Deck 12: Safety, Health, Well-Being, and Security

Question 1

A high degree of hardiness increases the experienced stress associated with stressful events.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Which of the following statements is true of information technology being a cause of stress at work?

A) It results in information overload.
B) It decreases organizational flexibility in sharing information.
C) It adversely impacts coordination among employees.
D) It reduces communication among people.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Iron Crafters Inc., a hardware manufacturing company, has employed experts to carefully analyze its operating unit, to identify potential health hazards to employees, and to find solutions to reduce the effects of such hazards. In this scenario, the approach followed by Iron Crafters Inc. to improve the security of the workplace is called _____.

A) hardiness
B) safety engineering
C) an institutional program
D) a collateral stress program

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is an important ingredient in controlling accidents at work?

A) Employee training
B) Job embeddedness
C) Disability insurance
D) Ethnocentrism

Question 5

A general feeling of exhaustion that develops when an individual simultaneously experiences too much pressure and too few sources of satisfaction is called turnover.

Question 6

Which of the following industries had the most fatalities due to violence at the workplace in 2014?

A) The business services industry
B) The construction industry
C) The manufacturing industry
D) The retail trade industry

Question 7

Compressed work schedules are the most ideal work schedules for construction jobs because studies have found that accidents are less likely to happen during compressed workweeks.

Question 8

Ambiguity and conflict are interpersonal demands of a job that can cause stress.

Question 9

An employee of Speedz Corp., a car manufacturing company, dies on the job because of equipment malfunction. However, management does not report the incident to the concerned authorities. In this scenario, Speedz Corp. has violated the _____.

A) National Labor Relations Act
B) Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
C) Occupational Safety and Health Act
D) Fair Labor Standards Act

Question 10

In the context of the causes of stress at work, which of the following is a task demand that can cause stress?

A) Leadership style
B) Group pressure
C) Ambiguity
D) Security

Question 11

Which of the following acts was passed in 1970 and is the most comprehensive law regarding worker safety?

A) The Health and Safety at Work Act
B) The Occupational Safety and Health Act
C) The Industrial Safety and Health Act
D) The Workplace Safety and Health Act

Question 12

Employers must report all accidents and illnesses that result in death in the workplace immediately and directly to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Question 13

Which of the following is a disadvantage of an employee-fitness program?

A) It costs more than stress-management programs.
B) It does not reduce stress, thereby discouraging employees from being productive.
C) It involves supervision, which is a major source of overload.
D) It cannot be customized to suit an employee's needs.

Question 14

The physical layout of office space has been found to influence attitudes and behaviors of employees.

Question 15

In the context of the factors that influence how one experiences stress, the Type B personality is characterized as being highly focused on work and highly competitive.

Question 16

If a person experiences psychological consequences of stress, he or she is most likely to:

A) suffer from frequent headaches.
B) take up smoking as a means to relieve stress.
C) sleep too much or not sleep enough.
D) have skin conditions such as acne.

Question 17

An organization can try to make its workplace safer by:

A) involving the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the creation of all safety precautions.
B) focusing solely on the number of accidents.
C) focusing on safe behaviors at the workplace.
D) hiring employees who do not belong to any minority group.

Question 18

People who smoke tend to smoke more when they experience stress.

Question 19

Overload, a task demand stressor, is invariably quantitative.

Question 20

An employer can be fined $12,934 per violation for willful or repeated major violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).

Question 21

In the context of the differences in how one experiences stress, which of the following is characterized as being less aggressive and more easygoing?

A) The Type A personality
B) The Type B personality
C) Machiavellianism
D) Dysfunctional behavior

Question 22

Which of the following statements is true of dysfunctional behavior in an organization?

A) It is caused by the Type B personality of employees.
B) It results in direct financial costs for the organization.
C) It includes actions performed by employees who suffer from clinical depression.
D) It is a result of the affective commitment of employees toward the organization.

Question 23

Courtessy Corp., a leading law firm, has appointed a counselor to help junior lawyers with time management. The counselor would help them schedule their court appearances, set the time required to work on each case, and supervise the lawyers. This firm aims to reduce the stress that lawyers face in managing their time. In the given scenario, Courtessy Corp. has most likely adopted a(n) _____.

A) institutional program
B) collateral stress program
C) employee-fitness program
D) career counseling program

Question 24

In the context of the consequences of stress at work, which of the following is a general feeling of exhaustion that develops when an individual simultaneously experiences too much pressure and too few sources of satisfaction?

A) Burnout
B) Turnover
C) Absenteeism
D) Hardiness

Question 25

In the context of stress, the opposite of overload is undesirable because it results in _____.

A) tension
B) anxiety
C) boredom
D) distress

Question 26

Which of the following statements is true of the influence of the physical work environment on individuals?

