Test Bank for Management of Occupational Health and Safety 7th Edition

Test Bank for Management of Occupational Health

and Safety 7th Edition

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Chapter 7 - Psychosocial Hazards

1. Stressors may vary along which of the following dimensions?
a. duration, frequency, intensity, and type
b. duration, intensity, type, and predictability
c. frequency of occurrence, intensity, duration, and predictability
d. frequency of occurrence, duration, type, and environment
ANSWER: c

2. What two categories of stressor have, or can have, a long duration?

a. acute and chronic
b. daily and catastrophic
c. acute and daily
d. chronic and catastrophic
ANSWER: d

3. The psychosocial model of health used to discuss stress highlights which of the following factors?
a. social environment and psychological factors
b. organizational culture and physiological factors
c. social environment and physical factors
d. organizational culture and psychological factors
ANSWER: a

4. What two personality characteristics are particularly relevant to stress?

a. type A and B behaviour
b. type A and competitive behaviour
c. type A behaviour pattern and negative affectivity
d. negative affectivity and competitive behaviour
ANSWER: c

5. What type of moderator can aggravate an individual’s response to a stressor?

a. buffer
b. risk factor
c. personality
d. negative affectivity
ANSWER: b

6. What are the four categories of strain reactions?

a. organizational, physical, mental, and cognitive
b. behavioural, cognitive, organizational, and physical
c. psychological, physical, cognitive, and mental
d. psychological, physical, behavioural, and organizational
ANSWER: d

7. Which of the following is NOT a category conceptualized by the NIOSH model?

a. workload and work pace
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b. work scheduling
c. job content and control
d. job design
ANSWER: d

8. According to the textbook, what is the main reason why organizations in the Mental Health Commission’s case study
project wanted to focus on improving mental health in the workplace?
a. because of financial concerns
b. because of a moral obligation
c. to meet a legal requirement
d. to reduce workplace accidents
ANSWER: b

9. Which of the following is an example of a primary stress intervention?

a. talking with friends
b. using relaxation techniques
c. providing flexible working conditions
d. providing employee assistance programs
ANSWER: c

10. What is an example of an individual tertiary stress intervention?

a. yoga classes
b. sick days and leave options
c. talking with friends and coworkers
d. seeing a psychotherapist
ANSWER: d

11. What is an example of an organizational secondary stress intervention?

a. offering PTSD counselling
b. offering an on-site fitness centre
c. helping sick days and leave options
d. providing flexible working conditions
ANSWER: b

12. Why have primary stress interventions not been widely implemented in Canada?
a. union resistance
b. employee resistance
c. supervisor resistance
d. senior manager resistance
ANSWER: d

13. What is experienced by an employee who feels that his salary is too low given his amount of responsibility and the
long hours he works?
a. distributive injustice
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b. procedural injustice
c. interactional injustice
d. distributive inequity
ANSWER: a

14. Which of the following is most likely to be an outcome of family-to-work conflict?

a. taking work home
b. long lunch breaks
c. excessive overtime
d. telecommuting
ANSWER: b

15. What are the four components that researchers and practitioners of occupational health psychology focus on to reduce
work-related psychosocial disorders?
a. organizational change, information, psychological health services, and surveillance
b. organizational change, information, psychological health services, and violence in the workplace
c. information, stress moderators, surveillance, and violence in the workplace
d. stress moderators, negative affectivity, depression at work, and information
ANSWER: a

16. Mateo is a medical resident who works long hours in a high-stress environment. He can’t cut back on his hours or the
stressors, so to stay healthy and avoid strain he hits the gym several days a week. This is best described as which of the
following?
a. primary intervention
b. secondary intervention
c. tertiary intervention
d. appraisal-based coping
ANSWER: b

17. If an employer announces a layoff of 25% of employees, job insecurity would be what type of stressor?
a. acute
b. chronic
c. daily
d. catastrophic
ANSWER: a

