Management commitment influence on implementation of occupational health and safety policies in water and sanitation companies in Nyeri County, Kenya

• Main Authors: Rachel Nderitu, Peter Mwaura, David Gichuhi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ümit Hacıoğlu 2019-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Research In Business and Social Science
• Subjects: management; commitment; safety; kenya; health
• Online Access: https://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/569

Contemporary employees spend most of their working lives in the workplace. Work provides economic, social and psychological experiences that promote the mental wellbeing of individuals. The work environment should be devoid of hazards as much as possible to provide healthy and decent work for the workforce. However, numerous injuries, illnesses, property damages, and process losses take place at different workplaces. It is unclear how effectively OSH programs are being implemented in Kenya’s water sector since no study has been done. The general objective of the study was to establish an influence of management commitment on Occupational Health and Safety policies implementation in Water and Sanitation Companies in Kenya, a study of water and Sanitation Companies in Nyeri County. The study was based on the theoretical foundation that comprises two theories Leader-Member Exchange theory and Bourgeois and Brodwins Five Models of Strategy Implementation. The target population consisted of 474 employees in all water & sanitation companies in Nyeri County. From this population, a sample of 243 respondents was drawn using a random sampling technique but only 188 respondents filled and returned valid questionnaires giving the study an 80% response rate. The study employed both descriptive and inferential statistics to present and analyze the data.  Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistical tools namely frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation while inferential statistical tools such as multiple regression were used to determine the relationship between variables. The study findings revealed that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between management commitment and implementation, the 27.9% unit change in the implementation of OSH policies was explained by the management commitment. The study recommends that the water companies’ management should be committed to the implementation of OSH.