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EFFECT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY ON EMPLOYEE’S PRODUCTIVITY

ABSTRACT

The title on this research work is “the effect of health and safety on employee’s productivity using Cadbury Nigeria Plc as a case study. The main aim is to make research if indeed health and safety measures can be regarded as a major contributor to the growth and development of any organization. The research work is also serves as a means to identify the variables that are controllable by management which to certain degree have a direct impact on the performance. The sources of data collection was both primary and secondary with the application of questionnaires as an instrument to gather the necessary data. The questionnaires were properly completed after being administered and this was a basis by which the primary data were collected. Textbooks, journals, articles, law reports, newspapers publications, were collected as secondary data, and also limitations to the study were indicated. The hypothesis was tested using chi-square test (X2) and the result were similar to those of the responses drawn from the questionnaires.  The researcher was able to discover that in Cadbury Nigeria Plc, employees are regarded as a major contributor to the growth and development of any organization, and as such, it is necessary that health measures should be put in place they are not independent of organizational productivity. Moreso, it can be seen that employees health and safety has a large effect on organizational productivity. As a result of this, it is of great importance and necessity that every organization should create adequate health and safety measures in order to protect employees.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Health and safety is an important aspect of any organization requiring adequate attention. “The practise of occupational health enjoyed a boost after the second world war, when most European countries embarked on an industrialization drive and in the process were confronted with the ills of industries” (Clarke, 2004).Since then, various discipline embodied in occupational medicine, nursing, hygiene, and safety have evolved to various extent in different countries. Other discipline with strong links to occupational health including occupational health and occupational aspects of ergonomics, psychology, toxicology, and more recently industrial relation, have evolved alongside and are now accepted as disciplines closely related to occupational health and safety.

The major objective of every organisation is maximising profit at the minimum cost and one of the ways in which this can be achieved, is by increasing productivity. Every organisation has an obligation to utilise properly the factors of production in order to acquire organisation productivity and growth. Among the various factors of production, labour has been noted the most unique. This is because, it has a mind to think, to resist and therefore to take actions which may be in favour of the organization, and as such the organisation has a great role to play in ensuring that the labour force is properly catered for.

Accidents in organisation are inevitable occurrence. Some of these are fatal, and could result into temporary or permanent disability. The cost these accidents is of great detriment to the organisation. Therefore, when an organization takes time and effort in looking into health hazards and accident in its environment, it could result in employee job satisfaction, and a satisfied employee is a productive employee. In many industries, the importance of employee’s health is played down. This is often illustrated by the delegation of employee’s safety and health as an additional responsibility to cover burdened professionals specialised in other discipline rather creating full time position for employee’s safety and health specialist (Clark 2004). At other times, workers and workers union often do not appreciate the extent that could arise from poor employees safety and health conditions and therefore spend their energies fighting for remuneration investing much less effort into work and improved occupation. In the same vein, industries have very little in supporting employees’ health and safety services and research.

To have a greater knowledge on employee’s health and safety, it would be required to distinguish between the two parties: Safety is mainly concerned with the prevention aspect of diseases or accident, the aim being to ensure that any accident or diseases does not occur due to ignorance or inability of the employers or employees to forestall such occurrences. While employees health on the other hand, ensures that the outbreak of any diseases occurrence is curtailed and adequately handled “this is what influences organizations in embarking on safety and health programme for their employees through operations of medical schemes”. (Hienneman 1983) “The price of not paying attention to employees health is injurious, the accident, diseases, lost work time, death etc have multiplying effects on the fortunes of the organization” (Esuyi 2002). Particularly, the gross is born by the workers as his/her productivity begins to dwindle. It is thus the aim of this research to navigate into the depth of employee’s health and safety and to determine its impact on workers’ productivity.

This study focuses on “employee’s health workers’ productivity” productivity can simply be defined as the relationship between the output generated and by a production or service system and the input provided to create this output. Industrial accident and diseases lead to loss of working days, which could mean decrease in productivity. Health and safety of employees is therefore an important issue which if studied carefully and thoroughly, could be of great benefit to the organisation as well as the nation at large. Thus, the improvement of health and safety measures could yield the best result in terms of productivity and general development of the nation.

1.2   STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

A popular maxim exist that will be difficult to refute, “HEALTH IS WEALTH”. In the light of their maxim, it is believed that the good health of workers will invariably results to improved workers’ productivity. It is in this context that the intention here would be to find out how health and safety management operates its importance and its actual practise in organisation using WAPCO PLC. The actual problem lies between the stated importance and the actual practice of health and safety. The problem of inadequate employee’s health and safety measures in organisation is an issue which has been in industry for long. Effort has been made in both developed and developing countries to curb down this problem, by frequently bringing out act and laws to protect the employees from physical, mental and psychological health hazards in the organization.

The developed countries have sort various ways of reducing this problem because they are aware of the cost, the developing countries till today are still fighting this problem. This issue of employees’ health and safety is a problem because, health and safety hazard are real and potential danger which can cause accident or ill health at work, and can directly or indirectly affect the workers, family, organization, and the nation. This may be hidden as noise, dust, chemical poisoning, or can be caused by natural factor such as climate. All these hazards, in which ever form it comes have serious implications on health and safety of workers and the existence of this problem could be of great detriment to the community and nation at large. For this reason, solution of this problem would without doubt lead to solution of many other problems. This can be done through a concerted approach by employer, the government, and the workers whose overall effort can make major improvement towards making our work places healthy and safe.

1.3      PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Employees health and safety and its effect on productivity, has become a wide spread issue and is of paramount importance now more than ever. It is essential to promote good health and safety practices, and ensure the adequate provision of safety devices. This research work is aimed at examining health and safety employee in WAPCO PLC. Therefore, these are the specific objectives following:

1. To examine the various factors that may affect/influence employee health and    safety hazard in the workplace.

2. To examine and identify some contemporary health and safety hazard in the workplace.

3. To understand some vital development in employee health and safety legislature.

4. To evaluate instrument used by WAPCO PLC to reduce stress related injuries, diseases and death.

5. To determine, if WAPCO PLC have a safe and healthy working conditions.

1.4      RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In order to make valid the purpose of this research, the following questions would be addressed:

1. Does employee health affect the organisation productivity

2. Does the provision of adequate safety material influence the prevention of occupational hazards?

3. Does the productivity of medical facilities in WAPCO PLC have affect the productivity of a worker?

4. Does safety and prevention of occupation hazard reduce the number of accident that occurs?

5. Does adequate safety measures a criterion for the reduction of accident in a work place?

6. Is the provision of employee’s facilities necessary for the promotion of an organization life time?

7. Does the good working condition act as motivating factors to the employees?

1.5      RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

1.H1: Employees health measures are not independent of organizational   productivity?

2. H2: Safety measures cannot be used independently as a criterion for reduction of accident in work environment?.

3. H3:  Medical facilities in WAPCO PLC do not improve workers productivity?

4. H4: A safety environment is not independent of employee’s motivation?

1.6      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The research would be great significance to WAPCO NIGERIA PLC as an organization and the nation at large, in order to improve their employee’s health and safety standards and as such reduce their cost. Also recommendation would be made on ways in which the employers, government, trade union could jointly make effort to promote health and safety in WAPCO NIGERIA PPLC thereby acting as a catalyst to influence other industries and generally improving the whole nation if this research is successfully carried out. The study would further assist in showing how the various acts enacted are useful and should be implemented. If the study is accepted and appreciated, it could be significance to the nation as well.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The researcher intends concentrating this research on the corporate activities of WAPCO NIGERIA PLC as regards the occupational health and safety measures put in place to ensure employees job satisfaction and organizational productivity, thereby maintaining the lead in the promoting of health and safety of employees in Nigeria.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

i.  ACCIDENT: A sudden and unexpected event that cause injury or damage. Also means any unplanned and controlled event which results in damage whether through injury or disease to an employee, plant and equipment.

ii.  EMPLOYEE: Anyone who works for wages or salaries in the service of an employer.

iii. HAZARDS: Is a source of risk that could result in damage or loss.

iv. HEALTH: A state of being hale, sound or whole in body, mind and soul, that is from physical diseases or pain.

v.  JOB SATISFACTION: Is the feeling of contentment that an employee have over the achievement gotten from work, for which the employee receives regular payments.

vi. LABOUR TURNOVER: This is the cause and effect of employment apart from being a measure of the moral and efficiency or otherwise of workers (Indian Labour Statistic) (1962) Also means the number of workers hired to replace those who have left during a period of time that is the ratio of those who left to the average number of workers employed.

vii. MOTIVATION: It is the willingness to work, it is the drive and stimulation that enables individuals to perform. It is a fuel that drives you to perform a particular task.

viii. UNEMPLOYMENT: A state idleness experienced by personnel who as members of the labour force perceive themselves, and are perceived by others as capable to work.

ix. PRODUCTIVITY: Is the ratio or proportion of output of the commodity to the factors of production. According to “Mayadeo and Karmarker” may be defined “as the ratio between the production of a given measured by volume and one and more corresponding input factors also measured by volume”

x. ORGANIZATION: A group of people who come together to form a business in other to achieve a particular aim or objectives.

xi. SAFETY: This is the condition of being safe; it improves freedom from danger and hazards or keeping of oneself or other safe especially from danger of accident or diseases.  

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