18. Based on the factors identified in the NIOSH model of workplace stressors, whose job has the most potential to be
stressful?
a. lower paid musician
b. lower paid daycare worker
c. highly paid executive
d. highly paid assembly line worker
ANSWER: d

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Chapter 7 - Psychosocial Hazards

19. What model would explain why Celeste is unaffected by a network outage, whereas Celine is screaming loudly at the
office’s network administrator?
a. socio-technical model
b. transactional model
c. NIOSH stressor model
d. general adaptation syndrome model
ANSWER: b

20. Ergun works from a home office as a salesperson for a large drug company. How can his sales manager determine
whether working from home is a psychosocial hazard for Ergun?
a. monitor his inventory of drug samples
b. monitor his nervous mannerisms
c. monitor his email response time
d. monitor his sales activity and results
ANSWER: d

Scenario 7-1
The life of a highly paid professional athlete would seem to be all positive, but evidence shows that many elite athletes are
exposed to a range of workplace stressors that are both similar to and different from those experienced by those in more
“typical” occupations. Many athletes experience depression and other mental health issues both during and after their
playing career.
21. Refer to Scenario 7-1: If there are 20 Canadian players on a National Hockey League team (the rest are Americans and
Europeans), according to Canadian statistics how many are likely to experience or be dealing with a mental health
problem?
a. 2
b. 4
c. 6
d. 8
ANSWER: b

22. Refer to Scenario 7-1: Every athlete on a professional sports team is hired on a contract basis, with no guarantee of
permanent employment. What type of stressor is contract negotiation?
a. acute
b. daily
c. chronic
d. catastrophic
ANSWER: a

23. Refer to Scenario 7-1: Which of the following is a social moderator that could buffer athletes from experiencing
negative effects of stress due to recent losses to other teams?
a. money
b. positive affectivity
c. drugs and alcohol
d. locker room jokes
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ANSWER: d

24. Refer to Scenario 7-1: If the team provides laptops with Skype for communicating with family and friends while the
team is on the road, what type of stress intervention would this be and what type of work–family conflict could it help to
reduce?
a. individual primary intervention; work-to-family conflict
b. individual secondary intervention; family-to-work conflict
c. organizational primary intervention; family-to-work conflict
d. organizational secondary intervention; work-to-family conflict
ANSWER: d

25. Refer to Scenario 7-1: Playing time is something that athletes on sports teams monitor very closely and being
“benched”—not allowed to play their regular shifts—can be very humiliating. However, if the coach does not bench an
underperformer, what type of injustice might the rest of the team experience?
a. interactional injustice
b. interpersonal injustice
c. distributive injustice
d. procedural injustice
ANSWER: c

26. Flexible hours that help workers who are looking after elderly parents take them to their doctor’s appointments are a
tangible form of social support.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

27. The Canadian standard for psychological health and safety at work (CSA-Z1003-14) identifies 15 organizational
factors that affect psychological health at work.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

28. Cyberbullying (tweets, comments on Facebook) is a form of interactional injustice.

a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

29. Ruby Lee is always late to meetings, and her typical excuse is “I just tried to get one more thing done.” Javier Suarez
is always on time and drums his fingers on the table while he waits for Ruby. Ruby and Javier are both Type A
personalities.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

30. Constructive feedback is a tangible form of social support.

a. True
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b. False
ANSWER: False

31. General adaption syndrome describes the body’s way of reducing stress as it continues to adapt to stressors
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

32. Technology can result in workers feeling isolated in the workplace.

a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

33. Employees may perceive annual performance reviews as an acute stressor.

a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True

34. A basic principle of preventive stress management is that the health of the individual and the health of the organization
are independent.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

35. GPS tracking systems on company vehicles that show the company where their driver is at all times and how fast they
are going are an example of an acute stressor.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False

