CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.0
Introduction
Safety and health is far more than a worker wearing a safety helmet on
construction sites. Safety and health is a philosophy that identifies and eliminates job site
hazards throughout the lifecycle of a work project. It is a philosophy that discourages
work practices that place individuals at risk of injury and the integration of safety and
health into the daily work process. It is also the promotion of an environment where
each person in the project construction hierarchy has a role and responsibility for safety
and health.
Construction industry is a very unique industry and unlike fixed workplace like
factory. There is few reasons construction industry more dangerous than other industries.
Firstly, the construction sites are constantly changing and temporary. Each construction
sites involve of many sub-contractors and they perform different types of work in close
proximity to each other. Further, several trades and concurrent tasks are present on
construction site at the same time, which can bring them the specific hazards of their
trade. Certain tasks whereby one trade ends up doing all the tasks usually performed by
another trade, the workers may not be familiar with the hazards involved left by previous
trade. The always changing construction site and regular being moved or modified can
cause new hazards constantly emerging. Besides, construction workers frequently
change worksites and employers over the years. This result they might not been trained
work in new procedures and equipments. Lastly, due to rush for the dateline and quickly
complete projects, it will increase chances of accident occurs.
Building houses is entirely a construction activity, but construction works are also
needed in agriculture, industry, education, health and other service industries. In many
countries, construction contribute for half the annual expenditure on capital goods.
Therefore an increase in the productivity of the construction sector should not
only raise the earnings and profits of those working in that sector but also contribute to an
improvement of the productivity in other sectors and improving general standards of
living as a whole.
The majority of contractors works at construction sites are sub-contractors who
have been hired by main contractor. Under the OSHA, the act tends to hold all parties
responsible for citations and penalties including for those who fail to exercise control of
the construction site safety and health.
The uncontrolled of safety and health on construction site may caused hazardous
conditions go unchecked, which can cause death or serious injuries and sub-contractors
who have bad safety records or perform their work in an unsafe manner are very culpable
(Charles D. & et al. : 1999).
1.1
Study Regards To Employee Concern, Safety and Health Committee and
Government Enforcement
The study by McIntosh and Gurdon on the perceptions and behaviors of managers
concerning the factors influencing their corporate health and safety policies classified and
variables into internal, external and boundary. The internal factors influencing the OSH
programs were the employee concerns, employee turnover, the hierarchical position of
the OSH personnel, and locus of ownership whether local or foreign based company.
The external factors were the government regulation and enforcement, workers’
compensation, the lawsuit taken to the firms and other firm’s practices. The union
relation was a boundary unit to bridge the internal and external factors. They gathered
the data from seven industrial sectors including forestry, paper, construction, steel,
rubber, oil exploration, and chemical which were local and foreign-based companies.
From the OSH records, less accident rates indicated the influential factors shaping the
performance of OSH and the implementation of OSH. They outlined the set of factors,
which were thought to be the most to influence the implementation and the performance
of OSH, the government regulation and enforcement, followed by the employee
concerns, roles of union, and locus of ownership. Stronger enforcement of the
government regulations reduces injuries and illness due to workplace hazards (McIntosh
& Gurdon : 1986) .
In Chung study on the effects of workplace inspections by Korean officials versus
workplace injuries concluded that the inspections had a significant effect on the reduction
of occupational injuries and illnesses. The effects occurred in the year of inspection and
remained at least until the following year. The study also found that the government
intervention had reduced the frequency and severity of workplace accidents was
consistent with others study like Lanoie, Tudor and Dudley (Chung : 1991).
Employee concern is also important to workplace safety and health. In a study by
Crowley on the OSH awareness amongst textile and garment workers in five garment
factories in Penang Free Trade Zone confirmed that other than the government and
management, the workers were either ignorant of many standards of safety procedures or
aware of the hazards but still felt at risk.
Crowley stressed that the workers had
inadequate knowledge of the health and safety risks involved in their workplace. Those
workers who did receive instructions only half of them believed that the instructions were
adequate or covered all the risks involved. In other words there was clearly a large
difference between what the employers and employees perceived as a necessary
instruction. She further related that this misperception holds two potential dangers.
Firstly, clearly not providing an adequate instructional and educational procedure
necessary for an effective safety and health policy, and secondly, providing a possible
tension between employee and employer leading to a breakdown in the very
communication necessary for its implementation (Crowley : 1996).
According to Park , employee participating plans affected the safety enhancing
efforts made by employees and therefore affected the final outcome of workplace safety
(Park : 1997).
Wangel’s carried out empirical study on the basic instruments of safety
organization, the extent of employees involved in OSH activities and safety activities
undertaken on 90 companies out of the total 265 companies listed in the Federation of
