Abstract
Leaders within organisations need to cope with a constantly changing business environment and increased competition for resources. In addition to this, organisations need to provide employees with a safety working environment to ensure zero harm to their employees and other stakeholders. There are various strategies that are implemented to prevent injuries to employees in the workplace, however there are numerous employees who are injured frequently across the world. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the factors that influence employee safety in the workplace. A qualitative study was conducted at Company A, a South African petrochemical organisation. The research data was gathered for the study through the methodology of a case study, solicited documents from the organisation, and unstructured interviews. Content analysis was utilised by the researcher to analyse the data and identify themes that emerged from the unstructured interviews and solicited documents. The researcher also used descriptive statistics in the research study to highlight summaries of the key observations made and the data collected. The following were identified as factors that influence employee safety in the workplace: a) Leadership b) Supervisor support c) Behaviour based safety d) Complacency e) Remuneration f) Job security g) Job attitude and satisfaction h) Hazards and risks i) Work pressure j) Planning k) Training and competency l) Respect m) External/Personal Factors and n) Communication. A conceptual model for workplace safety was developed from the identified themes and compared with the integrative model of workplace safety developed by Christian, Bradley, Wallace and Burke (2009). Limitations within the study were identified and recommendations were made for the organisation and for further research.
M.Com. (Business Management)