36. Describe and distinguish among the concepts of stressor, stress, and strain. Provide an example to support your
answer.
ANSWER: A stressor is an objectively verifiable event that occurs outside the individual and has the potential to cause
stress. A stressor is an event appraised by the individual as taxing, exceeding his or her coping resources, and
negatively affecting his or her health. Stress is an individual’s negative emotional response to, or evaluation
of, stressors. It occurs when the individual feels that he or she does not have the ability to cope with the
stressor. Stress is moderated by individual differences (e.g. personality and social supports). Individuals
perceive and respond differently to the same stressors (e.g. as proposed by the general adaptive syndrome and
the transactional model of stress). Stress is the function of both the individual and the situation. Strain is the
result of continued stress, and is classified into four categories of reactions: psychological, physical,
behavioural, and organizational. Psychological strain reactions include either a disturbance in affect (e.g.,
mood) or a disturbance in cognition (e.g., concentration). Disturbances in mood resulting from stress can result
in the experience of depression and anxiety. Experiencing physical strain can lead to coronary heart disease,
hypertension, strokes, ulcers, asthma, and some forms of cancer. Behavioural strain can manifest in avoidance
of certain situations, increased smoking, and the consumption of alcohol and drugs. Organizational strain can
result in increased absenteeism, decreased performance, and increased risk of workplace accidents.

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Examples should follow the form of stressor–stress–strain. For instance: a boss who is always yelling (chronic
stressor)–leads to feelings of tension—manifested in feelings of anger or anxiety, stomach ache, and nail
biting.

37. It is important for employers to detect mental health illness in order to help employees receive an early medical
referral and assessment. Describe the signs of organizational strain that could help employers to detect and assess
workplace mental illness after a traumatic event, such as the premature death of the company’s CEO. Explain why
primary stress intervention would not work in that particular situation.
ANSWER: Signs of organizational strain include increased absenteeism, decreased performance, disturbances of
interpersonal relationships at work, evidence of job search activity by current employees, and an increase in
workplace accidents.

Secondary and tertiary interventions should be put into place to help employees deal with the stress and/or
strain they are feeling as a result of the loss. However, there is no way to eliminate the catastrophic stressor of
someone important dying unexpectedly.

38. Identify and describe four of the six major categories of workplace stressors identified in the NIOSH model that would
be found in the job of a restaurant dishwasher.
ANSWER: The NIOSH model identifies the following major categories of workplace stressors:
1) workload and work pace: refers to the amount of work that must be completed and the speed at which
employees must work to complete their tasks.
2) role stressors: (conflict, ambiguity, inter-role conflict). Role conflict exists when individuals face
incompatibility from two or more sources. Role ambiguity reflects the uncertainty that employees experience
about what is expected from them in their work. Inter-role conflict exists when employees face incompatible
demands from two or more roles.
3) career concerns: worries about job security, fear of job obsolescence, underpromotion, overpromotion, and
concerns about career progression.
4) work scheduling: working rotating shifts or permanent night shifts results in a disruption of physiological
circadian rhythms and a disruption of social activities.
5) interpersonal relations: poor interpersonal relations in the workplace are identified as a source of stress.
Having well-established sources of social support may reduce the effects of other workplace stressors.
6) job content and control: jobs that are highly repetitive, or that do not make use of a variety of workers’
skills or give workers a measure of control over how and when they complete their tasks, can be a source of
stress.
The most relevant stressors for a restaurant chef would be: workload and work pace, work scheduling,
interpersonal relations, and job content and control. Potential arguments could also be made for career
concerns. However, because the role is very well defined and the incumbent is unlikely to have multiple
demands from different sources, role stressors are less likely to be an issue, unless they have work–family
problems.

39. How can an employer or human resource manager manage mental health illness in the workplace?
ANSWER: Employers and HRMs can apply a preventive stress management framework. The basic principle of this
framework is that the health of an organization and the health of its employees are interdependent. Strategies
can be implemented at both the individual and the organizational levels. Ideally, stress management programs
will include both organizational and individual interventions designed to reduce exposure to stressors, reduce
the experience of stress when stressors are unavoidable, and swiftly provide treatment options to those
individuals who are experiencing the negative consequences of stress. Primary interventions are the only truly
preventive mechanism, but secondary and tertiary interventions can prevent stress and strain from getting
worse.