A) The use of music in the workplace has no significant effect on employee attitudes and performance.
B) Employees who work on rotating shifts are better able to establish a new biological rhythm than those who do not.
C) Studies suggest that changes in the level of illumination have the strongest effect on the attitudes of employees.
D) Employees who perceive their work environment as dark are generally less satisfied with their jobs.

Question 27

Which of the following poses a workplace hazard that may cause accidents?

A) Bright lighting at the workplace
B) Horizontal layout of office space
C) Loose clothing of employees
D) Elevators in the office building

Question 28

Which of the following statements is true of turnover in an organization?

A) It is likely to be caused by a poor person-job fit.
B) It is an organizational stressor.
C) It occurs when people relocate to a different branch of the same company.
D) It is a result of increased job embeddedness.

Question 29

Which of the following statements is true of turnover as an organizational consequence of stress?

A) It occurs when an employee feigns a legitimate cause as an excuse to stay home for a day.
B) It adds to the costs of an organization, especially when replacing productive workers.
C) It occurs when people relocate to a different branch of the same company.
D) It is a result of increased job embeddedness.

Question 30

Which of the following statements is true of people who work in rotational shifts?

A) They are less likely to have ulcers than other workers.
B) They can never establish a new biological rhythm for sleep.
C) Their bodies easily find equilibrium.
D) They manage their work environment more effectively than other workers.

Question 31

The HR manager of Carl Investments, a share broking firm, has decided to arrange regular yoga classes for the employees of the firm. He has made this decision because many employees have recently complained of poor health due to workload. In the given scenario, the HR manager of Carl Investments is using a(n) _____.

A) institutional program
B) collateral stress program
C) defined benefit plan
D) defined contribution plan

Question 32

Who among the following has a relatively low-stress job?

A) A firefighter
B) A dietician
C) A military general
D) A commercial airline pilot

Question 33

Who among the following individuals is most likely to be susceptible to occupational health hazards?

A) Rosario, who has to climb a set of metal steps to enter her office
B) Sally, who works in a manufacturing company where equipment is arranged in a random manner
C) Robert, who has a congested workstation
D) Edwin, who works for a company that manufactures pesticides

Question 34

Which of the following statements is true of the safety standards created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)?

A) They are published and disseminated to employers across the United States.
B) They are enforced by the Department of Health.
C) They focus solely on reducing accidents at the workplace.
D) They are revised every 5 years by OSHA inspectors.

Question 35

Which of the following is a direct result of overload?

A) Higher rates of hiring in organizations
B) More managers going to their office on weekends to get their jobs done
C) Increase in affective commitment of employees to their organization
D) Decrease in ethnocentrism in the workplace

Question 36

In the context of wellness programs in organizations, which of the following programs for managing stress include properly designed jobs and work schedules?

A) Enrichment programs
B) Collateral stress programs
C) Institutional programs
D) Employee assistance programs

Question 37

A minor explosion occurs at the chemical processing plant of Clement Inc. In order to study the situation and make recommendations for improvements in the plant design to avoid such accidents in future, the company sends a team of experts from its headquarters. These experts analyze the reasons for the accident, identify potential hazards, and suggest measures that the firm can take to protect its employees. In the given scenario, the experts sent to the chemical processing plant are known as _____.

A) safety engineers
B) inspection officers
C) gatekeepers
D) headhunters

Question 38

In the context of personality characteristics, which of the following statements is true of hardiness?

A) A high degree of hardiness increases the experienced stress associated with stressful events.
B) Hardy personalities are more effective in dealing with the stress they do experience.
C) Individuals with a Type A personality are high on hardiness.
D) Individuals with a Type B personality are low on hardiness.

Question 39

In the context of personality types, which of the following statements is true of Type A personalities and Type B personalities?

A) Type B personalities are more aggressive than Type A personalities.
B) Type B personalities are more competitive than Type A personalities.
C) Type B personalities are more patient than Type A personalities.
D) Type B personalities are more focused on their work than Type A personalities.

Question 40

Many experts believe that the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is not effective because:

A) its standards are too comprehensive.
B) its standards lack clarity.
C) it releases highly specific standards that are seldom applicable to all industries.
D) it brings in a completely new set of standards for all industries each year.

Question 41

One important approach to controlling accidents at work is to design more security into the workplace through a process called _____.

A) hardiness
B) stress management
C) safety engineering
D) burnout

Question 42

In the context of the causes of stress at work, which of the following is a physical demand stressor?

A) Leadership style
B) Security
C) Ambiguity
D) Office design

Question 43

In the context of common workplace hazards, which of the following refers to a shield or other piece of equipment that keeps body parts from contacting moving machine parts such as gears and conveyor belts?

A) Shearing
B) Milling
C) Tooling
D) Guarding

Question 44

Which of the following is an agency within the Department of Health that conducts research to help establish appropriate safety and health criteria?

