IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12229-d926194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing the Wellbeing of Elite Rugby Union Players from an Occupational Safety and Health Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Yanbing Chen

    (Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin, A94 XF34 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Conor Buggy

    (School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Seamus Kelly

    (School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

The intense, physical contact nature of rugby union often encourages the normalization of risk-taking behaviour resulting in a relatively high acceptance of risk. This study aims to explore safety culture in rugby union from an OSH perspective, with the purpose of assisting coaches and management in their decision-making processes to improve players’ health, welfare, and long-term well-being. In terms of data collection, this study involved semi-structured interviews with senior support staff ( n = 15) in elite rugby union. Interview transcripts underwent inductive analysis prior to an abductive analysis that was guided by an established occupational-safety-and-health (OSH) framework. Rugby union players’ safety can be considered from two dimensions: management’s commitment to safety (i.e., safety prioritization, safety empowerment, and safety justice), players’ involvement in safety (i.e., safety prioritization, and trust in other players’ safety competence, and players’ safety concern for the opposition players). Within the themes identified, players’ attitude towards their opponents’ safety which has been rarely considered as a factor for injury prevention is also discussed in this study. If sport support staff (i.e., managers/coaches/medical) can become more involved in players’ performance-orientated training using OSH management processes to aid in their decision-making, their exists the capacity to benefit players’ safe return to play after injury rehabilitation. Meanwhile, directing the development of appropriate behavioural educational interventions to raise safety-awareness amongst players can improve their long-term health and well-being and provide them with the necessary safety and health information to support their own decision-making processes. As a multidisciplinary design, this study contributes new multidisciplinary insights that have the potential to advance managerial practices utilizing an OSH perspective, including decision-making supporting risk alleviation for safety and long-term health and wellbeing initiatives in competitive team sports.

Suggested Citation

  • Yanbing Chen & Conor Buggy & Seamus Kelly, 2022. "Managing the Wellbeing of Elite Rugby Union Players from an Occupational Safety and Health Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12229-:d:926194
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12229/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12229/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank W. Guldenmund, 2010. "(Mis)understanding Safety Culture and Its Relationship to Safety Management," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(10), pages 1466-1480, October.
    2. Sharon Clarke & Katie Ward, 2006. "The Role of Leader Influence Tactics and Safety Climate in Engaging Employees' Safety Participation," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1175-1185, October.
    3. Kroshus, Emily & Garnett, Bernice & Hawrilenko, Matt & Baugh, Christine M. & Calzo, Jerel P., 2015. "Concussion under-reporting and pressure from coaches, teammates, fans, and parents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 66-75.
    4. Fengfeng Li & Ntwali Adrien & Yuhuan He, 2022. "Biomechanical Risks Associated with Foot and Ankle Injuries in Ballet Dancers: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-10, April.
    5. Ausra Lisinskiene & Marc Lochbaum, 2022. "The Coach–Athlete–Parent Relationship: The Importance of the Sex, Sport Type, and Family Composition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-12, April.
    6. Paul Downward & Andrew Mearman, 2002. "Critical Realism and Econometrics: Constructive Dialogue with Post Keynesian Economics," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 391-415, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ryan Mullins & Raj Agnihotri, 2022. "Digital selling: organizational and managerial influences for frontline readiness and effectiveness," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 800-821, July.
    2. Andrew Mearman, 2006. "Critical realism in economics and open-systems ontology: A critique," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(1), pages 47-75.
    3. Katarzyna Ługowska & Wojciech Kolanowski & Joanna Trafialek, 2023. "Increasing Physical Activity at School Improves Physical Fitness of Early Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Andrea Bazzoli & Matteo Curcuruto & James I. Morgan & Margherita Brondino & Margherita Pasini, 2020. "Speaking Up about Workplace Safety: An Experimental Study on Safety Leadership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.
    5. Giuseppe Fontana & Bill Gerrard, 2006. "The future of Post Keynesian economics," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 59(236), pages 49-80.
    6. Paul Downward & Andrew Mearman, 2005. "Methodological Triangulation at the Bank of England:An Investigation," Working Papers 0505, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    7. Wei Jiang & Chunyang Liang & Wei Han, 2019. "Relevance Proof of Safety Culture in Coal Mine Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-14, March.
    8. Carla S Fugas & Sílvia A Silva & José L Meliá, 2013. "Profiling Safety Behaviors: Exploration of the Sociocognitive Variables that Best Discriminate Between Different Behavioral Patterns," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(5), pages 838-850, May.
    9. Warmath, Dee & Winterstein, Andrew P. & Myrden, Susan, 2022. "Parents and coaches as transformational leaders: Motivating high school athletes’ intentions to report concussion symptoms across socioeconomic statuses," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    10. Tyler S. Gibb & Kathryn Redinger & Casey Fealko & Sonia Parikh, 2021. "Considerations for Pediatric Retirement from Athletics Following Repetitive Concussive Traumatic Brain Injury: Incorporating the Right to an Open Future," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-10, February.
    11. Fontana, Giuseppe & Gerrard, Bill, 2004. "A Post Keynesian theory of decision making under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 619-637, October.
    12. Anke Wagner & Ladina Schöne & Monika A. Rieger, 2020. "Determinants of Occupational Safety Culture in Hospitals and other Workplaces—Results from an Integrative Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-23, September.
    13. Paul Downward & Andrew Mearman, 2008. "Decision-making at the Bank of England: a critical appraisal," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(3), pages 385-409, July.
    14. Annina Kaltenbrunner, 2018. "Financialised internationalisation and structural hierarchies: a mixed-method study of exchange rate determination in emerging economies," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(5), pages 1315-1341.
    15. Craig A Foster & Christopher D’Lauro & Brian R Johnson, 2019. "Pilots and athletes: Different concerns, similar concussion non-disclosure," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, May.
    16. Tom W. Reader & Mark C. Noort & Steven Shorrock & Barry Kirwan, 2015. "Safety sans Frontières: An International Safety Culture Model," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(5), pages 770-789, May.
    17. Wei Tong Chen & Hew Cameron Merrett & Ying-Hua Huang & Shih Tong Lu & Wen Chun Sun & Yadi Li, 2019. "Exploring the Multilevel Perception of Safety Climate on Taiwanese Construction Sites," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-18, August.
    18. Changquan He & Zhen Hu & Yuzhong Shen & Chunlin Wu, 2023. "Effects of Demographic Characteristics on Safety Climate and Construction Worker Safety Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-20, July.
    19. Keita Suzuki & Satoshi Nagai & Satoru Nishida & Koichi Iwai & Masahiro Takemura, 2023. "Reasons for the Reporting Behavior of Japanese Collegiate Rugby Union Players Regarding Suspected Concussion Symptoms: A Propensity Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-15, January.
    20. Bumjin Han & Seunghyun Son & Sunkuk Kim, 2021. "Measuring Safety Climate in the Construction Industry: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-22, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12229-:d:926194. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.