UNIVERSITY OF GHANA OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY AS A PREDICTOR OF COMMITMENT AMONG WORKERS IN THE GHANAIAN MINING SECTOR BY PATRICIA MUAH 10250309 THESIS SUBMITTED TO UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIRMENT FOR THE AWARD OF AN MPHIL IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (HUMAN RESOUCE MANAGEMENT OPTION) DEGREE June 2014 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i DECLARATION I do hereby declare that this work is the result of my own research and has not been presented by anyone for any academic award in this or any other university. All references used in the work have been fully acknowledged. I therefore bear sole responsibility for any shortcomings. ………………………………………. …………………………………… PATRICIA MUAH DATE (10250309) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LENOVO Placed Image LENOVO Placed Image ii CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by University of Ghana. …………………………………………….. ………………………………… KWESI AMPONSAH-TAWIAH (PHD) DATE (SUPERVISOR) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LENOVO Placed Image LENOVO Placed Image iii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my father, Mr. John Eduku Muah and to all my siblings for their support and encouragement. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I offer my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah for his timeless dedication, patience, constructive criticisms and expert knowledge offered in the completion of this thesis. Also, I expressed my profound appreciation to Professor Harry Akussah, the Vice Dean at the School of Graduate Studies for his support financially, encouragement and motivation throughout my thesis writing. My sincere thanks also go to all the mining companies that granted the permission to gather data from their employees for this research. My next, appreciation goes to all my course mates (M. Phil II, Human Resource Management class- 2013/2014 batch) especially Albert Amankwah Evelyn Twumasi, Isaac Adu Nyarko and Joseph Ocran. Special thanks go to my family for their support and encouragement. I could not have accomplished this study without their unwavering support and understanding. Lastly, I wish to thank all those who in one way or the other contributed to the accomplishment of this study. God richly bless you all. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................ i CERTIFICATION ..................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................1 1.0 Background of the study ........................................................................................................1 1.1 Research Problem ..................................................................................................................7 1.2 Research Purpose ..................................................................................................................9 1.3 Main Objective ......................................................................................................................9 1.3.1 Specific Objectives .............................................................................................................9 1.4 Research Questions ...............................................................................................................9 1.5 Hypotheses .......................................................................................................................... 10 1.6 Significance of the Study ..................................................................................................... 11 1.7 Scope of the Study............................................................................................................... 12 1.7.1 Anglogold Ashanti Company Limited .............................................................................. 12 1.7.2 Goldfieds Ghana Company Limited .................................................................................. 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi 1.7.3 Golden Star Resource Limited .......................................................................................... 14 1.8 Chapter Disposition ............................................................................................................. 15 1.9 Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 19 2.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 19 2.1 Historical Review ................................................................................................................ 19 2.2 The Concept and definition of occupational health and safety .............................................. 23 2.3 Importance of Occupational Health and Safety in an Organization ...................................... 27 2.3.1 Socio-Economic Effects of Occupational Accident and Fatalities ..................................... 29 2.4 Dimensions of Occupational Health and Safety ................................................................... 31 2.4.1 Management Safety Practices ........................................................................................... 31 2.4.2 Supervisor Safety ............................................................................................................. 32 2.4.3 Safety Programs ............................................................................................................... 33 2.4.4 Co-worker Safety ............................................................................................................. 34 2.4.5 Job Safety ......................................................................................................................... 36 2.5 Occupational Health and Safety Issues in Africa .................................................................. 37 2.6.1 Occupational Health and Safety legislation in Ghana ........................................................ 39 2.6.2 Problems of OHS Legislations in Ghana ........................................................................... 40 2.6.3Health and Safety Issues in Ghana ..................................................................................... 41 2.6 Occupational Health and Safety Issues in the Mining .......................................................... 43 2.7.1 Concept and Definition of Commitment ........................................................................... 46 2.7.2 Effect of Organizational Commitment .............................................................................. 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 2.8.1 Contemporary Theories of Organizational Commitment ................................................... 49 2.8.2 The Becker‘s ‗Side-Bet‘ Theory ....................................................................................... 49 2.8.3 The Mowday, Porter and Steers‘ Model ............................................................................ 51 2.8.4 The O‘Reilly and Chatman Model .................................................................................... 52 2.8.5 The Meyer and Allen Three- Component Model ............................................................... 53 2.8.6.1 Affective Commitment .................................................................................................. 54 2.8.6.2 Normative Commitment ................................................................................................ 56 2.8.6.3 Continuance Commitment ............................................................................................. 57 2.8.7 Personal characteristics and Organizational Commitment ................................................. 58 2.9 Occupational Health & Safety and Commitment ................................................................. 60 2.10 Theoretical Review............................................................................................................ 62 2.10.1 Social exchange Theory .................................................................................................. 62 2.10.2 Reciprocity Theory ......................................................................................................... 64 2.10.3 Equity Theory................................................................................................................. 65 2.10.4 Affective Event Theory .................................................................................................. 65 2.10.5 Herzberg Two Factor Theory .......................................................................................... 66 2.10.6 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 69 3.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 69 3.1 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 69 3.2 Study Population ................................................................................................................. 70 3.3 Sample Frame ..................................................................................................................... 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 3.4 Sample Size......................................................................................................................... 71 3.5 Sampling Technique ............................................................................................................ 72 3.6 Unit of Analysis .................................................................................................................. 73 3.7 Data Collection Methods and Instruments ........................................................................... 73 3.7.1 Measurement Instruments ................................................................................................. 74 3.7.2 Pilot Study ........................................................................................................................ 75 3.8 Method of Data Analysis and Presentation ........................................................................... 76 3.9 Ethical Issues and Considerations ........................................................................................ 78 CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................... 79 4.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 79 4.0 Background of the Sample ................................................................................................... 80 4.1. Biographic Data of Respondents ......................................................................................... 80 4.2 Examination of Hypotheses ................................................................................................. 82 4.2.0 Testing of Assumption...................................................................................................... 82 4.2.1 Assumption of Normality ................................................................................................. 82 4.2.2 Assumption of Linearity ................................................................................................... 83 4.2.3 Assumption of Homoscedasticity...................................................................................... 83 4.2.4 Assumption of Multicolinearity ........................................................................................ 83 4.2.5 No Autocorrelation of Error Term .................................................................................... 84 4.3 Inferential Statistics ............................................................................................................. 85 4.3.1 Correlation Analysis ......................................................................................................... 85 4.4 Testing of Hypotheses ......................................................................................................... 