Malaysian Manufactures (FMM Northern Region) found several interesting answers.
Her study also included the Small and Medium Industries (SMI) and construction sectors.
She concluded that the basic instruments of safety such as SH committee and SH officers
did exists but their roles were not fully implemented. She also cited that the basic
condition for the involvement of workers in SH activities was only partly achieved. She
suggested a thorough discussion needed to be done in order to develop the level of
achievement (Wangel’s : 1996).
Shepherd found that company managers, temporary workers and annual workers
in an industrial setting about components contributed to the success of safety and health
program noted two interesting findings. Firstly, the perception of employees was that
safety and health referred to injury prevention; instead of illnesses, property damages and
healthy working life. Secondly, the organizational structure, culture and processes played
important roles in the attitudes, perceptions and behaviors relating to a successful safety
and health program (Shepherd: 1996). A behavioral approach to safety could
complement a conventional, environmental approach in sustaining and enhancing the
safety level in an organization (Chhokar : 1984).
Based on the studies discussed above, basically, there were several factors such as
employer commitment, SH committee roles, the enforcement of government regulations
and employee concern in determine the success of safety and health program of an
organization.
2.2
Occupational Safety and Health in Malaysia
Occupational safety and health has become an important issue in today’s society
in terms of economics, moral and legislative. Companies are attempting to remain
profitable and a competitive towards globalization. These companies addressing safety
and health issues as more than a good business practice. For many companies strong
safety and health programs may actually mean survival. Accidents and incidents
statistics are evidence to the extent of this problem.
Based on the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) 2003 reports, the current rate
of workplace accidents is 167 per 10,000 workers per year. The number of occupational
accidents reported in the year of 2003 is 73,858 cases and the number of occupational
deaths account for 822 workers in that year. In construction industry, the SOCSO 2003
report shown out there is 4,654 cases accidents reported. The total death cases of all the
industry is 822 cases and death cases for construction industry is 92 cases and equivalent
11.56 % of the total death percentage of the industry. However the SOCSO report only
involves Malaysian workers and not include foreign workers. As we know that foreign
workers are having the majority involvement which is 90% and if compared to the local
workers which is only 10% of the total employee of the construction industry.
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) enacted in year 1994 by the
Government has shown the serious to the Malaysians personal safety and health. The
introduction of OSHA is a supplementary to the Factories and Machinery Act 1967
which cover all economic activities and all the public sectors and every employer or self-
employed is required to provide a safe and healthy workplace. It is clear that companies
are required by law to ensure that their employees will not be placed in unsafe condition
and unsafe act. For many employers, however, the responsibility to protect human life is
not important to them and they tend to focus on productivity and profits. In fact, the
productivity required to cover costs associated with accidents and incidents in the
workplace and employers can’t deny that the important of the illness and injuries which
proven can affect the productivity and efficiency of the company.
2.3
Implementation of Occupational Safety and Health Program and
Productivity
Implementing safety and health program can increase the productivity at
construction site by reducing accident. Any accident happen at site will cause losses to
contractor and affect the profit. Accident incidents are occurrences result in decreasing
productivity, such as injuries, damage to equipment or property and near misses.
In order to understand the productivity at construction site, we shall take into
consideration regards the efficiency and effectiveness of a construction operation. Thus,
the cost of accidents or incidents surely can give big impact to the efficiency and
effectiveness of the production output. Although the cost of accidents cannot be fully
calculated, we can avoid that by implementing occupational safety and health program at
construction site.
In the process of implementation safety and health in construction, awareness of
few factors will helps in preventing the occurrence of construction accidents (Charles D.
Reese & et al. : 1999). These factors are actual physical hazards, environmental hazards,
human factors, and lack of poorly designed safety standards, failure to communicate
within a single trade and failure to communicate between two or more trades.
Safety and profit have an integral relationship and there is no lack of humanitarian
concern if we view safety from a profit standpoint, providing we recognize that it is
profitable not only to the employee but it is profitable to the worker as well (Joseph P.
Frein : 1980). Hence, we can see that accidents and loses involving both people and
equipment result in a waste of time and money. An employer often believes that as long
as he has provided for insurance to protect himself against direct losses resulting from
accidents, he has no longer any concern whether profit or loss once has paid that
insurance premium.
In Malaysia, we are still lack of preventive measures for reduction of occupational
and illness on construction sites. Preventive measures mentioned has been implemented
for many years by many construction companies world wide driven by the applicable
regulation, with governmental inspectors having the role of verifying the application of
these regulations (Richard J. Coble & et al. : 2000).
2.4
The Fundamental Benefit of Implementation Occupational Safety and
Health Program
The cost of accident is an important financial consideration to most employers.
Most employers rely on the insurance cost as their only positive data for appraising safety
