A Qualitative Analysis of Factors Related to Unsafe Work Behaviors Among Environmental Service Workers in the COVID-19 Era: Perspectives of Workers, and Safety Managers: The Case of Government Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: The Environmental service profession is hazardous, partially because of the work's inherently dangerous nature. Thus, injuries, accidents, and illnesses result in substantial financial and social losses. The most common immediate cause of these work-related incidents is unsafe work-behavior; the first step in taking steps to prevent unsafe behavior is to recognize the factors promoting it. The goal of this study was to (a) investigate the attitudes and perceptions of safety among the employees and safety managers of Coronavirus treatment hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and (b) identify the factors that inhibit safe work behaviors.Methods: Two qualitative data collection approaches, namely key informant interviews and individual in-depth interviews, were used to collect data for this study. Twenty-five participants were recruited from three Coronavirus treatment facilities using a modified convenience sampling strategy, and interviews were conducted to gain a detailed understanding of factors that serve as barriers to safe work behavior. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in Amharic (the local language) and then translated into English. Open Code 4.02 was used for thematic analysis.Results: Poor safety management and supervision, unsafe work environment, and perceptions, skills, and training level of employees were established as the major factors associated with the prevailing unsafe work behavior among environmental service employees.Conclusions: The present study showed that different types of personal and environmental factors may discourage safe work behavior among environmental service workers. To minimize or remove these risk factors for unsafe behaviors, the individual's obligation is important, but the role of management is critical in providing resources for safe work behavior.

A Qualitative Analysis of Factors Related to Unsafe Work Behaviors among Environmental Service Workers in the COVID-19 era: Perspectives of Workers, and Safety Managers: The case of Government Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: The Environmental service profession is hazardous, partially because of the work's inherently dangerous nature. Thus, injuries, accidents, and illnesses result in substantial financial and social losses. The most common immediate cause of these work-related incidents is unsafe work-behavior; the first step in taking steps to prevent unsafe behavior is to recognize the factors promoting it. The goal of this study was to (a) investigate the attitudes and perceptions of safety among the employees and safety managers of Corona virus treatment hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and (b) identify the factors that inhibit safe work behaviors.Methods: Two qualitative data collection approaches, namely key informant interviews and individual in-depth interviews, were used to collect data for this study. Twenty-five participants were recruited from three Corona virus treatment facilities using a modified convenience sampling strategy, and interviews were conducted to gain a detailed understanding of factors that serve as barriers to safe work behavior. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in Amharic (the local language) and then translated into English. Open Code 4.02 was used for thematic analysis.Results: Poor safety management and supervision, unsafe work environment, and perceptions, skills, and training level of employees were established as the major factors associated with the prevailing unsafe work behavior among environmental service employees.Conclusions: The present study showed that different types of personal and environmental factors may discourage safe work behavior among environmental service workers. To minimize or remove these risk factors for unsafe behaviors, the individual's obligation is important, but the role of management is critical in providing resources for safe work behavior.

Evaluating Safety Climate Impact on Safety Behaviour of the Worker in Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs) Wood Furniture in Bandengan Village, Jepara

Small and Medium-sized wood furniture in Jepara is able to create jobs and employ about 40-50 per cent of the 700,000 productive lives in Jepara. However, the results of the preliminary study show that 29 out of 30 people had experienced work accidents that caused injuries, such as: tear wounds, hammered hands, chiseled hands, sanded hands by machines. There are also occupational diseases such as breathless, eye irritation, skin irritation due to sawdust of production process, as well as musculoskeletal disease. This study aims at evaluating the influence of safety climate to safe work behavior. Data is collected using Safety Climate Questionnaire (SCQ) including 6 variables (Communication & Support, Adequacy of Procedures, Work Pressure, Personal Protective Equipment, Relationships & Safety Rule). There are 110 respondents (represent small-sized enterprise worker) and 210 respondents (represent medium-sized enterprises worker). This study also differs the small and medium sized-enterprises as the independent variable. The descriptive test results show that every variable of safety climate and safety behavior in medium Enterprises has a mean value greater than in small business. The six factors in the safety climate together have a significant influence on safety behavior in small and medium enterprises.

The Assessment of the Ability of Various Heat Stress Indices to Predict Safe Work Behavior

Six major heat stress indices are evaluated through this paper by the efficiencies at predicting workers' safety behavior. Actual temperature and safety sampling data were taken in two industrial plants for a five month period (July through November). Those data were converted to computer and analyzed in different models. HSI (Heat Stress Index) appears to be the best predictor because of its including the factor of metabolic work load. NET (New Effective Temperature) seems to be the best one among the pure thermal indices. WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) and DB (Dry Bulb Temperature) are two easily obtained thermal indices for predicting human safety behaviors.