TMGT 4304 Safety and Risk Management (TMGT4304)

Empirical evidence has not only shown a relationship between perceived risks and risk-taking behavior, but also observed that they are generally biased compared to objective risks. These biases, although varied by individuals’ past experiences, have shown a very interesting pattern; individuals tend to underestimate high risks and overestimate low risks. It is of paramount significance to understand how risk perception influences risk-taking behavior.

Morrison Knudsen (MK) is the focus of this article, providing knowledge and experience in the construction market that, although with peaks and valleys, has strived to maintain lost day incident rates constantly below Bureau of Labor Statistic averages for the similar firms. They attained this by bringing in “underground knowledge”, that of the experience of accident prevention professionals.

This article supports the idea that cultural diversification within project teams positively affects their efficiency and productivity while bringing in more ideas and problem-solving creativity to the team. This is outweighed by the negative impacts of diverse teams, such as conflict, misunderstanding and poor project performance.

Throughout the different industries, human error is one of the major contributors of mishaps and accidents. Researchers have conducted studies in this area in order to lower its negative effects, but their analysis has turned out somewhat dim due to the ambiguity of the term’s definition. Human error is used to describe the outcome or consequence of human action, the causal factor of an accident, and as an action itself, but this article, guided by the method of concept analysis, aims to clari...

An attempt to reduce job-caused stress is being made to lower the costs associated with this increasingly worrying issue for companies. An estimated 13.5 billion working days were lost in 2001 due to work related stress, anxiety and depression. The CBI Survey is keeping a close look at the figures related to this issue, measuring the costs and negative effects of stress. The Health and Safety Commission has also made attempts to lower these effects.

New companies with complex structures have had to adapt to the risk involved in managing their type of organizations, which means that these firms are now paying more attention to internal structure and the risks associated with complexity without ignoring potential external threats. What this means is that as a firm grows, the vulnerabilities will also grow, the possibility of flaws, process errors, and broken systems will also increase, therefore, growing companies, and those with complex stru...

An effort to define the similarities and differences between public and private sector organizations is here met with a review of previous research, a list of hypotheses by the authors, the results from research conducted via surveys and conclusions according to the observation of the results and comparison to the initial hypotheses.

It is said that risk managers are the champions of “No”, but this is an erroneous perception that might be attributed to the negative connotations of the job title. This article attempts to overcome this negative perception following the structure established by Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

It has been proven by statistical research that positive reinforcement, that is, the act of rewarding a desired behaviour, is effective in the workplace where managers are seeking to influence employees and shape their behaviour in a way to accomplish organizational goals.