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix 4.4.1 Occupational Health and Safety and Organizational Commitment……………………….86 4.4.2 Occupational Health and Safety and Affective Commitment……………………………89 4.4.3 Occupational Health and Safety and Normative Commitment……………………………89 4.4.4 Occupational Health and Safety and Continuance Commitment…………………………91 4.5 Discussion of Findings ........................................................................................................ 95 4.5.1 Background information of Respondents .......................................................................... 96 4.5.2 Occupational Health and Safety and Commitment ............................................................ 98 4.5.3 Occupational Health and Safety and Affective Commitment........................................... 100 4.5.4 Occupational Health and Safety and Normative Commitment ......................................... 103 4.5.5 Occupational Health and Safety and Continuance Commitment ...................................... 105 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......... 107 5.1 Summary of key Findings .................................................................................................. 107 5.2 Revisiting Research Framework……………………………………………………………108 5.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 110 5.4 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 111 5.5 Limitations for the Study…………………………………………………………………..114 5.6 Direction for Future Research ............................................................................................ 115 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 116 APPENDICES APPENDIX I: LETTER OF INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 141 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................ 144 APPENDIX III: NORMAL DISTRIBUTION CURVES ......................................................... 149 APPENDIX IV: RESIDUAL SCATTERPLOTS..................................................................... 151 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE Table 3.1 Reliability Results ……………………………………………………………………76 Table 4.1: Distribution of Respondents‘ Demographic Characteristics....................................... 80 Table 4.2: Means (M), Standard Deviations (SD), Pearson‘s Correlation ................................... 87 Table 4.3 Hierarchical Regression of OSH on Affective Commitment....................................... 89 Table 4.4 Hierarchical Regression of OSH on Normative Commitment ..................................... 90 Table 4.5 Hierarchical Regression of OSH on Continuance Commitment .................................. 92 Table 4.6 Summary of Results of the study ............................................................................... 92 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 The Conceptual Framework ……………………………………………………….68 Figure 5.1 The Proposed Research Framework …………………………………………….. 109 Figure 5.2 The New Conceptualized Model ………………………………………………... 109 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AFC - Affective Commitment COC - Continuance Commitment CWS - Co-Worker Safety JS - Job Safety MSP - Management Safety Practices NOC - Normative Commitment OC - Organizational Commitment OHS - Occupational Health and Safety SP - Safety Programs SS - Supervisor Safety WHO - World Health Organization ILO - International Labour Organization University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xiii ABSTRACT This study sought to examine and establish the relationship and effect of occupational health and safety on organizational commitment. First, it was proposed that occupational health and safety would have a positive relationship with affective, normative and continuance commitment. Next, job safety, co-worker safety, supervisor safety, safety programs and management safety practices were expected to predict affective, normative and continuance commitment. Descriptive, cross- sectional survey design was used and the sample on which conclusions were based consisted of 370 employees of the Ghanaian mining industry who were selected using simple random sampling method. OHS was measured using instrument develop by Hayes et.al, (1998). The survey instrument has five construct made up of job safety, co-worker safety, supervisor safety, safety programs and management safety practices. Also, organizational commitment was measured using commitment instrument developed by Allen and Meyer (1997) with three dimensions (affective, normative and continuance). Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test for proposed hypotheses. The correlational analysis showed a positive significant relationship between OHS and affective, normative and continuance commitment. Further the hierarchical regression showed that co-worker safety and management safety practices had a significant effect on affective, normative and continuance commitment. However, job safety, supervisor safety and safety programs did not predict affective, normative and continuance commitment. It was concluded that Management within the mining sector of Ghana must recognize the fact that workers who feel healthy and safe in the performance of their duties, develop emotional attachment and have a sense of obligation to their organization and are most likely to stay. Also invest in the protection of employees‘ health and safety on the job since that would improve employees‘ commitment to the organization. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Background of the Study Occupational health and safety has been the concern of many researchers since a structured work environment came into existence (Danna & Griffin, 1999). For instance, Ramazzini (1713) was one of the first to document the harmful effects of working conditions on employees‘ health and studied the injury and death rates of many different occupations (Franco & Franco, 2007). The importance of healthy workplaces is increasingly being recognized as a broad concept having bearing on quality of life at the individual level to substantial impacts on public health at a societal level (Helliwell & Putnam, 2004). Health is a positive concept that includes social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities. Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multi-discipline concept which concentrates on the protection for safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment (Barnett-Skluster, 2008). According to Amponsah-Tawiah and Dartey-Baah (2011) occupational health and safety encapsulates the mental, emotional and physical well-being of the worker in relation to the conduct of his work and as a result marks an essential subject of interest impacting positively on the achievement of organizational goals. Thus in order for employees to perform their duties to the maximum they must be physically, mentally and emotionally sound. Hence employees‘ health and safety must be the concerns of every organization since health and safety affect productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of organization. Employees form the centrality of every organization and organizations‘ depends on employees‘ capabilities and abilities to be University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 successful. Employees therefore must be seen as the key to organizational success and their health and safety must be a priority. The World Health Organization defines occupational health and safety as not just a mere absence of diseases and infirmity from the working environment but rather encompasses physical, mental and social well-being of employees (WHO, 2001). Occupational health and safety therefore seeks to promote and maintain the highest degree of the physical, mental, emotional, psychological and physiological well-being of employees in all endeavors of occupation (WHO, 2007). Primarily, occupational health and safety aim to protect workers against risk factors associated with their employment that could be detrimental to their health (WHO, 2002). Again, it seeks to prevent harmful health implication caused by conditions prevailing within the working environment. The adaptation of workers to occupational environment to match their physiological and psychological capabilities is also an imperative issue in occupational health and safety (WHO, 1995). The International Labour Organization (ILO, 2005) explains occupational health and safety as the outcome of adequate protection for a worker from sickness, injury and disease arising from work. A focus on health and safety in the workplace is essential for ensuring that people are not harmed during work and that pain, suffering and loss are avoided (Leigh, Cone, & Harrison, 2001). Ensuring that people are not injured can extend the productive working lives of employees and contribute to economic growth and prosperity (Alli, 2008). The benefits of promoting occupational health and safety include enabling people to lead happier and longer lives, enhancing economic activity, reducing demand on health and social services, and reducing the costs of illness and injury on both individuals and communities (Waddell & Burton, 2006). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 However, Armstrong (2009) describe health and safety policies and programs as safeguarding employees and other people that may suffer as a result of what the organization produces and does protecting them against ill-health and diseases aligned with employment or their association with the company. Every employee has the right to healthy and safe work and working environment in order to enable them live a productive life (WHO, 1995). However, for the most part employees have to combat with management concerning health and safety. Lin and Mills (2001) indicated that there had been high rates of injuries at the workplace as a result of insufficient or non-existence of OHS systems. Chen and Chan (2003) also asserted that there are potential conflicts of interest between employees and management over occupational health and safety (OHS) because management aims to maximize the bottom line of the organization rather than investing in protective measures which they perceive to increase cost of production. Similarly, Attwood, Khan and Veitch (2006) are of the view that factors affecting the process of occupational health and safety management include staff behaviour and capabilities, working conditions, safety related design of the workplace, and quality of protective equipment with many of these factors being influenced by decisions taken at the corporate level. Thus the quality of health and safety measures at the workplace is determined by the management of organizations. Likewise, Armstrong (2009), affirms that, the well-being of employees depend on the quality of working life provided by their employers and the feelings of satisfaction that emanates from job description and the work environment as well as the internal provisions made for their health and safety. Workers thus expect their employers to take due diligence to guarantee their safety at the end of the work day. However, work-related accidents, injuries and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 deaths continue to crop up at a frightening rate (Zacharatos, Barling and Iverson, 2005). In order to curtail the problem of industrial and occupational accidents at the working environment there is the need to emphasize the importance of occupational health and safety to the working person and organizations. Available data reveal startling and tremendously high rate of work-related deaths and injuries in both the developed and developing nations (Gyekye, 2006). Total economic losses due to occupational illnesses and