Perceptions of Ergonomics Importance at Workplace and Safety Culture amongst Safety Health (SH) Practitioners in Malaysia

摘要

The article reports on a study to identify key components which can be used to relate ergonomics awareness and safety culture. These components can be used to facilitate the research which aimed at determining the elements that influence the ergonomics awareness and the relationship with safety culture in an organization. A survey was done using a sample of 108 Safety and Health (SH) practitioners in manufacturing companies in Malaysia. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to examine the SH practitioners perceptions in determining the importance of ergonomics at their workplace and their beliefs on the importance of safety culture to be inculcated at their companies. Principle Components Analysis with the Varimax rotation method was used for this analysis. 20 items for ergonomics importance at workplace were identified after EFA. The variables were i) implication and improvement (10 items), ii) suitability of workplace to the workers (7 items) and iii) ergonomics basic consideration (3 items). Safety culture questions were developed focused on the SH practitioners perceptions on safety climate importance. Three construct models based on 17 items were designed: i) commitment and leadership (7 items), ii) motivation (6 items) and iii) safety management system practice (4 items). This finding is significant in order to further study the influence of the perceptions of SH practitioners on ergonomics importance at workplace to the safety culture.