accomplishment or deciding how far to go financially and morally in supporting the
company’s accident prevention efforts. Insurance costs are only a fraction of the total
accident related costs. The root of the problem is that the cost of accidents is hidden in
accounting records. They are not easily retrievable, and line managers are difficult to ask
the accounting systems to produce the accident cost (Joseph: 1993).
Profit is the goal of most business. Employer commitment to implement
occupational safety and health program tends to relate to the organizations’ cost and
profit. Therefore, in determining a bid for a construction project safety measures and
quality requirements are two important elements that influence the price. The cost
dynamics of these two elements are interrelated. Most accidents on construction site are
the result of inadequate safety measures or failure to enforce safety programs (Amarjit
Singh & et al. : 1999).
A study by Anthony J. Joseph regards the justification for safety investment was
explored. The study discovers relationships between safety investments, profit and
accidents justify that safety cost money and can increase profit. The study literature
shown that indirect cost of accidents is at least three times more than the direct cost. It
means that reduction in accident rates will inevitable exponentially increase profit, it can
save lives and increase the profit margin (Amarjit Singh & et al. : 1999).
According to the European Construction Institute, all management and control are
up front costs associated with the introduction and implementation of safety & health
program. These highly visible costs are often seen as a barrier to implementation.
However, it has been demonstrated that these costs are more than offset by the hidden
benefit of planning and doing things right. The introduction and use of safety & health
management makes good business and commercial sense and is part of the role of
management to control the quality and productivity (European Construction Institute :
1992).
The major costs associated with safety & health incidents and accidents can be
categorized as management and organization, damage to reputation, loss of productivity,
litigation and legal fees, delays, sick pay, damage to property and materials, fines,
increased insurance premium and medical costs. Further, the “costs” associated with the
implementation of safety & health management can be categorized as establishment of
safety & health policy and overall company management systems, safety & health
management and organization for project, project safety & health costs and client
administrative costs.
The main benefit of implementing and using a proactive safety & health
management system is the reduction of death and injury at work arising from accidents.
Following from this is the avoidance of costs that would otherwise be incurred when
accidents or incidents occur. Benefits to both parties are achieved through avoidance of
delays to the project, involvement in litigation and management effort in accident or
incident investigations. A large and often unrecognized benefit to both client and
contractor comes from enhanced project performance. A safe, tidy site with good access
is likely to be an efficient site with high morale, fewer disputes, reduced absenteeism and
labor turnover, enhanced team working and better relationships (European Construction
Institute : 1992).
Furthermore, the benefit of implementing the safety and health program also can
increase the productivity in construction site. Productivity is defined as the ratio of
output to input, that is the ratio of the amount produced to the amount of any resources
used in the course of production. The resources may be land, materials, machinery, tools
or manpower. The input is generally a combination of all of them. Productivity increases
if a greater output is achieved for the same input, or if the same output is achieved for a
smaller input.
An increase in production or output does not necessarily indicate an increase in
productivity. If input rises in direct proportion to output, then productivity will stay the
same. And if input increases by a greater percentage than output, then a higher output
will be achieved at the expense of a reduction in productivity (Alan Heap : 1987)
2.5
Parties Responsible For the Construction Safety and Health and Employer’s
Commitment
Injury free working environments are important to business because they
eliminate financial losses associated with injury claims, lost work time, and schedule
delays. As we are generally in business to make a profit, we must recognize that profits
are directly related to the degree to which we are able to avoid losses.
An issue of great personal impact on owners, their representatives, project
manager, and superintendents is that they can be held responsible in courts of law for
injuries resulting from unsafe work practices or unsafe job site conditions, if these could
have reasonable been foreseen and controlled. This is so even if the occurrence is caused
by and affects only subcontractor employees, where it can be demonstrated that there was
the absence of an effective safety program.
When we think of construction safety, our first thought is generally that this is the
responsibility of the contractor. This focus reflects the contractor’s control of their
workplace and their work practices. There are many more characters who must be
involved in establishing a safe job site than just the contractor. All the participants in the
construction process, from the client commissioning the work to the constructor and to
the men and women who perform the work, are integral to the process of establishing a
safe workplace. Therefore, throughout the construction process we must have a means in
place by which hazards can be identified and effectively controlled, and safe work
practices promoted (Richard D. Hislop : 1999).
Facility owners have a vested interest in assuring that an effective construction
safety program is in place on their job sites, as the owners ultimately pay for all losses.
Owners must assure that the contractors they retain to perform work implement efficient
safety programs that integrate safety into routine work practices.
Reasons given in the past by field supervision for poor safety performance on
construction sites are no longer acceptable positions:

