Examining the Role of Occupational Safety and Health Programs for Effective Organizational Performance; A Survey of Some Organizations in Your Local Government Area (Onitsha South)
Chapter One
General objective
The general objective of the study is to examine the effect of occupational safety and health on employee performance in Some organizations in Onitsha South in Anambra State in the course of its operations.
Specific objectives
- To identify the safety and health hazards at the workplace;
- To assess the safety and health education among workers;
- To determine the type of Personal Protective Equipment used by workers of Some organizations in Onitsha South in Anambra State;
- To provide recommendation for the provision and use of Personal protective equipment;
Chapter Two
Literature Review
Theoretical Review
Nature of health and safety
The first emphasis in risk management in most organizations is health, safety and security, which is discussed next. The terms health, safety, and security are closely related. The broader and somewhat more nebulous term is health, which refers to a general state of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. A healthy person is free from illness, injury, or mental and emotional problems that impair normal human activity. Health management practices in organizations strive to maintain the overall well-being of individuals. Typically; safety refers to a condition in which the physical well-being of people is protected. The main purpose of effective safety programs in organizations is to prevent work-related injuries and accidents (Mathis & H.jackson, 2008).
The system for managing safety and health should be integrated within the company’s business culture and processes and total commitment on the part of management to making health and safety a priority is essential to a successful occupational health and safety programme in the workplace. It is only when management plays a positive role that workers view such programmes as a worthwhile and sustainable exercise (ALLI, 2001).
Health and safety Programmes
Occupational health programmes deal with the prevention of ill-health arising from working conditions. They consist of two elements: 1) occupational medicine, which is a specialized branch of preventive medicine concerned with the diagnosis and prevention of health hazards at work and dealing with any ill health or stress which has occurred in spite of preventive actions, and 2) occupational hygiene, which is the province of the chemist and the engineer or ergonomist engaged in the measurement and control of environmental hazards. Safety programmes deal with the prevention of accidents and with minimizing the resulting loss and damage to people and property. They relate more to systems of work than the working environment, but both health and safety programmes are concerned with protection against hazards, and their aims and methods are clearly interlinked (Armstrong, 2009)
Given the complexity and the extent of occupational health and safety problems, and the many causes of occupational hazards and work-related diseases, no single intervention would be sufficient in itself to constitute an effective occupational health programme. In order to have an impact, action has to proceed at various levels. The practical measures may vary, depending on the degree of technological, economic and social development of the country concerned, the type and extent of the resources available(ALLI, 2001).
Effect of accident reduction on organisational performance
According to Pollitt (2011), supervisors are the link between management and the operative employees, they are in the best position to promote safety. Accidents can be reduced through; accident identification. Even though hazards look different in every workplace and in every type of industry, there are five defined classes. Here’s a list and introductory definitions for each. Physical hazards are things or agents that may come into contact with the body with potential for harm. Many physical hazards are things that can be seen, like a slippery work surface, a loose railing on a scaffold, or a missing guard on a meat slicer. Other physical hazards are referred to as ‘physical agents’. These are sources of energy that can’t always be seen, but still have potential to harm the body. Physical agents include things like level and nature of noise, vibration, radiation, temperature and pressure.
Chemical are in everything around us. They can be natural or manufactured, and come in the form of liquids, gases, vapours, solids or particulates (very small pieces). Naturally occurring and manufactured chemicals both carry potential for harm for people working around them. This potential is based on the level and type of exposure that someone may have to a chemical or chemical product. In Canada, laws like WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) and Transportation of Dangerous Goods are in place to support the safe handling and transportation of certain chemical products. Biological hazards are typically in the form of bacteria and viruses transmitted by contact with insects, birds, animals, plants and fungi, and other humans. Unprotected exposure to biological hazards can result in a range of infections and illnesses. Some may appear fairly commonplace, like catching a cold or a skin rash from the customer served at lunch, but have serious side effects such as a poor recovery. Other types of biological hazards, like body fluid borne diseases or bacteria carried by some fungi,can be extremely dangerous ( pollit 2011).
According to Hudson (2010), ergonomic hazards are caused by the way work tasks are designed and carried out. The injuries that result from ergonomic hazards always affect the muscles and the skeleton, and are the most common type of workplace injury in Nova Scotia. These injuries may happen suddenly, but are more likely to form over very long periods of time. Ergonomic hazards can be seen in work that involves awkward body postures (working in the same body posture for long periods), high body force (lifting or carrying heavy or awkward loads), and high task repetition (same movements over long periods). Improper or poorly designed work stations, tools and equipment are also a part of ergonomic hazards.
Psycho-social hazards can arise out of the many different ways that people interact with each other. This type of hazard may show up as negative workplace conditions like bullying, violence or sexual harassment. It can be due to stress outside or inside the workplace, the type of work being done or because of the attitudes and behaviors that different people bring to their jobs. Psycho-social hazards have the potential to harm our physical and mental health and safety, and the health and safety of the workplace. Nova Scotia’s Workplace Violence Regulation is one example of safety law that guides employers and workers to recognize and deal with psycho-social hazards as seriously they would any other class of hazard ( Matthwman 2006).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
For this study the researcher employed descriptive and explanatory types of research designs. Descriptive research attempted to describes the extent of occupational hazard control programs and what happened in occupational hazard control program of the factory, while explanatory research design attempted to clarify and connect ideas to understand cause and effect relationship between dependent and independent variables that is occupational hazard control programs and organizational productivity. So in this study the researcher had used both descriptive and explanatory research designs.
Target population
Fur leather production factories made up the population with 138 employees. The study targeted the entire population.
Sample size determination
The population was large according to the researcher budget and time, so the researcher determined sample size to know what number of population the researcher would take to get accurate information for the study from a given population. Then the researcher was determined the sample size based on the formula of Yamane, (1967) which is a simplified formula for calculating the sample size for not very large enough and known population size. The formula is as follows;
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Discussion
Regardless of their nature of work, workers should be able to carry out their responsibilities in a safe and secure working environment, free from hazards. These rights are set out in legislation to ensure that employers are clear about the obligations and the consequences for neglecting them, International Labour Organization, (2012).
The study sought to establish the effect of accident reduction on organizational performance in Some organizations in Onitsha south services company Anambra State. The findings are presented in a five point Likert scale where SA=strongly agree, A=agree, N=neutral, D=disagree, SD=strongly disagree and T=total.
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion and Recommendations
Accident reduction (β = 0.352) was found to be positively related performance in Some organizations in Onitsha south services company Anambra state. From t-test analysis, the t -value was found to be2.389 and the ρ -value 0.019. Statistically, this null hypothesis was rejected because ρ<0.05 Thus, the study accepted the alternative hypothesis and it concluded that accident reduction affects performance in Some organizations in Onitsha south services company Anambra state.
Based on the findings, Some organizations in Onitsha south Services Company should provides a health and safety programme to the employees yearly to ensure a health and safe working environment to their employees to reduce cost. They should also enable employees to acquire knowledge and skills on how to deal with health and safety issues while at work. Top management of Some organizations in Onitsha south services company should provide its staff with the support on health and safety issue awareness. The organisation conducts regular reviews and audits based on the accident reduction scheme. They should also have a provision of good people management and supervision; through proper designing of jobs and organizing work groups to make them as satisfying as possible with means of feedback provision to staff about their performance and training and development together with making effective arrangements for communications and consultation enables high performance. Employees should be involved in the decisions made in the company and participation on health and safety issues in the organisation.
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