A) The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
B) The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
C) The Health Maintenance Organization
D) The Pan American Health Organization

Question 45

Which of the following is a difference between physical demands and role demands as organizational stressors?

A) Physical demands exist against a background of general life stress, whereas role demands do not.
B) Physical demand stressors include overload and security, whereas role demand stressors include group pressures and leadership style.
C) Physical demands have only organizational consequences, whereas role demands have only individual consequences.
D) Physical demands relate to the job setting, whereas role demands result from ambiguity or conflict that people experience in groups.

Question 46

Diane, a copy typist at a leading newspaper, is considered the best worker in her team. Because of her high typing speed, her team leader increases daily targets for all typists. Her teammates want her to reduce her typing speed so that the team leader does not increase targets any further. Diane, who likes to be efficient and quick in her work, is most likely to be stressed because of her _____.

A) physical demands
B) role demands
C) interpersonal demands
D) task demands

Question 47

Which of the following statements best defines the safety climate of an organization?

A) It is an organizational climate that promotes safe behaviors without any rewards or punishments.
B) It is an organizational climate that exclusively emphasizes accidents rather than safe behaviors.
C) It is the degree to which the actual physical work environment is safe.
D) It is the perception of the importance and priority an organization gives to safety.

Question 48

In the context of workplace security, which of the following is designed to make sure that an employee can afford the medical services he or she may require?

A) An employee-development plan
B) An employee assistance program
C) Unemployment insurance
D) Health insurance

Question 49

Jason, the facilities manager at an automobile manufacturing company, realizes that the number of accidents at the assembly unit has not reduced even after training the workers. Which of the following strategies should he adopt to effectively reduce the number of accidents?

A) Reporting every accident to the Department of Labor
B) Reducing automation in the assembly unit
C) Shutting down the safety engineering department
D) Providing safety incentives to the workers

Question 50

In his job as a flight attendant, Kim is required to help people with their baggage, push food carts, and respond to customer requests. He needs to be efficient in his work to ensure that he retains his job as his company is in the process of downsizing. In the context of causes of stresses at work, the given scenario illustrates Kim's _____.

A) task demands
B) role demands
C) interpersonal demands
D) physical demands

Question 51

Which of the following programs are organizational programs created specifically to help employees deal with tension and anxiety?

A) Enrichment programs
B) Collateral stress programs
C) Institutional programs
D) Employee assistance programs

Question 52

Which of the following statements defines health hazards?

A) They refer to the stressors associated with the specific job a person performs.
B) They refer to the elements of the work environment that more slowly and systematically, and perhaps cumulatively, result in damage to an employee's health.
C) They are a set of expected behaviors associated with a position in a group or organization.
D) They are a set of general feelings of exhaustion that develop when a healthy individual experiences too much pressure and too few sources of satisfaction.

Question 53

Which of the following statements is true of the differences in how employees experience stress?

A) Type B personalities experience more stress than Type A personalities.
B) Men are more likely to be absent from work because of stress-related problems than women.
C) Type A personalities are more easygoing than Type B personalities.
D) Women are more likely to experience stress at work than men.

Question 54

In the context of the causes of stress at work, group pressures, leadership style, and conflicting personalities are categorized as _____.

A) task demands
B) physical demands
C) role demands
D) interpersonal demands

Question 55

In the context of stresses at work, which of the following statements is true of task demands?

A) They are stressors associated with the specific job a person performs.
B) They are stressors that relate to the physical aspects of the work environment.
C) They are stressors that mostly result from role ambiguity at work.
D) They are stressors associated with conflicting personalities at work.

Question 56

Which of the following is a person's adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on him or her?

A) Exhaustion
B) Conflict
C) Stress
D) Turnover

Question 57

In the context of the differences in how one experiences stress, which of the following is characterized as being highly competitive with few interests outside of work?

A) The Type A personality
B) The Type B personality
C) Hardiness
D) Dysfunctional behavior

Question 58

Which of the following refers to an individual difference that allows some individuals to experience less stress when dealing with stressful events and that makes them more effective in dealing with the stress they do experience?

A) Disenchantment
B) Sacralization
C) Hardiness
D) Apathy

Question 59

In the context of the causes of stress at work, which of the following is a physical demand stressor?

A) Group pressure
B) Job security
C) Temperature
D) Overload

Question 60

Which of the following is a set of expected behaviors associated with a position in a group or organization?

A) A role
B) Ethnocentrism
C) Job embeddedness
D) A task

Question 61

Explain why the physical environment is considered to have the strongest effect on employee attitudes.

Question 62

Briefly explain the three sets of consequences that can result from stress at work.

Question 63

What precautions should an organization take to create a safer work environment?

Question 64

Explain how hours of work can affect employee safety, health, and well-being.

Question 65

Explain why the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970 is the most comprehensive law regarding worker safety.