Perceived Factors Affecting Employee Health and Safety at the Teachers Service Commission in Kenya
Abstract
With the rapid industrialization, organizations seek to improve on occupational safety and
health (OSH). However, occupational health and safety is influenced by various factors.
This study sought to determine the factors that affect health and safety of employees at
Teachers Service Commission in Kenya. The study adopted descriptive research design.
The study respondents were all the employees of the Teachers Service Commission who
are 2000 in total. The population was sampled through stratified random sampling.
Primary data was collected using structured and unstructured questionnaires. Data
gathered was analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as factor analysis. The findings
indicate the there was uncertainty on the effect of employee perspectives of working
conditions, training, leadership style, teamwork, attitude, and motivation on the health
and safety of employees. The findings further, revealed that the respondents agreed that
diversity in gender roles may positively influence health and safety in an organization
and were indifferent whether good leadership style is a recipe of health and safety
environment; the respondents agreed that employees with positive attitude on health and
safety rarely engage on unsafe behaviors and were indifferent whether work attitude has
direct effect on employee safety. The study concluded that there is limited understanding
of the importance of proper working condition, training on health and safety, an inclusive
leadership style, teamwork, positive attitude towards health and safety and motivated
employees in reducing ill health and accidents at the work place. The findings of the
factor analysis concludes that the most relevant factor that affects employee health and
safety is employee attitude followed by leadership, motivation, teamwork, being training
and last being working conditions in that order. This indicates that the variables were of
relevance to employee health and safety in the order of the objective with the highest
mean to the one least mean. The study recommends that in order to ensure employee
health and safety, employers should improve working conditions, train the employees on
health and safety, adopt inclusive leadership styles, and ensure motivated employees with
positive attitudes. The study also recommends the formulation of policies that ensure
employers provide safe work environments for employees. Build the capacity of workers
to understand the importance of health and safety. Compulsory working safety standards
should be provided. Leadership Style in organizations should be effective in influencing
and supporting others to follow them and to do willingly the things that need to be done.
Organizations should strive to enhance the effectiveness of teamwork by eliminating
power and authority conflicts, interpersonal and unusable relationships. To enhance
health and safety, teamwork should empower employees by facilitating full potential
realization despite the more critical perspectives being taken lately. Members of the team
will gain essential gains from autonomy, job satisfaction, identification with work and
greater skills development thereby promoting the health and safety of team members.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Subject
Employee Health and SafetyRights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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