“Construction is no place for sissies.”

“I don’t have money for frills like safety.”

“I am forced to choose between production and safety.”
(Richard D. Hislop : 1999).
Employers did not begin the process of establishing safety programs with the
advent of OSHA. Responsibility to control hazardous conditions has been well
documented for some time.
Timidity born out of fear of incurring liability for contractor sub standard
practices by becoming involved in safety is not a good reason to avoid taking action.
Owners may well incur greater liability if they do not become involved. Therefore,
development of a efficient program and sensible documentation is by far a better posture
than being the defendant in a lawsuit.
The root cause of poor safety performance is often the lack of a clear message
from the owner and contractor management that safety is important. Although managers
may profess the importance of safety, their actions may lead their employees to doubt
them. Where employers may in fact be strongly committed to safety, supervisory level
personnel may well be the point of disconnect between employers’ commitment to safety
and the regular application of safe work practices by workers.
Prior to starting a new work project, the host employer must establish that safety
will be an integral part of the project and must require that each employer that comes to
the site have a safety program in place. The host employer must determine once work
has begun that a safety process is being implemented.
Program standards, implementation criteria, and monitoring responsibility must
be clearly defined at the onset of contracted activities. The contract must define that
contractor and subcontractors have a contractual responsibility to perform all on site
operations in accordance with an approved site specific environmental safety and health
plan and have individuals competent to implement the occupational safety and health
program.
2.6
Compliance of Occupational Safety & Health Regulatory
Clients often assume that it is the contractor’s responsibility to comply with
relevant occupational safety and health regulations. They rationalize that it is the
contractors’ problem if they are caught violating regulatory requirements. Clients expect
contractors to be aware of the hazards associated with their work and to take necessary
precautions to protect their own employees from hazards as well as any other individuals
who might be nearby and possible affected by the hazards.
Contractor failure to comply with safety requirements may also have a
detrimental effect on a facility operations. Occurrences resulting from contractor
oversights may affect the facility ability to continue to operate efficiently. This may
affect the completion of the work as per scheduled.
Another very important consideration regarding the amount of trust best owed on
a contractor’s safe work practices is the cost associated with accident losses and the
financial effect and occurrence may have on ongoing facility work activities. Contractor
safety lapses, will have some negative effect on the host employer. Clients often fail to
realize that they are paying the contractor’s costs as long as the contractor remains in
business.
Clients must verify that contractors are aware of the potential hazards present in
the existing work site and that the contractors are prepared to control the hazards
associated with their own work. This requires that the host employer has a basic
understanding of the work to be performed by the contractor and its associated hazards.
Contractor generated hazards could potentially affect the host employer’s staff and
visitors. Additionally, any mishaps or work delays could affect the project’s completion,
which in the final analysis, impacts the client’s operation.
2.7
Establishing and Implementing Safety & Health Program
A more structured occupational safety & health program is required when
working with contractors than is required for a static workforce. A static workforce
generally received more training and has better defined safe work practices than
contractor employees. The growing trend to employ contractors to perform high risk task
and the increasing complexity of projects that require greater specialized work
procedures call for more attention being given to ensuring that safety is integrated into
their work practices.
2.8
Planning
Planning is a significant factor, accounting for the difference between those
clients and contractors with exceptional safety records and those with recurring fatalities
and high insurance claiming rates. A survey of the occupational safety and health
programs of successful employers and a review of reports on major construction project
reveals that planning which includes consideration of the sequence and method of
construction is an element missing in the project evolution process where serious
incidents have occurred. Planning is always found in the evolution of successful projects
2.9
Occupational Safety and Health Program Cost
According to studies conducted by the Business Roundtable, accidents account
for an average of 6.9% of total project costs where effective safety programs are not in
place. The cost of running an effective occupational safety and health program is
reported to be about 0.9% of total project costs. An effective occupational safety and
health program, therefore offers a fair return on that investment.
The program elements included in this cost estimate are as follows:
Salaries for safety, medical, and clerical personnel

