Factors affecting the risk-taking behaviors of healthcare professionals

The health sector includes many risk factors due to its service area. Due to this situation, which increases the contact of employees with risk, occupational accidents and occupational diseases constitute an important health problem. In this context, it is important to understand the risk-taking behavior of health sector workers and to eliminate such problems. The aim of this study is to examine the factors that affect the risk-taking behaviors of employees in the health sector. Within the scope of the study, the risk-taking behaviors of health workers are discussed under the headings of individual factors (attitude towards risk, cognitive bias and risk perception), organizational factors (safety climate, work stress and safety training), and workplace factors (working conditions and use of personal protective equipment). The scale taken was applied to 379 employees. To determine the relationship between individual, organizational and workplace factors of employees and risk-taking behavior, 7 hypotheses were created. A research model has been developed that defines these 7 hypotheses. In line with the findings, it was found that cognitive bias and Personal Protective Equipment Triggers dimensions do not have a direct effect on risk taking behavior, while other dimensions affect risk taking behavior. This study can help sector managers and decision makers in what kind of way should be followed to improve occupational safety performance in enterprises.