Railway-controller-perceived mental work load, cognitive failure and risky commuting

Abstract

Commuting accidents occur frequently and at high cost. This study shows that mental work demands of railway staff are related to cognitive failure and risky commuting behaviour such as failing to give way and overlooking stop signs. Primary prevention of commuting accidents should include reduction of mental workload.

Exposure to static magnetic fields and risk of accidents among a cohort of workers from a medical imaging device manufacturing facility

“…Presently it is unclear whether the observed associations are causal and, if so, whether the associations are directly due to exposure to SMF or are indirectly by means of other effects such as increased fatigue, disturbed quality of sleep, affected balance, or decreased concentration. Studies on work‐related fatigue have suggested an increased risk of accidents during commute after work , which is not congruent with our findings. Our results may be indicative of a delayed effect through, as of yet, unknown pathways.…”

The Monday Effect Revisited: A Diary and Sleep Actigraphy Study

“…Cognitive failure during morning work was assessed at noon with the workplace cognitive failure scale [10]. The scale is regarded as a proxy for the accident risk [10][11][12] and consists of fifteen items addressing memory (e.g. "Cannot remember whether you have or have not turned off work equipment"), attention (e.g., "Do not fully listen to instructions") and action (e.g.…”

“…Many errors at work occur during routine task fulfillment and point to attentional slips or loss of working memory contents [10]. Such workplace cognitive failure has been consistently shown to be an antecedent of near accidents during the commute to work and back home [11,12] and to predict minor injuries at work [13], during sports after work [14] and domestic falls [15]. Hence, we hypothesised more frequent workplace cognitive failure on Monday morning compared to the subsequent working weekdays (Monday Effect; hypothesis 1 (H1)).…”

Impatience and time pressure: Subjective reactions of drivers in situations forcing them to stop their car in the road

“…For instance, although time pressured drivers admit to a variety of risky behaviours, they are less likely to believe that they will be ticketed for speeding (Beck, Wang, & Yan, 2012). Besides, it has been shown that cognitive failure significantly mediates the influence of work-related time pressure on near-accidents (Elfering, Grebner, & Haller, 2012). In light of the strong link between driving for work and the experience of time pressure while driving (Coeugnet et al, submitted for publication;McKenna, 2008), it seems likely that risky behaviours result from an excessive work-related attentional focus, but also from the importance of work-related goals.…”