Safety meetings

Inspections of tools and equipment

Orientation training

Site inspections

Personal protective equipment

Health programs such as hearing and respirator fit

Miscellaneous supplies and equipment
An effective occupational safety and health program is businesses best guarantee
of increasing profit caused by costs associated with injuries, equipment damage, and
schedule delays. Costs associated with accidental losses cannot be depreciated or written
off as a tax loss. Thus, there directly impact an organization’s net profit.
2.10
Accident is Cost
According to Hammer and Price, accidents and rates are sometimes measured and
indicated by the numbers of occurrences, fatalities or injuries. Over the years, dollar
values have become established as principal means by which costs of accidents are
estimated. All of the item can be expressed as part of an equation:
Total safety
Cost
=
Immediate losses due to accidents
+
rehabilitation and restoration
+
accident prevention costs
+
legal costs + insurance + welfare
+
other safety costs + immeasurable.
The immediate costs are those due to work losses, damages to equipment and
fatalities that must later be repaired or replaced, medical, fire and police personnel, and
similar items. Welfare applies only to those who are out in need because of accidents.
“Other safety costs” include the indirect effects many be increased due to losses that have
already taken place (Hammer & Price: 2001).
In summary, the cost can be broken into the followings: 
Labor time for person killed or injured

Degradation of capabilities in activities such as employment, sports or recreation

Medical cost for immediate care of victims in an accidents or for their extended
care or rehabilitation

Consortium of a spouse who have been killed or severely injured and awards to
surviving children

Labour time of fellow workers distracted by nearly being injured in a fire,
collision or other near miss

Time of managers and other supervisory personnel, clerical, public relations,
other staff members whose activities were distracted or who were required to
participate in corrective action

Equipment, product, system, facility, plants or material damaged or destroyed.

Degraded operations

Overhead costs while damaged or destroyed plants are not operating or productive

Actions to correct deficiencies; redesign or retooling

Description of operation schedules and lessened outputs because of accidents or
unsafe conditions

Recalls, including investigations, redesigns, correction, public notifications, legal
actions and attendant problems

Notifications, investigations and liaisons with internal organizations, insurers and
etc

Accidents evaluation and reporting

Obsolescence of a product and accompanying materials

Loss of prestige

Deterioration of morale of company personnel.

Insurance premiums for workers and compensation

Legal costs such as review of insurance, litigation initiated because of accidents
and their defense.

