Workplace safety, Employee safety attitudes and employee productivity of manufacturing firms

Abstract

Orientation: The manufacturing sector in Kenya has been experiencing employee safety and productivity issues despite adopting safety programmes and laws regulating employee safety. Employee safety attitudes significantly worsen workplace safety and productivity problems.

Research purpose: The study determined the intervening effect of workplace safety attitudes on the relationship between workplace safety and employee productivity in manufacturing firms in Kenya.

Motivation for the study: Manufacturing firms adopt new technologies that expose employees to new safety risks, while globalisation has led to a diverse workforce with diverse safety attitudes.

Research approach/design and method: This study is grounded on the risk homeostasis theory; it adopted a cross-sectional survey research design guided by a positivist research philosophy. The target population comprised 853 manufacturing firms registered with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. A sample of 124 firms distributed across the 14 sub-sectors in the manufacturing sector was obtained using a statistical formula to ensure all sectors were represented. Regression analysis was carried out in four steps to assess the intervening effect of workplace safety attitude on the relationship between workplace safety attitude and employee productivity.

Main findings: The coefficients were significant in each step, therefore leading to the conclusion that employee safety attitude significantly intervened in the relationship between workplace safety and employee productivity.

Practical/managerial implications: The study offers managerial insights into the situational position of workplace safety, employee safety attitudes and employee productivity.

Contribution/value-add: The study provides epistemological insights on the impact of employee safety attitudes on workplace safety and employee productivity.