Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T19:06:28.415Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Minding the Gap: Extending Mindfulness to Safety-Critical Occupations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2015

Kelli E. Huber*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, The University of Missouri—St. Louis
Sarah E. Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, The University of Missouri—St. Louis
Stephanie M. Merritt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, The University of Missouri—St. Louis
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kelli E. Huber, Department of Psychological Sciences, The University of Missouri—St. Louis, 421 Stadler Hall, One University Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63121-4499. E-mail: [email protected]

Extract

In their focal article, Hyland, Lee, and Mills (2015) discuss several potential areas in which mindfulness interventions may improve work performance. Some of these include creativity and sales performance (Chaskalson, 2011; Seligman, 2006). We agree that future research should continue to examine the potential benefits of mindfulness and propose an additional domain in which mindfulness interventions may be particularly beneficial: safety performance.

Type
Commentaries
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berland, A., Natvig, G. K., & Gundersen, D. (2008). Patient safety and job-related stress: A focus group study. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 24 (2), 9097.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brand, S., Holsboer-Trachsler, E., Naranjo, J. R., & Schmidt, S. (2012). Influence of mindfulness practice on cortisol and sleep in long-term and short-term meditators. Neuropsychobiology, 65 (3), 109118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, L. E., & Garland, S. N. (2005). Impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on sleep, mood, stress and fatigue symptoms in cancer outpatients. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12 (4), 278285.Google Scholar
Chaskalson, M. (2011). The mindful workplace: Developing resilient individuals and resonant organizations with MBSR. Oxford, United Kingdom: Wiley.Google Scholar
Davies, D. R., & Parasuraman, R. (1982). The psychology of vigilance. London, United Kingdom: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86 (3), 499512.Google Scholar
Gold, E., Smith, A., Hopper, I., Herne, D., Tansey, G., & Hulland, C. (2010). Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for primary school teachers. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19 (2), 184189.Google Scholar
Goldenhar, L., Williams, L., & Swanson, N. (2003). Modelling relationships between job stressors and injury and near-miss outcomes for construction labourers. Work & Stress, 17 (3), 218240.Google Scholar
Goodman, M. J., & Schorling, J. B. (2012). A mindfulness course decreases burnout and improves well-being among healthcare providers. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 43 (2), 119128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanh, T. H. (1976). The miracle of mindfulness. Boston, MA: Wisdom.Google Scholar
Helton, W. S., & Russell, P. N. (2011). Working memory load and the vigilance decrement. Experimental Brain Research, 212 (3), 429437.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hölzel, B., Carmody, J., Evans, K. C., Hoge, E. A., Dusek, J. A., Morgan, L.,… Lazar, S. W. (2010). Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5, 1117.Google Scholar
Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98 (2), 310325.Google Scholar
Hyland, P. K., Lee, R. A., & Mills, M. J. (2015). Mindfulness at work: A new approach to improving individual and organizational performance. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 8 (4), 576602.Google Scholar
Kaplan, S., & Tetrick, L. E. (2011). Workplace safety and accidents: An industrial and organizational psychology perspective. In Zedeck, S. (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 455472). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Knickerbocker, B. (2015, May). Amtrak: Ways the crash might have happened—and been avoided. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0516/Amtrak-Ways-the-crash-might-have-happened-and-been-avoided-videoGoogle Scholar
Lange, G., Steffener, J., Cook, D. B., Bly, B. M., Christodoulou, C., Liu, W. C., … Natelson, B. H., 2005. Objective evidence of cognitive complaints in chronic fatigue syndrome: A BOLD fMRI study of verbal working memory. NeuroImage, 26, 513524.Google Scholar
Laschinger, H. K. S., & Leiter, M. P. (2006). The impact of nursing work environments on patient safety outcomes: The mediating role of burnout engagement. Journal of Nursing Administration, 36 (5), 259267.Google Scholar
Lawton, R., & Parker, D. (1998). Individual differences in accident liability: A review and integrative approach. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 40 (4), 655671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, C. S., Poulin, P. A., & Seidman-Carlson, R. (2006). A brief mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention for nurses and nurse aides. Applied Nursing Research, 19 (2), 105109.Google Scholar
Nahrgang, J. D., Morgeson, F. P., & Hofmann, D. A. (2011). Safety at work: A meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, job resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96 (1), 7194.Google Scholar
Parasuraman, Raja. (1986). Vigilance, monitoring, and search. In Boff, K., Kaufman, L. L., & James, T. (Eds.), Handbook of perception and human performance: Cognitive processes and performance (Vol. 2, pp. 139). Oxford, United Kingdom: Wiley.Google Scholar
Probst, T. M. (2002). Layoffs and tradeoffs: Production, quality, and safety demands under the threat of job loss. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7 (3), 211220.Google Scholar
Probst, T. M., & Brubaker, T. L. (2001). The effects of job insecurity on employee safety outcomes: Cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6 (2), 139159.Google Scholar
Seligman, M. E. (2006). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New York, NY: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Shapiro, S. L., Brown, K. W., & Biegel, G. M. (2007). Teaching self-care to caregivers: Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on the mental health of therapists in training. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 1 (2), 105115.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, with state, New York City, District of Columbia, & federal agencies. (2014/2015). Census of fatal occupational injuries, 2014, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htmGoogle Scholar
Wallace, J. C., & Vodanovich, S. J. (2003). Workplace safety performance: Conscientiousness, cognitive failure, and their interaction. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 8 (4), 316327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warm, J. S., Parasuraman, R., & Matthews, G. (2008). Vigilance requires hard mental work and is stressful. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 50 (3), 433441.Google Scholar
Weinstein, N., Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). A multi-method examination of the effects of mindfulness on stress attribution, coping, and emotional well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 43 (3), 374385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar