Perception of safety culture among workers in research universities in Malaysia

摘要

The occupational safety and health issue has become a major concern in the educational industry, especially universities. This is because the field of study that offers science, technology and engineering-oriented involves the use of dangerous equipments and hazardous materials in the laboratory. The introduction of safety culture, which includes rules and procedures, safety policy, training, leadership, management commitment, communication, reward system and involvement are seen as systematic progress towards zero accident in the workplace capable of guaranteeing safety in universities. This study aims to explore the perception of workers towards safety culture in research universities (RUs) in Malaysia. Five RUs namely UM, USM, UKM, UPM and UTM were chosen for this study. Methods of data collection used were questionnaires. A total of 470 respondents were randomly selected as a sample of study which represents the workers from three categories such as lecturers, safety officers and lab assistantsfrom the Faculty of Science in each RUs. The collected data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0. The data were summarized using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings showed that employees perceived safety policy as the most important element of safety culture and reward systems as the least important elements of safety culture. Therefore, establishing a positive safety culture by all RUs should be considered when creating zero accident.