Responses to health and safety risk in the work environment.

The subjective experience of workplace health and safety risk among exposed individuals is little understood. Health and safety risks are associated with multifaceted subjective interpretations different from those associated with other elements of the work environment and more directly influential on work attitudes and behavior than actual risk. This article conceptually and operationally defines these interpretations and evidences the influence of chronic risk exposure on job satisfaction, stress, and distraction from work tasks.