ASSESEMNT OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PRACTICES; THE CASE OF MANUFACTURING COMPANIES AT GURAGE ZONE

Abstract

Organizations have both legal and moral obligations to provide healthy and safe working environments as well as ensuring the total well-being of their employees.. All organizations even those with limited resources can achieve an important basic requirement for health and safety within the workplace using minimal resources and maximal management and staff commitment. The study adopted Descriptive Research Design inform of Survey where data was collected from population by use of Primary source for purposes of assessing occupational health and safety practices at manufacturing companies of Guragh Zone. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. A Five point Likert scale was used to determine the degree to which various OSH practices are being implemented at the companies. The researcher analyzed and report the information in form of tables, bar graphs, percentages, continuous prose and through use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings of the study established that some occupational safety and health practices were found to have been adopted by the organization. However, safety and health inspection have not been implemented, have no practice of designing equipment and work tasks to prevent injuries(ergonomics practices), the companies have not been adopted an emergency action plan which specifies procedures for handling sudden and unexpected situations and the majority of employee in the companies are work under stress. The study recommends that manufacturing companies maintain effective health and safety practices, and be committed to its success