injuries are enormous (WHO, 1999) and Britain in 2005 and 2006 recorded an overall economic loss ranging from £2.9 to £3.2 billon as a result of work-related diseases and injuries (Pathak, 2008). According to ILO estimates, 2.2 million people die due to work-related accidents or illness each year, whiles 350,000 of these deaths are due to occupational accidents, the remaining rate could be attributed to occupational illnesses and diseases. Again, the ILO estimates that there are 264 million non-fatal accidents each year that result in a three-day absence from work, whiles 160 million people also suffer from work-related illnesses (ILO, 2011). Also, in a data recorded by the ILO (2003), indicated that there was annual injury rate ranging from 0.35% to 49.42% among 100 wage worker in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region annually. The ILO is of the view that cost of work-related ill-health and accidents costs the world 4% of the global GD (British Safety Council, 2010). Occupational health and safety practice is essential to the overall productive performance of an organization however if much attention is not taken, the organization could accrue debt due to poor occupational health and safety practices. The United States for instance over the past decades have recorded 6,026 fatal work-related injuries and approximately 3.8 million non-fatal injuries University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 in 1998, resulting in an estimated 80 million production days lost for that year and almost 60 million days in future years (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2000; United States Census Bureau, 2000). In spite of this growing problem, it could be concluded that little attention has been paid to industrial and occupational accidents and injuries in terms of organizations putting in place preventive intervention programs to ensure employee safety. Pressure are usually exerted on individuals at work due to the changing nature of competition creating awareness and importance of new psychological contracts and employees are now abandoning the concept of stability of lifetime employment and embracing continuous learning and personal development (Mullins, 2005). Hence creating favourable working conditions is paramount to the sustainability of qualified employees because sustained productivity improvement depends on organization human capital (Slaus, & Jacobs 2011). Cole (2002) posits that employees who are healthy and feel safe at work are those that can fully invest their capabilities and exploit the best of their potentials to work. It is therefore important for organization to recognize the need for committed employees to their existence in this ever changing environment. That is, for organizations to retain qualified and committed employees there is the need to provide safe and healthy environment, because healthy and safe employees are those that are most likely to be committed to their organizations. According to Meyer and Allen (1997, p 11) organizational commitment ―is a psychological state that characterizes the employee‘s relationship with the organization and has implication for the decision to continue membership in the organization.‖ However, in the definition of Mowday, Steers and Porter (1979), commitment is an attitude in the form of an attachment that exists between the individual and the organization, and it is reflected in the relative strength of an University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 employee‘s psychological identification and involvement with the organization. An organization could only boast of quality human resource when the individual employee identifies himself with the goals of the organization. Organizational commitment therefore becomes critical issue to be considered for the sustainability of organization. In view of this management and behavioural sciences literature has also described organizational commitment as a key factor in the relationship between the individual employee and his organization. For instance, in the work of Raju and Srivastava (1994); Mowday (1998); and Gilbert and Ivancevich (1999), organizational commitment was explained as the factor that promotes the attachment of the individual to the organization. Moreover, according to Raju and Srivastava (1994) and Mowday (1998), employees are regarded as committed to an organization if they willingly continue their relationship with the organization and devote considerable effort to achieving organizational goals. They further argued that, high levels of effort exerted by employees with high levels of organizational commitment would lead to higher levels of performance and effectiveness at both the individual and the organizational level. Thus, organizational commitment influences whether an employee stays as a member of an organization, share common goals, beliefs and put forth much effort to the success of the organization (Ivanko, 2013). It is therefore imperative to examine how occupational health and safety at the workplace impact employee decision to continue to be a member of an organization specifically in the mining sector. Mining is globally known as one of the most hazardous sectors (ILO, 2003) and also considered by mine workers as more dangerous and hazardous than workers in any other sector (Gyekye, 2003). Thus, the accident and ill-health record of the mining sector compares to that of other economic sector such as manufacturing and construction marks the sector as one of the most University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 dangerous industrial sector and therefore has been the main center of attention as a result of the risks that it could impose on employees. Mine environments are especially challenging because they could degrade rapidly and they change as mining progresses (Hermanus, 2007). Dust and noise are inherently associated with breaking of rocks, and in underground mines, air and light must be supplied artificially which at times could lead to difficulty in breathing, poor vision and the possibility of the earth caving inn ( Pule, 2011). Also harmful gases are emitted in the course of explosions and ergonomic hazards are common in mining since miners generally handle heavy equipment and do heavy work often in cramped conditions for longer hours (Donoghue, 2004). Furthermore, mention would be made of the fact that, occupational diseases, like lung diseases and noise-induced hearing loss, are pervasive in the mining industries (Pule, 2011). In spite of the above challenges, mining contributes a considerable amount to the gross domestic product (GDP) and provide substantial business opportunities. In Ghana for instance, mining contribute about 40% of gross foreign exchange earnings as well as 5.7% of the GDP (Aryee, 2000). Yet, much attention has not been given to occupational health and safety especially in the mining sector in terms of advocacy and training as well as occupational health and safety (OHS) as a generic issue for mine workers. This study therefore, seeks to examine how occupational health and safety could predict employee commitment in the mining sector of Ghana. 1.1 Research Problem The well-being of the workforce in every country has an immediate and direct impact on national and world economies at large (Dorman, 2000). Industrial accidents and injuries are a source of substantial human and economic cost (HSE, 2010). However, attempts to address the problem of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 occupational health and safety at the workplace have been ongoing for at least a quarter of a century and regardless of all the excellent efforts, however, the problem remains (Attwood et al., 2006). People working in mines are exposed to various physical, chemical, mechanical, biological and psychosocial risk factors (Amponsah-Tawiah, Jain, Leka, Hollis and Cox, 2013). Additionally, Owiredu (2011), cited in Amponsah-Tawiah et. al., (2013) indicates that, Ghana is one of the West African countries that has become a preferred destination for mineral investment with the legal mining industry contributing over 49% of the country's Gross foreign exchange earnings. This increase in investment and mining activity, however, presents not only economic opportunities for the country but also major challenges, particularly in the area of occupational safety and health for employees in the sector (Amponsah-Tawiah et al., 2013). Amponsah-Tawiah and Darteh-Baah (2011) opine that a country like Ghana with a fast growing workforce coupled with a growing informal sector, workers have tended to fight for job security which has resulted in poor occupational health and safety policies at the workplace. With recent increased concentration in mining in Ghana, seemingly diverting attention from agriculture to mining of gold and oil extraction, raised concerns for more investigation into occupational health and safety management in this sector. Also, in spite of the risk factors associated with mining and its related activities, perceived employee‘s commitment in the sector seem to be high. However, there are arguably limited studies if any that examine the direct relationship between occupational health and safety and employee commitment in the mining sector of a developing country such as Ghana. This study therefore seeks to examine the impact of occupational health and safety on employee commitment in the sector. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 1.2 Research Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of occupational health and safety on employee commitment in the mining sector of Ghana. 1.3 Main Objective  To examine the influence of occupational health and safety on employees‘ commitment in the mining sector. 1.3.1 Specific Objectives This study aims at achieving the following objectives:  To find out the relationship between occupational health and safety and employee commitment.  To examine the effect of occupational health and safety on affective commitment.  To ascertain the effect of occupational health and safety on a normative commitment  To determine the influence of occupational health and safety on continuance commitment. 1.4 Research Questions  What is the relationship between perception of occupational health and safety and commitment?  What is the effect of occupational health and safety on affective commitment?  To what extent does occupational health and safety influence normative commitment?  