Safety Rule Breaking in Disasters: A Qualitative Analysis on Disaster Volunteers

Authors : Şeyhmus Aksoy, Ömer Demirbilek, Esengül Kaya

Pages : 166-181

Doi:10.35341/afet.1462974

View : 96 | Download : 181

Publication Date : 2025-04-10

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Volunteers are considerable human source in disasters. The stress, pressure and difficult conditions of disasters can lead to breaking of safety rules by employees, especially young people. Safety breakings may lead to stoppage or failure of the activities. This research focus on the young volunteers’ safety rule breaking behavior in disasters. Based on job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews from individuals working in the regions affected by the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake. The research sample consisted of 17 young disaster volunteers between the ages of 18-26 who were eligible for criterion sampling. The data were analysed thematically, theory-oriented and deductively. As a result of the thematic analysis, 3 themes, namely job demands, job resources and breaking of safety rules, and 16 categories under these themes were discovered. Results implied that young volunteers use work resources against intense work demands. Although studies in the field of organisational safety suggest that job resources increase safe behaviour, this study indicates that the job resources of volunteers in disasters may increase breaking of safety rules.
Keywords : Disaster, Job Demands, Job Resources, Safety Rule Breaking, Volunteering, Volunteering in Disaster