Pressure for Production and Employee Safety Behavior Among Ghanaian Power Generation Companies: The Moderating Role of Management Commitment to Safety and Priority of Safety on Plant.

Abstract

The most part of safety literature indicates that employees fashion their safety related behaviors in accordance with the perceived climate. This present study examined three dimensions of safety climate (management commitment to safety, priority of safety on plant and pressure for production). The aim of the study was to examine whether the pressure placed on the power generation companies in Ghana as a result of the erratic power supply (‘Dumsor’) has implications for employees’ safety behavior and whether management commitment to safety and safety priority on plant play a role in the relationship. The sample consisted of 214 technical workers from two major power producing companies in Ghana. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect data. Simple linear regression and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were carried out to test the direct effect of the three safety climate dimensions on safety behavior and the moderating roles of management commitment to safety and priority of safety on plant on the relationship between pressure for production and employee safety behavior respectively. The results showed that pressure for production was negatively related to employee safety behavior whereas management commitment to safety and priority of safety on plant were positively related to safety behavior. Moreover, management commitment to safety and priority of safety on plant when introduced as moderators indeed reduced and changed the direction of the negative relationship between pressure for production and employee safety behavior respectively. It was therefore recommended that management commitment to safety must be evident in the priority of safety on plant through actions and policies such as zero tolerance for non-compliance and non-participation of employees in safe behaviors in spite of the level of production pressure being experienced.