Fines, penalties or other punitive actions because of violation of public law.
The work area temperature, the amount and quality of light and the levels of noise
are common working condition factors found in all workplaces. These conditions can
affect safety and health in factory premises where mechanization and automation have
brought about changes. If inappropriate or excessive, these factors can strongly influence
how a task is performed and effect productivity (The Institution of Engineers Malaysia :
1974).
There are important safety and health factors. For example hot, humid condition
add to fatigue and cause potential health risks and noise makes hearing of warnings
impossible, causes misunderstanding and lead to permanent loss of hearing (The
institution of Engineers Malaysia : 1974).
2.11
Occupational Safety & Health Committee
Employees tend to be more aware of hazards in the work place than employers
and therefore should be involved in the occupational safety and health program (Lin and
Mills : 2001). They can relate more easily to the occupational safety and health program
if they are involved. It has been shown that regular meetings held on site to find
Occupational Safety and Health problems and solutions and improve accident prevention
(Heberle : 1998).
A safety and health committee often consists of representatives of the employer,
worker and subcontractor. This encourages interaction between the parties and helps
improve trust and communication and the expertise of each party can be put to use.
Safety committees have proved to be effective in discovering unsafe practices and
problems. Giofre and Piendibene suggested that regular inspections of the site by safety
officer promote good job safety (Herberle:1998).
Brun found that the more site visits by upper managers the better the site safety.
Pre-construction site reviews help establish areas of concern and later tool box meeting
find the chance for the employee to be involved. A safety committee helps to promote
accident prevention and safe habits by the employees (Herberle:1998).
According to Hammer and Price (2001), it is always important to plan first before
commencement of work. In term of planning of task in the construction site, it can be
broken into Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Pre-Task Planning (PTP). The purpose of
these tools is to ensure that one study and analyse the possible hazards and plan for the
preventive measures. It is also to uncover and correct hazards which inherent in the
workplace. It should be done with a team that includes the workers, supervisor, safety
engineer and management (Hammer and Price : 2001).
According to Hammer and Price, its success depends upon the vigor this team
exercise during five steps:

Select a job

Break the job down into steps

Identify the hazards and determine the necessary control of the hazards.

Apply the controls to the hazards.

Evaluate the controls.
Hammer and Price also suggested that in Job Safety Analysis (JSA), the
contractor should submit an implementation plan for conducting JSA’s for all
construction activities. JSA’s at a minimum shall consist of the followings: -

To be developed by contractor

To be reviewed and approved by applicable project workgroup

To be conducted before work commences

To be written and made available to supervisor or workers conducting PreTask Plans.

To be documented and made available upon request.
Hammer and Price proposed that in the Pre-Task Planning (PTP), this is a workers
level pre-task planning. It is required prior to commence any work and shall at a
minimum consist of the following:
Pre-task planning is to be led by the supervisor and documented in writing

Conducted at least daily

All workers to participate, at the job location, in pre-task planning and shall
sign the completed plan.

To include hazards and precautions identified in applicable Job Hazard
Analysis.

To be readily available at the work site, posted and/or placed where workers
have knowledge of its location at the work area.

