The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics
COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on how the effects of a pandemic can reverberate throughout a broad spectrum of work-related processes, as eloquently described in the focal article (Rudolph et al., 2020). However, a critical topic overlooked by the authors is the explicit and implicit role organizati...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
2021
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE170100005 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/85250 |
| _version_ | 1848764727027564544 |
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| author | Petery, Gigi Parker, Sharon Zoszak, Leah |
| author_facet | Petery, Gigi Parker, Sharon Zoszak, Leah |
| author_sort | Petery, Gigi |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on how the effects of a pandemic can reverberate throughout a broad spectrum of work-related processes, as eloquently described in the focal article (Rudolph et al., 2020). However, a critical topic overlooked by the authors is the explicit and implicit role organizations play in protecting the health of workers and the community at large. Accordingly, we propose psychological contracts, specifically in relation to workplace health and safety (Rousseau, 1989; Walker & Hutton, 2006), as an area warranting greater attention at this time from researchers and practitioners alike.
Health and safety psychological contracts are crucial given the occupational hazards created by highly contagious diseases. According to recent pre-pandemic estimates, 10% of workers in the U.S. are exposed at work to disease or infection more than once per week, and 18.4% are exposed more than once per month (Barker et al., 2020). In fact, it is estimated that pandemic disease exposure may be greater at work than elsewhere, which has implications for disease transmission to workers and communities alike. For instance, 17 of the first 25 community transmitted cases of COVID-19 in Singapore are believed to be associated with workplace exposure (e.g., infected individual in contact with retail, hospitality, and transportation workers; Koh, 2020). Unlike other forms of workplace risk that do not involve contagions, infected workers can also increase community exposure to contagious diseases, particularly when transmission is airborne and occurs when individuals are asymptomatic, thereby constituting a greater scale of workplace risk than was seen pre-pandemic. Therefore, understanding how to protect the workforce is a critical issue that warrants serious attention.
In what follows, we highlight the importance of psychological contracts for ensuring workplace safety in the context of the current pandemic. We then discuss three key issues for research and practice related to psychological contracts that might apply during a pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:23:57Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-85250 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:23:57Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-852502021-09-08T00:17:42Z The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics Petery, Gigi Parker, Sharon Zoszak, Leah Social Sciences Psychology, Applied Psychology VIOLATION BREACH COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on how the effects of a pandemic can reverberate throughout a broad spectrum of work-related processes, as eloquently described in the focal article (Rudolph et al., 2020). However, a critical topic overlooked by the authors is the explicit and implicit role organizations play in protecting the health of workers and the community at large. Accordingly, we propose psychological contracts, specifically in relation to workplace health and safety (Rousseau, 1989; Walker & Hutton, 2006), as an area warranting greater attention at this time from researchers and practitioners alike. Health and safety psychological contracts are crucial given the occupational hazards created by highly contagious diseases. According to recent pre-pandemic estimates, 10% of workers in the U.S. are exposed at work to disease or infection more than once per week, and 18.4% are exposed more than once per month (Barker et al., 2020). In fact, it is estimated that pandemic disease exposure may be greater at work than elsewhere, which has implications for disease transmission to workers and communities alike. For instance, 17 of the first 25 community transmitted cases of COVID-19 in Singapore are believed to be associated with workplace exposure (e.g., infected individual in contact with retail, hospitality, and transportation workers; Koh, 2020). Unlike other forms of workplace risk that do not involve contagions, infected workers can also increase community exposure to contagious diseases, particularly when transmission is airborne and occurs when individuals are asymptomatic, thereby constituting a greater scale of workplace risk than was seen pre-pandemic. Therefore, understanding how to protect the workforce is a critical issue that warrants serious attention. In what follows, we highlight the importance of psychological contracts for ensuring workplace safety in the context of the current pandemic. We then discuss three key issues for research and practice related to psychological contracts that might apply during a pandemic. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/85250 10.1017/iop.2021.52 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE170100005 CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Psychology, Applied Psychology VIOLATION BREACH Petery, Gigi Parker, Sharon Zoszak, Leah The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics |
| title | The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics |
| title_full | The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics |
| title_fullStr | The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics |
| title_full_unstemmed | The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics |
| title_short | The importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics |
| title_sort | importance of psychological contracts for safe work during pandemics |
| topic | Social Sciences Psychology, Applied Psychology VIOLATION BREACH |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE170100005 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/85250 |