David A. Hofmann - Böcker

Health has often been defined as the absence of illness and as thestate of well-being. This definition, however, actually constitutestwo different criteria: the absence of illness and the presence ofhealth. For example, a person may not have any signs of illness butmay still have a cholesterol level that is too high. When thinkingabout healthy organizations, we often make the same distinction. Ahealthy organization, for example, is not only free from illnessand doesn't harm employees but also possesses the presence ofhealth as exemplified by its long-term adaptability and ability tothrive. This book considers this broader definition of health andsafety in organizations--one that encompasses both the absence ofillness as well as the presence of health--and the implications ithas for industrial/organizational psychology and human resources. A distinguished group of contributors provides a review andintegration of different lines of research focusing on health andsafety in organizations, including a broad array of topics rangingfrom the role of individual differences and training to humanresource management strategy. They explore cross-level theoreticallinkages between aspects of health and safety at the individual,group, and organizational level. These discussions examine thelinkages between individual health and certain aspects of theoverall health of the organization, as well as how certain aspectsof organizations can influence individual health andwell-being.

Despite the significance and prevalence of errors in organizations, there has been no attempt within the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology to create a single source summarizing what we know regarding errors in organizations and providing a focused effort toward identifying future directions of research. This volume answers that need and provides contributions by researchers who have conducted a considerable amount of research on errors occurring in the work context. Students, academics and practitioners in a wide range of disciplines, i.e., industrial organizational psychology, medicine, aviation, human factors and systems engineering, will find this book of interest.