To be reviewed and revised whenever work conditions, or workers change
that may affect the ability to safety complete the work.
According to Heberle, training is an important component of a good safety
management system. The objective of safety training is to train employees at all levels
with the knowledge, skills and attitude, which would enables them to perform their duties
in a safe and efficient manner.
Safety training should include new or transferred employees and personnel at all
levels include safety personnel, managers, supervisors, contractors and front-line workers
(Heberle : 1998).
According to the industrial accidents, report shows by different sector and type in
Malaysia, construction site has very high total cases of accidents, which is about 5.0%.
In the terms of severity of accident, the bulk is in the construction industry (Inforeach :
2002). Refer to Malaysia Industrial Accidents Reported to the Labor Department and
Social Security Organisation by sector and Type of Accident (Socso Report: 2003).
One can easily blame lack of training of workers, poor equipment maintenance
and no supervision for the accidents. However, these all go back to the same source and
Ir. Abu Bakar Che Man commented that it is lack of management commitments. He said
the whole organization is not serious on safety and health, if the top management does
not set aside funds to buy equipment, train staff and promote safety and health (Inforeach
: 2002).
In short, the awareness and the commitment of the employer is very important and
the regulations of occupational safety and health is just sound the danger signal and guide
us towards safety.
2.12
Theoretical Framework
It was clear from the literature review that employee concern, safety and health
committee’s roles, and the enforcement of government regulations and enforcement and
employer commitment can influence the implementation of occupational safety and
health program. The research model that showed the relationship between the variables
for this study was present in Figure 3.1
Figure 3.1 Research Framework
Independent
Variables
a. Employer Commitment
b. Government regulations
and enforcement
c. Employees concern
d. SH Committee’s roles
Dependent
Variables
Implementation
of occupational
safety & health
program
Definition and related concepts focused both on the employees’ perceptions and
behaviors concerning the factors influencing the implementation of OSH in the
organization. Details of the variables involved in this study were explained below: -
2.12.1 Independent Variables – Factors Influencing the Implementation of OSH
Based on the literature review such as Seppala, Abdul Jalil, Chee, McIntosh and
Gurdon, three factors were identified as significant in this study to be presented as the
factors that possible influence the implementation of OSH at the workplace. They are
employer’ commitment, government regulations and enforcement, employees concern
and safety and health committee’s role.
2.12.1(a)
Employer Commitment
Employer commitment is the degree of implementation of OSH program in the
organization. The better awareness of employer will have a better budget and costing for
OSH program. Employer will tend to send their employee for OSH training and get the
competency of their OSH employee. The top management will heavily involve and
concern in all the OSH programs. A strong safety and health culture environment for sure
require a strong support from the employer. OSH problem shall be discussed and
reviewed in the top management meetings. The employer shall delegate and describe
clearly the responsibility and authority through the OSH employee to carry out their duty.
2.12.1(b)
Government Regulations and Enforcement
Based on the Malaysian Government Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994,
the enforcement executed by the Government officers is referred to the inspection of the
workplaces to ensure the organizations comply with the government rules ad regulations,
and increase workplace safety (Chung : 1990 & Chee : 1996). The first type of
inspection performed by the Government officers to workplaces included a surprise visit,
a follow-up inspection and an annual formal inspection. The second type of inspection
included health inspection, plant audit, sample taken and producing certificate of fitness
to the equipment and the plant. The third type of inspection was to investigation on
accident or incidents, and complaints received from the employees and employers and
the public as well. To further enforce the law, the government also produced the
improvement notice and prohibition notice or stop work order to the organization for the
hazards at the place of work or for the non-compliance. Another enforcement area was
taking legal action on the company or prosecuting in the court.
In order to enforce the law properly, it was the government’s task to develop more
regulations and Standard Code of Practice. Shaw and Searle indicated that Government
must facilitate the development of the highest standards of safety and general welfare in
the workplace, both for the sake of workers and their families, and for the sake of
employers. Government regulations could have a positive role in preventing health and
safety hazards at work by working closely with industry and representatives of the
employees. Overseas experience suggested that the use of preventive orders such as
prohibition and improvement notices, was a valuable mechanism in securing compliance
with occupational salty and health legislation but much depended upon the expertise of
the government officers in identifying serious hazards, and its willingness to issue these
notices. To be effective, such orders must be supported by adequate sanctions for noncompliance (Shaw and Sealre : 1995). Gunningham cited that the lack of prosecutions
and enforcement of the Acts was noted as a major failing of the legislation (Gunningham
: 1984).
For the purpose of this study, it was assumed that the stronger the enforcement of
Government regulations the stronger the implementation of OSH at the workplace.
2.12.1(c)
Employee Concern
Employees were particularly effective spokesperson for any organization
(Kennedy : 1997). Within the organization, employees’ concern and demands had
affected the implementation of safety and health at the workplace. Reilly found that all
forms of safety and health implementation that encouraged workers participation in
safety matters would reduce the workplace injury rate (Reilly & et al. : 1995). These
concerns and demands might be expressed in terms of employee behaviors which
included suggestions, number of complaints, wearing and safety equipment given and the
extend to which the employees exhibit cooperation to safety and health program
(McIntosh and Gurdon : 1986 & Abdul Jalil : 1985). The effect of these behaviors may