What is the effect of occupational health and safety on continuance commitment? University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 1.5 Hypotheses 1. There will be positive relationship between occupational health and safety and employee commitment. H1- a: There will be positive relationship between OHS and affective commitment H1- b: The will be positive relationship between OHS and normative commitment H1- c: There will be positive relationship between OHS and continuance commitment 2. Occupational health and safety will have a significant influence on affective commitment. H2-a: Job safety will have a significant effect on affective commitment H2-b: Supervisor safety will significantly effect on affective commitment H2-c: Safety program will significantly effect on affective commitment H2-d: Co-worker safety will a have significant effect on affective commitment H2-e: Management safety practices will have a significant impact on affective commitment 3. Occupational health and safety will have a significant influence on normative commitment. H3-a: Job safety will have a significant effect on normative commitment H3-b: Supervisor safety will significantly influence normative commitment H3-c: Safety program will significantly influence normative commitment H3-d: Co-worker safety will a have significant effect on normative commitment University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 H3-e: Management safety practices will have a significant influence on normative commitment 4. There will be a significant effect of occupational health and safety on continuance commitment. H4-a: Job safety will have a significant effect on continuance commitment H4-b: Supervisor safety will have a significant effect on continuance commitment H4-c.Safety program will have a significant effect on continuance commitment H4-d: Co-worker safety will a have significant influence on continuance commitment H4-e: Management safety practices will have a significant effect on continuance commitment 1.6 Significance of the Study The study seeks to draw attention to prevailing working conditions in mining industry of Ghana. This will impact occupational health and safety practices among organizations in the mining sector to develop an effective safety management system to ensure employee safety. The outcome of this study will inform the government and policy makers to ensure effective implementation of policies that will push organizations to be more proactive in managing the safety, health and welfare responsibilities of their employees. The outcome of this study will help to develop a framework for understanding the relationship between health and safety management and organizational commitment. It will also contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the influence of occupational health and safety on employee commitment and will serve as a direction for future research. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 1.7 Scope of the Study The current study focuses on the mining sector of Ghana and assesses occupational health and safety practices within this sector. It concentrates on safety and health management and how it influence employees‘ decision to work for organizations within this sector. Ghana is a developing country blessed with mineral resources, especially gold, diamonds, manganese and bauxite. These minerals contribute over 40% of the country‘s exports, gold being the most important mineral accounting for about 90% of revenue from minerals. Gold production rose from 285,291 ounces in 1983 (from four mines), a 23-year low, to 1.7 million ounces in 1995 (from ten mines and small scale production), making Ghana the continent‘s second largest producer of gold after South Africa (Sutherland, 2011). Minerals are a major source of foreign currency to Ghana. This study therefore, focuses on three selected mining companies and they are as follows; 1.7.1 Anglogold Ashanti Company Limited Anglogold Ashanti is a global gold mining company and was formed in 2004 by the merger of Anglogold and the Ashanti Goldfieds Corporation. The company has about 3,500 workers. AngloGold Ashanti currently has two wholly owned and managed operations in Ghana – Obuasi and Iduapriem – which produced 512,000oz combined, equivalent to 11.8% of group production in 2011. It operations are located in the Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana, and were acquired following a merger between the former AngloGold Limited of South Africa and Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited of Ghana. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 The Iduapriem mine, wholly owned by AngloGold Ashanti since September 2007, comprises the Iduapriem and Teberebie properties in a 110km concession. Iduapriem is located in the Western Region of Ghana, which is 70km north of the coastal city of Takoradi and 10km southwest of the Tarkwa mine. Iduapriem is an open-pit mine and its processing facilities include a carbon-in- pulp (CIP) plant. Obuasi is located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, approximately 60km south of Kumasi. Mining operations are primarily underground, to a depth of 1.5km. Some surface mining in the form of open pit and tailings reclamation occurs. Obuasi currently treats sulphide ores from underground at the south plant, following the decommissioning of the tailings treatment plant in October 2010. The south plant also treats sulphide tailings and has a capacity of 360,000 tonnes per month. As at 31 December 2011, AngloGold Ashanti had a total inclusive Mineral Resource of 38.44Moz in Ghana, of which the Mineral Reserve was 11.92Moz. This is equivalent to 16.6% and 15.8% respectively of group resources and reserves. The Ghanaian operations had an average of 7,081 employees in 2011, including contractors (2,177) working for the company (2010: 7,205). Capital expenditure in Ghana totaled $205 million for the year – $73m at Iduapriem and $132m at Obuasi. Total capital expenditure by AngloGold Ashanti in Ghana over the past five years is $739m. Forecast capital expenditure for both mines in Ghana in 2012 is between $306m and $320m (AGA Fact sheet, 2011). 1.7.2Goldfieds Ghana Company Limited Gold Fields Ghana Limited (GFGL) was incorporated in Ghana in 1993 as the legal entity holding the Tarkwa concession mining rights. Gold Fields Ghana now holds 90% of the issued shares of GFGL after acquiring the indirect 18.9% of the issued shares belonging to IAMGold University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 and its affiliates. The government of Ghana holds a 10% free carried interest, as required under the mining law of Ghana. The Tarkwa Gold Mine operates under seven mining leases covering a total area of approximately 20,825 hectares. The Tarkwa Gold Mine is located in southwestern Ghana near the southern end of what is commonly referred to as the Tarkwa Basin, 300 kilometres by road west of Accra, the capital of Ghana, and is easily accessible with an established infrastructure. The open pit surface operation exploits narrow, tabular auriferous conglomerates similar to those mined in the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa. Mining is currently taking place from six pits, Pepe, Atuabo, Mantraim, Teberebie, Akontansi and Kottraverchy and the mine utilises a conventional CIL plant as well as a heap leach facility. www.goldfields.com, accessed on 5 th September, 2013. 1.7.3 Golden Star Resource Limited Golden Star Resources Limited is a Canadian incorporated international gold mining and exploration company whose principal properties are located in Ghana. It was formerly known as Bogoso Gold Limited, it owns a 90% interest in Bogoso/Prestea property, which comprised of the adjoining Bogoso and Prestea surface mining leases for exploration and production of Gold. GSR Operating Mines Properties are mainly in Ghana, all other locations are exploration properties. GSR was established under the federal laws of Canada on May 15, 1992 as a result of the amalgamation of South American Goldfields Inc. and Golden Star Resources. The head office is however in Littleton, Colorado USA and maintains a regional corporate office in Accra, Ghana, Exploration Offices in Takoradi, Ghana and Cayenne, French Guiana. Since 1999 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.goldfields.com/ 15 Golden Star has successfully transitioned from being a focused gold exploration company into an emerging mid-tier gold producer, while simultaneously maintaining its emphasis on exploration. The Company expects to grow its gold business with a continuing focus on organic growth from the exploration and development of existing assets. Recognizing that consolidation can lead to improved fundamentals and increased competitive strength, Golden Star is open to transactions that bring producing and exploration assets that have synergy with the Company‘s existing activities and will improve shareholder value. The main goal of the company is to grow its business in Ghana, and regionally in West Africa, through organic growth and appropriate acquisitions and has about 900 employees. www.gsr.com, retrieved on 26 th January, 2014. 1.8 Chapter Disposition Chapter One (Introduction) - This chapter gives a brief background of the concept of occupational health and safety, relationship and factors associated with occupational health and safety and commitment. The chapter further explains the statement of problem, research objectives, study questions, significance of the study and hypothesis of the study. The final part of the chapter presents brief definition of the terms used in the study. Chapter Two (Literature Review)-This chapter provide a thorough review of the relevant literature and a detailed empirical assessment of the major concepts of occupational health and safety and commitment. In this chapter, relationship between occupational health and safety and commitment is established; also relevant theories explaining commitment organizational commitment is discussed. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.gsr.com/ 16 Chapter Three (Methodology)-This chapter focused on the methodology used in the study. It consist of information pertaining research design, study population, sampling techniques and sample size, data collection instrument and method, mode of data processing and analysis, variables and ethical consideration. Chapter Four (Data Analysis and interpretation)-In this chapter, the results of the empirical research was reported and statistical analysis of the data related to the research hypotheses was also reported. The chapter further presents the discussion on the major findings of the study and in relation to previous research. Chapter Five (Discussion, Summary and Conclusion) – In the final chapter, conclusions were drawn based on the findings, limitations of the study were explained, suggestions were made for future research in this area and finally applied significance of the study was discussed. 1.9 Definition of Terms Occupational health & safety: ―Occupational health and safety is a multifaceted discipline aiming at: the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the workers in an occupational environment adapted to their physiological and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize : the adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job‖ (WHO, 1995). Occupational accidents: Occupational accidents is an occurrence arising out of or in the course of work and resulting in a fatal or non-fatal occupational injury University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 Health – The protection of the bodies and minds of people from illness resulting from the materials, processes or procedures used in the workplace. Safety – The protection of people from physical injury. The borderline between health and safety is ill defined and the two words are normally used together to indicate concern for the physical and mental well-being of the individual at the place of work. Occupational or work-related ill health – This is concerned with those illnesses or physical and mental disorders that are either caused or triggered by workplace activities. Welfare – The provision of facilities to maintain the health and well-being of individuals at the workplace. Welfare facilities include washing and sanitation arrangements, the provision of drinking water, heating, lighting, accommodation for clothing, seating, eating, rest rooms and first-aid arrangements. Job safety: Job safety shows the extent to which employee job duties do not pose threat or unhealthy consequence on his/her health and safety. Co-worker safety: Co-worker Safety encompasses all activities undertaken by individuals in their workplace to ensure their personal safety, the safety of their co-workers and the safety of their organization at large. Management safety practices: Management safety practices indicate the extent to which the organization‘s top management demonstrates positive and supportive safety attitudes towards their employees‘ safety. