Abstract
M.Cur. (Occupational Health Nursing)
Despite the available research findings, information, international recommendations, commission reports, political leadership, government commitment and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act no. 85 of 1993), as well as the legislative framework, there are still challenges with regard to the implementation of selected sections and regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act no. 85 of 1993) (OHS Act). This is evidenced by the occupational injuries and illness claims registered with the compensation fund (SA Department of Labour, 1993).
The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the OHS Act was implemented at an academic hospital in Johannesburg, from the senior professional nurses and nursing managers’ perspective, and to describe recommendations in order to facilitate the implementation of the Act. A contextual, quantitative, exploratory and descriptive survey was conducted. A purposive sampling method was used to select the wards, senior professional nurses and nursing managers who met the inclusion criteria. A structured, Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect data (Brink, 2011). Stata version 12 was used to analyse the data. Cronbach’s alpha, with a cut-off point of 0.7 was used to test for internal consistency. Ethical considerations were in accordance with those of the Faculty of Health Science Higher Degree and Ethics Committee (2005).
Results are presented in the form of graphs for demographic information, and frequency distributions for selected sections and regulations of the OHS Act are displayed in Tables. The study revealed that from the selected sections and regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act no. 85 of 1993), 95.4% of section 8; 100% of section 14; 75% of both sections 17 and 19 were not implemented, while 100% of all four regulations were also not implemented. Furthermore, the study revealed that overall there is 93.3% no implementation of the selected sections and regulations of the OHS Act, where 42 of the 45 items were not implemented. These results have serious implications on the health and safety of employees in the workplace. The recommendations made in the study will assist to facilitate the implementation of the selected sections and regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act no. 85 of 1993), at an academic hospital in the Johannesburg.