vary, however, given the emotional intensity attached to the issue and management’s
receptivity. Codrington and Henley cited that the fullest answer must lie in the
development of the approach, which controlled the behavior, and of the individual, which
depended fundamentally on the cooperation between management and employees
(Codrington & et al. : 1981). Such cooperative effort was viewed as essential grounds
that management provisions ultimately depended on employees recognizing that they
often had the final choice as to precautions and complying with safe working practices.
For the purpose of this study, it was assumed that employees were concerns and
demands, which influenced the implementation of OSH program at the workplace.
2.12.1(d)
The Role of Safety and Health (SH) Committee
SH Committee is an important set-up in the organization to ensure better
implementation of OSH in the workplace. Based on the Malaysian Government
Occupational Safety and Health (Safety and Health Committee) Regulations 1996, there
were various functions of the committee. The first function was to assist employer in the
development of safety and health rule and safety systems of work. The second function
was to review the effectiveness of safety and health programs. The third function was to
carry out studies on the trends of accidents, dangerous occurrences, occupational
poisonings or occupational diseases which occurred at the workplace and reported to the
employer of any unsafe or unhealthy condition or practices at the workplace together
with recommendations for corrective actions. The fourth function of the committee was
to review the safety and health policies at the place of work and make recommendations
to the employer for any revision of such policies. The fifth function was to inspect the
workplace of any prejudicial to the safety and health of persons employed and to check
the effectiveness of measures taken to ensure safety and health of the workers. The sixth
function was to investigate into accidents, complaints, dangerous occurrence,
occupational poisoning and disease at the place of work. The last function of the
committee was to prepare and promote rules on safety and health (OSHA : 1994).
Previous research by Reilly & et. al. and Abdul Jalil shown that the establishment of
safety and health committee exerted to positive influence on workplace safety.
The study will examine the SH committee roles, employees interest and
motivation pertaining to OSH at their workplace. Beside, the study do investigate
whether SH Committee gain the full support from the top management and to know
whether the SH committee furnishing the consultation and cooperation between
management and workers in upgrading OSH at the workplace. This study seeks to
examine to what extent does the SH committee play their roles in relation to better
implementation of OSH at workplace.
2.12.2 Dependent Variable – The Implementation of OSH Program
In this context of study, the implementation of OSH in the organization that
encourages workers’ participation in OSH matters to reduce the workplace injury or
illness rate can be categorized into three main areas. There are the policies, organizational
structures and arrangements. Policies refer to the main mission of the company towards
safety especially the OSH policy. The policies will be followed by the organizational
structures of the company towards safety especially the OSH policy. The policies will be
followed by the organizational structures of the company. These structures embody the
designation of OSH officer, committee, manager and even the set up of one Department.
The arrangements or implementation of OSH are included the delegation of authority and
responsibility.
The implementation of OSH can be further shown from the management
commitment such as treating OSH problems as other operational problem in the
managerial meetings, following up of any OSH problems, involving extensively in any
OSH programs, and creating a safety culture environment. These are also included in the
investigations report of accidents, incidents and complaints pertaining to the safety and
health matters.
Furthermore, the management commitment towards the implementation of OSH
at workplaces can be seen through the measures taken on the injury preventions such as
proper housekeeping, machines safety, safe handling of materials and the program of
wearing personal protective equipment. Nevertheless, measures must be taken to prevent
occupational illnesses pertaining to health hazards such as ergonomics, illumination, and
assessment of health hazards, adequate first aid facilities and noise monitoring program.
2.13
Hypotheses
Based on the research model, the following hypotheses will be tested:
H1:
The higher employer commitment on OSH program, the stronger implementation
of OSH.
H2:
The stronger the enforcement of government regulations, the stronger the
implementation of OSH in the organization.
H3:
The higher the employees’ concern and demand on OSH, the stronger the
implementation of OSH in the organization
H4:
The more active roles of the functions of SH Committee, the stronger the
implementation of OSH in the organization.
2.14
Conclusion
Everyone tends to say if we put the safety consideration included in a project we
will never complete a project. However, when we gather all the project team members
include safety and health officer, the project managers, site engineers, safety personnel
and site supervisors to define the sequence and requirements of safety and health criteria
into a project, lastly we will find that they will manage to develop, structure out and get it
done as well. In fact, it is a good idea to invite all the project team members together
before a large undertaking to agree to the sequence of events and the involvement each
member would like to have at each step. In this manner there will be a consensus of what
must take place and who is responsible for its successful execution.
In conclusion, the literature review discussed related to some of the previous
research and topics pertaining to the implementation of occupational safety and health as
the study fundamental guides towards this study. There were several opinions about
factors influencing the implementation of safety and health at workplaces. Some
believed that government’s rules and enforcement to the firm contribute to the
implementation of occupational safety and health, whereas others viewed the
management and workers. From the literature review shown that in the implementation
of occupational safety and health, it was possible to examine the perceptions of the safety
managers and front line workers action on factors influencing the OSH implementation
and how they perceived the safety and health measures implemented at the workplace.