk discounting within a behavioral economics framework. Such a procedure can be used as a research tool to study factors that influence safety-related decision making with a goal of informing more effective prevention and intervention strategies.


Subject:
[+]
Adult Article Behavioral Economics Choice Behavior Construction Decision Making Female Humans Male Risk-Taking Risk Assessment Risk Discounting Students Young Adult Decision Making Risk Assessment
Source:
J Safety Res. 46:127-134.
Pubmed ID:
23932694
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC4578867
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:061ea0ae3670a969259fdcd613f8037fedea0f26dbf65f5c8b17f77584b47be3
Download URL:
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/34569/cdc_34569_DS1.pdf
File Type:

Supporting Files

• 	nihms720310f4.jpg	jpeg
  	nihms720310f5.gif	gif
  	nihms720310f5.jpg	jpeg
  	nihms720310.nxml	xml
  	nihms720310f1.gif	gif
  	nihms720310f1.jpg	jpeg
  	nihms720310f2.gif	gif
  	nihms720310f2.jpg	jpeg
  	nihms720310f3.gif	gif
  	nihms720310f3.jpg	jpeg
  	nihms720310f4.gif	gif

More +