Psychology 409a,
By: Cody-Allen Ching
By: Tracey M. Benard, Linda H. Bouck, Wendy S. Young
American Society of Safety Engineers
I. Background Info- As we all know, motor fleet organizations and commercial transportation facilities rely on motor vehicle drivers to transport goods and they have many expectations for drivers as well like getting the goods their on time, keeping the product in tact and in good condition, and also making sure they meet the needs of each customer.
- it is somewhat similar to the trucker/dispatcher dilemma we talked about earlier in class because it is sort of like a spiral in which the organizations needs to satisfy the customers and the middle person seems to get the short end of the stick. The difficult part here is that they all need to satisfy each other and it is much easier said than done.
II. Concept 1- Job stress
A. Excessive stress in workplaces can have a negative effect on the individual mentally and or physically.
1. “job stress expenditures cost employees more than $200 billion a year”
2. stress level on the driver will affect the organization in the long term
3. may have a downward spiral and lead to injures and or illnesses
a. from 1992-1996, truck drivers , as compared to other occupations experienced the largest number of injuries and illnesses with time away from work.
B. Factors
1. pressure to meet delivery deadlines
2. inaquedate sleep
3. irregular hours
4. long hours on the road
5. dangerous actions by other drivers
6. insufficient exercise
7. discrimination,
8. limited job opportunities
9. balancing responsibilities in terms of home and work life
10. sexual harassment
11. lack of support (studies have shown that 2/3 of the women would prefer to have a male teammate (preferably a spouse or significant other) to reduce stress and loneliness
III. Concept 2- Health and Safety
- Ideally it is crucial for employers, supervisors, and managers to work together efficiently to ensure the safest possible working conditions meaning protecting the drivers especially in health and safety (should always be a top priority). (show chart)
- Being exposed to physical hazards leads to health problems which include leg strain, arm strain, and back strain.
IV. Solutions to Stress and Health Safety Issue
A. training topics
1. stress-reduction techniques
2. physical exercise techniques
3. self-defense techniques
4. driver fatigue techniques
Related Links
http://www.safetyforwomen.com/tips.htm
I choose the link because it relates to my topic in that it gives tips on self defense for women. This is important because it should reduce the chances of women being sexually harassed. As I listed in my outline, it is one of the top 4 training topics preferred.
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/jobstress.htm
I choose this link because my whole outline is based around job stress as my main idea. In this article it talks about how chronic job stress is a risk factor for heart disease. It shows that reducing job stress is very critical for organizations.
http://www.reutershealth.com/wellconnected/doc29.html
this link
refers to physical exercise techniques.
Through this, hopefully it can reduce the chances of workers having back
pain, leg strain, arm strain, etc.
Again, promoting driver safety and health should always be a number one
priority
My Home page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2006/ching/ching-homepage.htm
Class Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/classhome-g24.htm