Masters Degrees (Industrial Psychology)
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Browsing Masters Degrees (Industrial Psychology) by Subject "Accidents -- Prevention"
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- ItemExploring the influence of safety knowledge on employee safety behaviour within the manufacturing industry(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Scheepers, Clarissa; Mariri, Tendai; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology.ENGLISH SUMMARY: Safety performance is a high priority for South African high-risk industries due to the elevated accident frequency and extreme likelihood of serious injury and death whenever an accident occurs in these industries. The prevalence of and considerable financial and human cost associated with poor safety warrant a deeper understanding of the determinants of poor safety. Safety behaviour is considered one of the key contributing factors to accidents, injuries, near misses and fatalities. This study investigated the influence of safety knowledge on employees’ safety behaviour within the context of other relevant individual human factors. A critical review of the literature on the constructs of interest culminated in the formulation of research hypotheses in addition to the development of a Safety Knowledge-Safety Behaviour structural model. An ex-post facto correlational research design was used, and a convenience sampling technique was chosen to invite research participants to participate in the study. Quantitative data was collected using a self-report questionnaire from a sample of 185 operational workers at a manufacturing organisation based in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Partial Least Squares structural equation modelling was performed to analyse the data collected and to empirically test the theoretical model. The research results indicated support for the majority (11 out of 17) of the hypothesised relationships. The results revealed that acquired safety knowledge can significantly promote safety behaviour directly and indirectly, through other individual human factors. The results were generally consistent with the theory of planned behaviour, upon which the study was theoretically anchored. In particular, the study found that safety behaviour intention influences safety behaviour. Moreover, safety behaviour attitude and perceived control safety behaviour were both found to positively affect safety behaviour intention. The results indicate that workers’ perceived safety knowledge may not translate directly into safety behaviour. Safety behaviour attitude played a key role as a mediator between perceived safety knowledge and safety behaviour intention, indicating an indirect link between perceived safety knowledge and safety behaviour. Even more so, perceived control safety behaviour was identified as a mediator in the association between safety self-efficacy and safety behaviour intention. These results contribute theoretically to the research field regarding the usefulness of individual human factors in the enhancement of employee safety behaviour and, by extension, safety. Practically, the findings provide valuable insight for South African manufacturing organisations, as practitioners could develop interventions targeted at enhancing employee safety behaviours, based on the study’s results and conclusions.