The extent of compliance with occupational safety and health regulations at registered workplaces in Nairobi

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the extent to which employers have implemented Occupational Safety and Health regulations at their workplaces. It further determined the measures organizations have put in place at their workplaces to comply with the occupational safety and health regulations. The study was based on a population of 2168 registered workplaces in Nairobi, of which a sample of 112 was taken. The sample size was determined according to Bartlett et al (2001), table for determining sample size for a given population. The study was a survey design and primary data was collected using questionnaires. The data was analyzed using descriptive, factor and regression analysis. The elements used to determine the extent of compliance with occupational safety and health regulations at workplaces were categorized into five factors (independent variables) namely; safety, hygiene, emergency fire protection and health regulations. All the independent variables were linearly related with the dependent variable using a model of five predictor variables to rate the compliance with occupational safety and health regulations at workplace. The study found that 90 percent of the respondents were generally aware of the existence of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007. Over 80 percent of the respondents were of the view that administration and enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007, was good and the Act gives adequate provisions for the safety and health of employees at workplace. However, inspection and examination of workplaces by occupational safety and health officers is at the level of 52.2 percent, which is low and could be perhaps one of the factors responsible for lack of full compliance. Overall, the v extent of compliance with Occupational Safety and Health regulations at workplaces stands at 64.49 percent. Organizations still have an outstanding 35.51 percent level of no-compliance which they need to work on in order to minimize the consequences of non-compliance.