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Primary Interventions: involve reducing or removing the actual stressors and are highly effective in reducing
work-related stress and strain. The idea is that the removal of sources of stress from the workplace should
reduce employee stress and strain. (Individual Interventions: avoid taking on an overload of work, take
adequate leisure time, try to reduce Type A behaviour; Organizational Interventions: redesign particularly
demanding jobs, respect employees’ opinions in management decision-making processes, provide flexible
working conditions.)

Secondary Interventions: focus on minimizing negative outcomes once a person is feeling stress. Techniques
such as stress management and relaxation training help people identify the negative health effects of stress.
This approach often involves teaching effective coping strategies; appropriate strategies for managing stress
can lessen the negative effects of stress on health. (Individual Interventions: talk with friends and coworkers,
make time to exercise, use relaxation techniques; Organizational Interventions: provide comprehensive
benefits programs, offer on-site fitness centres, ensure balanced nutrition on the cafeteria menu.)

Tertiary Interventions: include psychological therapy and medical attention strategies that are applied after the
fact to help those individuals who have not been able to manage workplace stress effectively and who are now
experiencing symptoms of strain. In the event that stressors and stress are not adequately dealt with via
primary and secondary efforts, it is important to consider tertiary interventions strategies that organizations
and individuals can use to treat employees’ symptoms of strain. (Individual Interventions: seek medical
treatment, participate in psychological counselling; Organizational Interventions: offer benefits packages with
sick days and leave options, provide counselling services following major stressors, support employee efforts
to find appropriate medical or psychological care.)

40. Imagine you are currently the human resource director for a small to medium-sized organization. You are aware that
perceived injustice in workplaces is a stressor and you would like to minimize the extent to which your employees are
exposed to this type of work stress. Give some examples of how you might maximize employee-perceived distributive,
procedural, and interactional fairness. What outcomes would signal that employees are beginning to feel that the
workplace is unfair?
ANSWER: An emerging employee stressor is injustice in the workplace, which is the concern that employees who
experience unfairness in their workplace also experience higher levels of workplace stress and strain. As the
human resource manager, you want to ensure that employees are managed equitably by incorporating the
following: interactional justice (fairness of interpersonal treatment), distributive justice (fairness of outcomes),
and procedural justice (fairness of processes). The implementation of leadership training, performance
management systems, continuous employee feedback and participative decision-making processes maximize
employee-perceived interactional, distributive, and procedural fairness. Workplace practices that increase
employees’ perceived unfairness reduce employee commitment and retention, and increase absenteeism.

41. If an organization is concerned about work–family conflict, what aspects of work–family conflict should it identify
and address to fully understand the issue?
ANSWER: More and more workers are facing childcare demands in dual-income households, resulting in working parents
being torn between work demands and their childcare responsibilities. Work–family conflict is defined as a
type of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures experienced in the work and family domains are
incompatible. Participation in one role is made more difficult by virtue of participation in the other.

However, work–family conflict is bi-directional: work may interfere with a person’s ability to meet family
demands (work-to-family conflict), and family responsibilities may interfere with an individual’s ability to
keep pace with work demands (family-to-work conflict).

Several elements of work and family roles contribute to work–family conflict. One is the amount of time a
person spends in each role, or a person’s behavioural involvement in each role. Generally speaking, the more
time that is dedicated to one role means less time available to spend in the other role. A person’s psychological
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Chapter 7 - Psychosocial Hazards

involvement, the degree to which a person identifies with a particular role and sees the role as central to his or
her self-concept, can also be a predictor of work–family conflict.

Both work-to-family and family-to-work conflicts are associated with negative consequences. The outcomes
tend to be in the opposite domain from the cause of the conflict. Work-to-family conflict tends to affect
family-related outcomes (reduced performance in the family role, absences from family events), and family-
to-work conflict tends to affect work-related outcomes (decreased work performance and absenteeism from
work).

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