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 Safety programs: Safety programs are safety policies and safety training implemented that gives knowledge of safety to employees in order for them to work safely and with no danger to their well-being. Supervisor safety: Supervisor safety describes employees‘ perceptions of the extent to which their supervisor keep track of unsafe practices as well as acknowledges workers who adapt safe working behaviours. Organizational commitment: commitment ―is a psychological state that characterizes the employees‘ relationship with the organization and has implication for the decision to continue membership in the organization‖ (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Affective commitment: Affective commitment is the identification, involvement and emotionally attachment of employees to a particular organization and its goals and maintains membership to facilitate those goals (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Normative commitment: Normative commitment is the feeling of obligation to remain with an organization as a result of an investment made by an organization in its employees at work (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Continuance commitment: It refers to the commitment employees experience towards the organization because of investments they have made or because of the costs associated with leaving the organization (Meyer & Allen, 1997). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter gives a review of an extant body of literature which is of significance to this study. In this chapter, an explanation to the concept of occupational health and safety with more emphasis on the dimensions of occupational health and safety and its effect on organizational commitment is presented. It discusses occupational health and safety management and how they can help in reducing the rates and fatalities of accidents and ill health at the workplace and how it can influence individual decision to remain a member in an organization is elaborated on .It further review literature on organizational commitment and its theories. Moreover, it gives an account of empirical evidence on the relationship between occupational health and safety and organizational commitment which helped in the development of conceptual framework for the study. 2.1 Historical Review The concern for the protection of workers' health and ensuring safety at the workplace is not a new phenomenon. The work place is a potentially hazardous environment where millions of employees spend at least one-third of their life time (Jahoda, 1982). This fact has been known for time immemorial, even though developed gradually until 1900. The cognizance of hazardous working environment and its effects on employees‘ health was made known as early as fourth century BC when Hippocrates noted lead toxicity in the mining industry and wrote of consequence of an unhealthy workplace on slaves (Wade, 1982). Caesar (100–40 BC) was tale to have an officer responsible of the safety of his legions (Pease, 1985; Weaver, 1980). In this manner, the practice of occupational health and safety has been in existence since the origin of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 mankind and has evolved gradually and continuously in responds to curb workplace accidents, injuries and diseases. Pliny the Elder, a Roman scholar, in the first century AD, noticed health risks to those working with zinc and sulfur. As a result he invented a face mask made from an animal bladder to protect workers from exposure to dust and lead fumes (Tadesse & Admassu, 2006). In the second century AD, the Greek physician, Galen, gave a description of pathology of lead poisoning and created the awareness of hazardous exposures of copper miners to acid mists. In 1556, German scholar, Agricola, advanced the science of industrial hygiene and wrote a book that explained the diseases of miners and prescribed preventive measures. His book included suggestions for mine ventilation and worker protection, discussed mining accidents, and described diseases associated with mining occupations such as silicosis (Tadesse & Admassu, 2006). This shows that significant effort has been made in ancient times to reduce occupational diseases and safety problems. The subject gained great importance in the medieval period where there were less training, technical information distribution, consultation and regulatory cleanup efforts to improve work conditions. In the early 20th century, Dr. Alice Hamilton led efforts to improve industrial hygiene. She studied industrial conditions and informed employers about the evidence, which proofs correlation between worker illness and exposure to toxins and presented tentative proposals for eradicating unhealthy working conditions (Wade, 1982). Within the same period, U.S. federal and state agencies began an investigation on healthy conditions in industries. In 1908, public awareness of occupational ill-health and diseases stimulated the passage of compensation acts for certain civil employees. States passed the first workers' compensation laws in 1911. And in 1913, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 the New York Department of Labor and the Ohio Department of Health established the first state industrial hygiene programs. All states enacted such legislation by 1948 (Wade, 1982). The U.S. Congress passed three landmark pieces of legislation related to safeguarding workers' health:  The Metal and Nonmetallic Mines Safety Act of 1966  The Federal Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969,  The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act). Today, nearly every employer is required to implement the elements of an industrial hygiene and safety, occupational health, or hazard communication program and to be responsive to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and its regulations. However, concrete approach to the control of occupational diseases became valid in most countries after the twentieth century (Tadesse & Admassu, 2006). It could be inferred that occupational accidents and ill-health have long been cause for concern at workplace and the impact that it has on the working person. The intent of preventing diseases, illness and death at the working environment is not a recent concept. Society and researchers have responded to increasing levels of evidence as to the relationships between disease and certain worksites by making employers accountable for the individual and social costs incurred by poor workplace conditions by advocating for healthy and working environment years ago ( wade,1982; Duebenspeek, 1974; Gray,1990; Nwajei, 1993; Christiani,1984; Reason, 1998; Cooper, 1995). 2.1.1 Evolution of Modern Day Occupational Health and Safety Contemporary approaches to occupational health and safety are rooted in the 1960‘s when trade unions in many countries turned their attention to issues related to quality of working life such as University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 job security, job satisfaction and occupational health and safety (Hermanus, 1999). Later in the decade heightened community awareness of the industrial origins of environmental health issues caused workers and their unions to adopt a more questioning approach to potential hazards in the workplace (Creighton & Gunningham, 1985). Thus several major disasters in the nuclear, petrochemical and transport industries caused strong public concerns over the management of hazardous activities. For instance Safety issues emanating from the Flixborough accident in 1974, followed by the Seveso incident in 1976, the chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in 1986 and the Piper Alpha oil installation explosion, the clapham train crash and the kings cross fire in 1987 (Reason, 1998) necessitated the need for efficient safety management (Agwu, 2012). Public and workers agitation for the need to curtail occupational accidents and injuries led to review and revision of occupational health and safety policies and regulations (Hermanus, 1999). In the 1970s new laws and policies which were national in ambit were adopted in a number of countries. For instance workmen's compensation programs were developed by states in the early part of the century in response to increasing frequency of industrial accidents and diseases (Wade, 1982).Though this did not help to eradicate ill-health and fatalities at the workplace, however established the fact that poor working environment prevail and drew employers and employees attentions to it (Benjamin & Greef, 1997). These changes in law and policy established a new framework for occupational health and safety. Institutional mechanisms were created to ensure that conflict over health and safety related issues was managed more effectively and resolved more equitably. Employers were encouraged to engage workers and introduce strategies to address health and safety issues on an ongoing and systematic basis (Hermanus, 1999). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 Globalization has also played a major role in workplace conditions which has resulted in many people to work within highly hazardous environment. Considering the pattern of global economic trends, the subject of employee health and safety in the workplace has taken a crucial dimension such that international conventions instituted the international organization for standardization to see to the regulation and improved workplace conditions and services (Zwetsloot, 2003). For instance International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Health Organization (WHO) in order to ensure decent working environment collaborated to endorse the Global Strategy on Occupational Health for All emphasizing the importance of primary prevention and encouraged countries to establish national policies and programs with the required infrastructures and resources for occupational health (WHO, 2008). 2.2 The Concept and definition of Occupational Health and Safety Workers just like any other resources require maintenance and care in order to maximize their productivity (Casio, 1996). It is against this background that health and safety should not be viewed as a separate function or responsibility, but as a broader initiative that aims at improving productivity, profitability and competitiveness of a firm (Pike, 2000). Occupational health programs are thus primarily concerned with the prevention of ill-health arising from workplace conditions, while safety programs deal with the prevention of accidents and with minimizing the resulting loss and damage to lives and properties (Adeniyi, 2001). Occupational health and Safety management refers to the tangible practices, responsibility and performance related to safety and health at the working environment (Mearns, Whitaker & Flin, 2003). Boyle (2000) posits that the process of managing occupational health and safety is the same as other management activities, but the distinction is the complex nature of occupational health and safety. However, according to Cooper (1995), the management of occupational health and safety University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 is in many respects exactly the same as managing productivity or other functional areas of operations. In line with this, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (2002), describe Safety Management System as an integrated set of work practices, beliefs and procedures for monitoring and improving the safety and health of all aspects of operation. This shows that, the management of safety at the workplace is not just prevention of repetitions of accidents that have already occurred but rather must be integrated into the general management system that relate to quality management and protection of working environment and the working person. As stated by Khdair and Shamsudin (2011), the concept of good health and safety at work is a difficult and complex phenomenon. An OHSMS is the integrated set of organizational elements involved in the continuous cycle of planning, implementation, evaluation, and continual improvement, directed toward the abatement of occupational hazards in the workplace. Such elements include, but are not limited to, organizations‘ OHS relevant policies, goals and objectives, decision-making structures and practices, technical resources, accountability structures and practices, communication practices, hazard identification practices, training practices, hazard controls, quality assurance practices, evaluation practices, and organizational learning practices (Robson, Clarke, Cullen, Bielecky, Severin, Bigelow, Irvin, Culyer , & Mahood, 2005). Thus such a system recognizes the potential for errors and establishes robust defenses to ensure that errors do not result in incidents or accidents. The European Union (1997) also share the same view that , safety management system should include the part of the general management system which comprise of the organizational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for determining and implementing the major accident prevention policy. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 Adeniyi (2001), also buttress the point made above, that managing health and safety at work is usually a matter of developing health and safety policies, conducting risk assessment which identifies the hazards and assessing the risks attached to them, carrying out health and safety audits and inspections, implementing occupational health programs, managing stress, preventing accidents, measuring health and safety performance, communicating the need for good health and safety practices, training in good health and safety practices and organizing health and safety programs. Because researches have shown that high rates of injury and accidents are due to unsatisfactory or non-existent of health and safety systems (Lin & Mills, 2001). In the words of Hughes and Ferrelt (2008), occupational health is a sound state of the body and mind of people from illness resulting from the materials, processes or procedures used in the workplace, while safety is the protection of people from physical injury. Thus occupational health and safety (OHS) could be seen as safeguarding the physical and mental well-being of employees in relation to the performance of their duties at the place of work. Also, as stated by the WHO (1999) a healthy workplace is one in which workers and managers collaborate to use a continual improvement process to protect and promote the health, safety and well-being of workers and the sustainability of the workplace by considering the following, based on identified needs: health and safety concerns in the physical work environment; health, safety and well-being concerns in the psychosocial work environment including organization of work and workplace culture; personal health resources in the workplace; and ways of participating in the community to improve the health of workers, their families and other members of the community (WHO, 2010). Alli (2008) defines occupational health and safety as a way of forecasting, acknowledging, assessing and putting measures in place to curb or University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 eliminate hazards stemming from the workplace that could harm the healthiness and welfare of workers regarding the potential effect on the society and the general environment. Health and safety policies and programs focused on safeguarding employees and other people that may suffer as a result of what the company produces and does protect them against ill-health and diseases aligned with employment or their association with the company (Armstrong, 2009). Occupational health programs deal with the prevention of ill-health and diseases resulting from working conditions. This implies that occupational health and safety programs must not only seek to protect employees of companies but must also ensure the safety of customers, visitors and members of the community within which the organization is situated. These stakeholders are one way or the other affected by their connection to what the company manufacture. In examining the above statement it could be understood that occupational health and safety practices must safeguard the health and safety of employees who are in direct contact with the processes of the organization and this protection however must extend to their families, the community and the public at large. Occupational health and safety management system is considered to be an essential factor in ensuring workplace safety and health management. Health and Safety management and programs are designed with the aim of ensuring safety, health and welfare of employees at work and protection to other people from hazards to safety and health resulting from the activities of people at work in various sectors of occupations. Safe working environment means that the workplace has been evaluated for risk factors and that the hazards are eradicated or controls have been established to ensure organizations are able to operate safely. In analyzing all these definitions, it could be deduced that almost all the definitions of OHS appear to agree on one University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 thing, thus ensuring employees well-being at work. Therefore occupational health and safety could be defined as safeguarding the well-being of employees at work, thus prevention of accident, illness and abuse emanating from the performance of duties that could affect physical, mental, emotions and social well-being of employees. 2.3 Importance of Occupational Health and Safety in an Organization The study of health and safety is of relevance to organizations. Occupational safety and health is a key element in achieving sustained decent working conditions and strong preventive safety cultures. The human, social and economic costs of occupational accidents, injuries and diseases and major industrial disasters have long been cause for concern at all levels from the individual workplace to the national and international (Hermanus, 2007). The economic costs of these injuries and deaths are huge, at the enterprise, national and global levels. Considering compensation, lost working time, interruption of production, training and retraining, medical expenses, and so on, estimates of these losses routinely affect organizations enormously (Alli, 2008). All these losses could be prevented if appropriate occupational health and safety management are effectively implemented and adhere to. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) activities are most at times not deemed as sources of intellectual capital of the firm (Nunez & Villanueva, 2011). In spite of this, it is generally acknowledged that safer and healthier working environment comes along with competitive advantage, which is usually one of the main objectives of the firm, as they can enhance productivity, motivate employees‘ and decrease costs (Thompson, 1997). Thus Occupational health and safety programs have been confirmed to aid employers and society minimize personal, financial and societal costs that injuries, illnesses, diseases and fatalities impose on University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 victims as results of their association with organizations (OSHA, 2012). Organizations that up held their occupational health and safety witness benefit in the form of higher efficiency, greater worker productivity and cost reduction. According to Mitchison and Papadakis (1999) effective and efficient safety management enhances the level of safety in organization and thus can reduce injuries and harm resulting from mishaps (cited from Bottani, Monica & Vignali, 2009). In addition, beside the human cost of going through emotional trauma and suffering an accident, the economic consequence can be overwhelming (Khdair & Shamsudin, 2011). Since ill-health and injuries inflicted by the system of work or working conditions jeopardize employee‘s ability to effectively discharge their duties, close and continuous attention to quality health and high standards of safety must be maintained at all times in the work place. This places a moral as well as economic responsibility on organizations to take measures in ensuring the highest standards of health and safety in the workplace. Likewise, money used in compensating any worker who lost his life would only temporally relieve the pain of the person who has lost his or her beloved. The money cannot restore the life back and thus leads to the lost of talented and qualified employees. It is indeed, costly to replace workers because of the productivity losses when someone leaves a job, the costs of hiring and training a new employee, and this in turn reduces productivity (Boushey & Glynn, 2012). Occupational health and safety however, help to prevent death and disability at the workplace and also aid organization in the reduction of direct and indirect cost that might result because of accidents and diseases suffered from the organization working environment. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 Employers must therefore facilitate optimal physical and mental health in relation to work and the adaptation of work to the capabilities of workers in the light of their state of physical and mental health to enable workers to conduct social and economically productive lives and contribute positively to sustainable organizational development. The value of occupational health and safety services at the workplace is locally recognized as well as the national levels. The implementation of occupational health and safety systems helps in the reduction of morbidity and work-related injuries. Moreover, it could assist in fewer losses to employers and workers as there will be reduction of wage losses and decreased compensation costs. Ensuring healthy and safety working conditions is in the interest of workers, employers‘ government and society at large since it could increase employees‘ commitment and reduce absenteeism among workers. 2.3.1 Socio-Economic Effects of Occupational Accident and Fatalities Industrial accidents continue to cause human suffering, capital losses, environmental destruction and social problems (Duijm, Fiévez, Gerbrec, Hauptmanns & Konstandinidou, 2008; Kartam, 1997; Li, Wei-dong & Li-chu, 2009; Shikdar & Sawaqed, 2003). Industrial accidents are costly to both individual companies and the country as a whole. Occupational disease and injury are part of the human and social costs of production. These are the suffering and possible life-long disadvantages to affected workers and their families. A large number of studies have demonstrated high economic cost of accidents borne by organizations, governments and society at large. For instance, according to International Labour Organization (ILO) data, China, an economic and industrial superpower within the developing world, loses more than 200 billion Yuan (US $24.15 billion) annually. