Employee attitudes to work safety in Poland's coal mining companies

Abstract

The behavior of employees is an essential issue in the field of occupational health and safety. Safe behavior is to a large extent determined by, apart from motivation and preventive actions, an employee's attitude towards hazard. Thus, attention should be given to defining employees' attitudes, and following that, to the possibility of connecting and shaping these attitudes in relation to hazard and obeying occupational health and safety regulations. The authors have focused on the analysis of employee attitudes to health and safety regulations in Polish coal mining companies, taking into consideration earlier research on the behavior of selected employees. The paper presents the methods used to identify Z-type (passive) behavior. Next, this behavior is analyzed to identify differences between a Z-type employee (enslaved) and other employees. To conclude, the paper presents a list of possible motivational Cools that may be used to encourage occupational health and safety in Z-type employees.