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 Workplace hazards and exposure cause over 160 million workers to fall ill annually, while it has been estimated that more than 1.2 million workers die as a result of occupational accident and diseases (ILO Annual report, 2011). Also, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, (2000), there were 6,026 fatal work injuries and approximately 3.8 million nonfatal injuries in 2010, resulting in an estimated 80 million production days lost for that year in the United States. Direct costs for enterprises, such as material damage and down-time, and financial losses through experience related insurance premium and a share of the medical expenses, are obvious in unhealthy organizations and this however could accrue cost. In addition, hidden costs, such as overtime work made necessary by accidents, retraining expenses and intangible factors such as loss of company prestige and deteriorating industrial relations, may have a substantial impact on the quality and profitability of production. For instance some authors estimate these hidden costs for enterprises at several times the same as direct costs (Andreoni, 1986; Heinrich, Petersen & Roos, 1980). According to Guidotti (2012), the impact that occupational health and safety has is deeply embedded in our society and it goes on with profound but largely unacknowledged effect on development. This becomes worrisome when it infringes on workers‘ health style in a form of risk to their well-being and can lead to many unacceptable consequences such as prolong illness, financial loss. Thus a low safety and health record of a particular occupation or work task may make it difficult to recruit people for job vacancies in these areas without paying high wage premium. Where hazardous practices become evident, they necessitate the possibly painful choice between continuing work processes that are dangerous to workers or to the general environment and this could lead to shutting down hazardous production units, thereby creating sometimes considerable and sudden unemployment. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 Consequential expenditure due to injury as well as to material damage; production losses; and administrative costs - total economic costs of work accidents for society have been estimated as ranging from around 1% of gross domestic product in the United Kingdom and the United States and 3% in France (Andreoni, 1986). 2.4 Dimensions of Occupational Health and Safety Occupational health and safety is the absence of illness or disease resulting from the interaction of employee and the work environment (Lucas, 2001) and the protection of workers from the danger of industrial accidents (Aswathappa, 2004) due to the interaction of the employee and the work environment. This study therefore assesses five forms of workplace safety proposed by Hayes, Perander, Smecko & Trask (1998) and theses dimensions are as follows. 2.4.1 Management Safety Practices Safety at work is a difficult and complex phenomenon, and the subject of safety performance across the industries is hard and demanding to achieve (Wameedh & Shamsudin, 2011). Steenkamp and Van Schoor (2002) rightfully mention that occupational health and safety is a complex international problem for management and society, and that it must always be a top management priority. Management commitment plays an important role in all aspects of safety intervention (Marsh, Robertson, Duff, Phillips, Cooper, & Weyman 1995). Management commitment to safety indicates the extent to which the organization‘s top management demonstrates positive and supportive safety attitudes towards their employees‘ safety (Hsu, Lee, Wu, & Takano, 2007). Yule, Flin and Murdy (2007) noted that employees‘ perception of dedicated management action to safety had resulted in accident reduction. The interest in health and safety management is due to major disasters that have highlighted the failings of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 management to protect the health and safety of their workers and thus, to comply with occupational health and safety legislation as to fulfill their responsibilities as an employer ensuring that workers have a safe work-place (Hale, Heming, Carthey & Kirwan, 1997). Although employee participation and involvement are crucial, the accountability and responsibility in the safety and health must come from senior management as required by the occupational health and safety legislation (Vassie & Lucas, 2001). A cross sectional survey conducted by Geldart, Smith, Shannon and Lohfeld, (2010), on organizational practices, workplace health and safety on 312 workers in Canadian manufacturing firms, the study found administrative policies; practices and attitudes to have a direct positive impact on safety in the workplace. Hayes, Perander, Smecko and Trask (1998) also found a positive correlation between management safety practices and occurrence of accidents. Thus management involvement in occupational health and safety at workplace is seen as prime to safety performance among employees. 2.4.2 Supervisor Safety The supervisor is a person who instructs, directs, and controls workers in the performance of their duties and change the unsafe behaviour of workers (OSHA, 2012). Supervisors play major role in ensuring safety in the workplace. According to Yule, Flin and Murdy (2007) employees conform to safety rules and procedures when they perceived that the action of their supervisor is fair and congruent with organization policy on safety. It describes employees‘ perceptions of the extent to which their supervisor keep track of unsafe practices as well as acknowledges workers who adapt safe working behaviours. Thus it is the duty of supervisors to take all reasonable care to ensure employees are protected and follow safety policies to reduce accidents at the workplace. They are however not to allow employees to undertake or perform duties that are University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 detrimental to their health and compromising their safety. Hayes et al., (1998) found supervisor safety to be strongly linked to employee‘s compliance with safety behaviors and accident reported rates. This implies that supervisors who are enthusiastic about prevention of accident occurrence, employees tend to emulate it and comply with safety rules and regulation concerning their jobs. Crocker, (1995), found that the worker psychological instincts are very complicated and posited that ―workers will work more safely with a supervisor who is seen as someone who respects their workers and their contribution, and who is stimulated by a distinct company policy on safety. Because employees see supervisors regards for safety equally important as production and encourages them to react positively toward work safety. Sawacha, Naoum and Fong, (1999), found that expectation of employees to their supervisor's safety attitude was relatively high and they see their superintendent's attitude towards safety as being a major source of influence upon their safety behavior on site. 2.4.3 Safety Programs A Health and Safety Program consist of clearly defined actions to implement the health and safety training and policies. Safety training and safety policies are essential determinants to enhance safety performance. Safety training is defined as knowledge of safety given to employees in order for them to work safely and with no danger to their well-being (Law, Chan & Pun, 2006). Lin and Mills (2001) found that clear policy statements and safety training played an important role in reducing accident rates. Earlier studies discovered the link between safety training and increased safety performance (Huang, Ho, Smith & Chen, 2006). Consequently, effective training assists workers to have a sense of belonging and thus, more accountable for safety in their workplace. In addition, a company objective and communication of the objective University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 to all workers is a crucial aspect of effective health and safety management, as lack of communication may hinders employee involvement (Vassie & Lucas, 2001). Vassie and Lucas (2001) investigated health and safety management in the manufacturing sectors and the results indicated that empowered workers who played active health and safety role could result in health and safety performance improvements. Occupational accidents rise due to lack of attention given to safety performance, safety procedures and improvement of methods to prevent accidents and injuries. On the other hand, occupational accidents occur due to lack of knowledge, training, lack of supervision, and lack of rules implementation (Wameedh & Shamsudin, 2011). 2.4.4 Co-worker Safety Safety behaviors of co-workers are also important pertaining employee safety on the job. Co- worker safety concerns the extent to which workers perceive their colleagues as valuing safety. According to Hansen (1989), employee behaviors at work and personality variables contribute, directly or indirectly, to accidents. Safety behaviour encompasses all activities undertaken by individuals in their workplace to ensure their personal safety, the safety of their co-workers and the safety of their organization at large. Ford and Tetrick (2008) asserted that, workers‘ safety oriented behaviour can be scaled by the extent to which they engage in actions that promote safety and avoid those that decrease safety. In previous studies frequency or rate of safety behaviours have been mapped through direct observation ( Glenden & Litherland, 2001) and by assessment of near misses (Seo, 2004), unsafe practices (Hoffman & Stetzer, 1996; Brown & Prussia, 2000), workers‘ safety compliance and safety participation (Cheyne, Tomás, Cox and Oliver, 1998; Neal, Griffin and Hart , 2000) as well as workers‘ propensity to actively care about the safety of others (Geller, Roberts & Gilmore ,1999). Burke, Gustafson, Kendall and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 Krasnogor, (2002) identified four components of safety behaviour. These components concerned workers‘; use of personal protective equipments (PPE), engagement in workplace practices to reduce risk (PRR), dissemination or communication of health and safety information (CHS) and lastly exercise of their rights and responsibilities (ERR). Marchand, Simard, Carpentier-Roy, and Ouellet, (1998) and Neal, Griffin and Hart (2000) also conceptualized safety behaviour as comprising of two components which they termed safety compliance and safety participation (or initiatives). Safety compliance according to these models refers to the mandatory activities that workers need to perform to bring about workplace safety. Usually such activities offer direct personal protection for the worker. It includes activities like following safety standards and using the correct personal protective equipment (PPE). Safety participation on the other hand, involves ‗activities that may not directly contribute to an individual‘s personal safety, but which do help to develop an environment that supports safety (Neal & Griffin, 2002). Such activities are usually not mandatory within a workplace and individuals perform them at their own discretion. They can thus be considered as safety specific citizenship‘ behaviours with examples being; identifying and reporting hazards, making suggestions to improve safety and correcting colleagues who engage in unsafe acts that helps to ensure safety and protection of co-workers. A co-worker who values safety presumably acts safely; take steps to eliminate hazards and also warn others who act unsafely. This is similar to previously identified dimensions like perceived effects of safe conduct on social status (Zohar, 2000) and co-worker safety (Varonen & Mattila, 2000, Hayes et al, 1998). Based on social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), workers who perceive University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 that their colleague care for their safety may also be pushed to reciprocate with similar behaviours. 2.4.5 Job Safety Job safety shows the extent to which job duties do not pose threat or unhealthy consequence on the health and safety of employees. According to OSHA (2002) job safety analysis is a technique that focuses on job tasks as a way to identify hazards before they occur. It focuses on the relationship between the worker, the task, the tools, and the work environment. Gyekye (2006) explains job safety as a measure of degree of safety inherent in job assignment. Hayes et al (1998) found that job safety is a significant predictor of accident. Thus when risk and hazards associated with a task or job operations are not assessed and identified, these could lead to occurrence of accident. Job safety looks at how employees are well informed on hazards and risk associated with job description and measure implemented to curtail or eradicate those hazards and risk. Aidoo and Eshun's (2012) three year analysis of occupational injury records in Ghanaian mines found the most common physical risk factors for injuries to workers legs, hands and heads were caused by faulty machinery, electrocution and vehicular accidents use in the performance of duties. In conclusion, previous researchers have found how these variables predict accidents at the workplace (Hayes et al., 1998; Gyekye, 2006). They found that management safety practices and supervisor safety were among the best predictors of accident. Job safety impact significantly on accidents, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and compliance with safety behaviours, which is consistent with prior research supporting the importance of management safety in predicting accident-related variables (Zohar, 2003). Thus, improving the safety performance of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 organizations (e.g., increasing employees‘ compliance with safety behaviors, decrease accident rate) should include attention to management‘s role in safety, job safety, coworker, safety programs and supervisor safety (Hayes et al., 1998; Gyekye 2006). However, this current study seeks to find out how these facets of occupational health and safety reduces accidents and how it impact on employee decisions to stay with high risk organizations such as mining. 2.5 Occupational Health and Safety Issues in Africa The improvement of reporting systems for occupational accidents and diseases is an increasingly important challenge in many African countries (ILO, 2003). As a result most of these developing Countries that are still in the process of developing accident and disease reporting systems receive a limited number of occupational accident and disease reports, and may underestimate the real magnitude of the problem (Hermanus, 2007). According to Puplampu and Quartey (2012) the prevalence of occupational health and safety issues in most of the African countries is due to inadequate attention given to OHS by industry and the government. One of the reasons that have led to less concern to OHS in Africa is lack of funds and management commitment ((Kalejaiye , 2013). Most organizations in Africa see investment into OSH as cost that could increase production cost. Additionally, the reason might be that, greater emphasis is laid on increasing productivity and profitability whiles compromising health and safety standards, procedures and policies. Another OHS perspective for Africa is that, Africa‘s slowness in promoting occupational health and safety is due to colonialism and its effects on socioeconomic development (Meredith, 1986). The colonial administration situated occupational health and safety in certain viable and relevant sectors in pursuit of their colonial ambitions. It is also suggestive that many African countries University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 have weak procedural and administrative justice systems to handle occupational health and safety issues, a perspective that is often neglected (Puplampu & Quartey, 2012). It is believed that, these have retarded the development and promotion of occupational health and safety in African countries which has resulted in several occupational health and safety risks, accidents, and hazards proliferate in most African countries (Amweelo, 2000). Equally, Occupational health and safety remain neglected in developing countries in Africa because of competing national and sector issues and challenges (Nuwayhid, 2004). For instance, the Regional Committee for Africa Report (2004) stipulated that due to endemic poverty and poor performance of African economies, the African region is faced with a number of OHS challenges. According to this report, Africa‘s challenge is how to ensure that workers in both the informal sector and formal sector have adequate health and safety education and are able to actively use this information to better their health and safety practices. Probably, ignorance might be the reason for the neglect of occupational health and safety practices and investment in African countries (Puplampu &Quartey, 2012). In the same vein, ILO (2003) indicated that, there are some African countries that are refusing to provide OHS services for its public sector workers. These shows that governments in African countries must help formulate and implement policy frameworks for promoting OHS. In 2005, a global meeting was held in Benin to review the state of occupational health and safety practices in Africa. Several observations were revealed and reported. First, it was established that most African countries have poor OHS review mechanisms, second, majority have inadequate OHS policy and some do not have OHS infrastructures (ILO, 2009). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 Lastly, many countries in the developing world specifically Africa have pursued a path of rapid industrialization and have been willing to welcome all industries, however hazardous (Castleman, 1980; Jeyaratnam,1994; Johanning, Selikoff & Goldberg, 1991). Owing to this, corporations frequently keep their high-technology facilities within developed countries but move traditional manufacturing facilities to developing countries and these manufacturing facilities include those used in the textile, chemical, metal, and machine manufacturing industries and mining. These industries with traditional machinery consume high quantities of natural resources and energy and may cause occupational diseases as well as environmental pollution (Park, Hisanaga & Kim, 2009). Hazardous industries are attracted to developing countries because of their cheaper labor force, lack of regulation, and poor enforcement of any existing regulations on occupational health and safety (Park, Hisanaga & Kim, 2009). 2.6.1 Occupational Health and Safety Legislation in Ghana The Occupational Health and Safety issues in Ghana, was established under the Factory Offices and Shops 1970 (Act, 328). The main provision of the Act was intended to bring it in line with internationally accepted standards on safety, health and welfare of employees. The occupational health and safety activities stated under the Act, include, creating safe work and work environment and promoting the safety, health and welfare of employees in order to ensure effective utilization of human capabilities thereby promoting increased productivity. Although Ghana does not have a national policy on Occupational Health and Safety (Amponsah- Tawiah and Dartey- Baah, 2011), the Ghana Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) has also made provision for Occupational Health and Safety. Provisions made under Part XV Section 118 of the Act include placing a responsibility on employers to ensure a safe and healthy working University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 environment and obligation on employees to use safety appliances provided by the employer in compliance of the employers instructions. It is generally known that developing countries like Ghana lack relevant policies to adequately cater for the health and safety of employees (Quainoo, 2001). Accident rate in the mining, manufacturing and construction industries in developing countries are known to be at levels that are several times higher than in the industrialized countries (Clarke, 2005). A draft policy jointly developed by the Ministries of Labour, Health and Mines and Energy as far back as 2000 is yet to be adopted (Amponsah- Tawiah and Dartey- Baah, 2011). In the absence of a national occupational safety and health policy in Ghana, two main statutes have charted the cause for the provision of services over the years. These are the Factories, Offices and Shops Act, (328) of 1970 and the Mining regulations 1970 LI 665. These have driven the implementation in the labour and mining sectors respectively. Other statutes that have a bearing on health and safety are the Workmen‟s Compensation Law 1987, Environmental Protection Agency Act, (490) of 1994. According to Clark, (2005), there is lack of specification of standards which should form the yardstick against which services are to be evaluated. Thus in general Ghana like many other developing countries has a long way to go in designing and implementing occupational safety and health policies and programs that could enhance the welfare of its working force. 2.6.2 Problems of OHS Legislations in Ghana There are many challenges with the legal provisions of OHS in Ghana. Firstly the Factories ‗Act and Mining Regulations Act which provided guidance for implementation are very limited in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 scope. For instance these Acts do not specifically cover majority of industries such as agriculture and other informal sectors (Clarke, 2005). Secondly, the requirements given by these Acts are very narrow in scope in view to preventive measures. Proactive strategies like risk assessments, medical surveillance and control of hazards are not accommodated for in the Acts. There is an overlap of some of the functions mandated by these pieces of legislation for different ministries. For example, both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Act and Factories Act mandate entry into factory premises by inspectors from the EPA and Factories Inspectorate, respectively. There is also some disagreement between the Factories‗and Mines‗Inspectorates regarding the inspection of explosives‗stores, which both organizations have a mandate for (Clarke, 2005). There is a lack of specification of standards which should form the basis against which services are to be assessed. Compensations as defined by the Workmen‗s Compensation Law bear no relation to the level of risk to which workers are exposed. The laws do not define funding mechanisms for OHS that should be applied both by government and the private sector. OHS programmes are therefore grossly underfunded, a reflection of the low priority accorded to it by the government (Clarke, 2005). 2.6.3Health and Safety Issues in Ghana Most African countries are noted for poor occupational health and safety practices. However, despite numerous occupational health and safety advances in recent years, several occupational health and safety issues still persist in most African countries, particularly in Ghana. The African University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 continent is witnessing a verifiable shift towards peace, stability and economic growth and this situation is making the world appreciate West-Africa for its significant investment opportunities and Ghana is one such country in the sub-region experiencing rapid industrialization in recent times (Amponsah-Tawiah & Dartey-Baah, 2011). With this opportunity comes with its own challenges specifically in the area of OHS. In every country, the state, society, organizations‘ and the employees themselves are the major stakeholders in seeing to the promotion of occupational health and safety issues. This is not different in the case of Ghana. Therefore to see to its implementation, there is the need for strong cultural and legal backings to enforce such essential ideas on health and safety issues. Currently, Ghana cannot boast of any comprehensive health and safety policy which provide standards or guide to be adhered to by industries. There are only some legislation and