Abstract
A study of the Nigerian bottling firm Enugu State examined the impact of health and safety services on employee performance. The research specifically examines the relative impacts on the performance of employees of occupational health and safety. Also examined and identified are certain current health and safety hazards that may have an impact on employee performance in the workplace during the research It is further investigated if health and safety services have an influence on employee productivity. As a final point, the research suggests ways to improve productivity among employees by using occupational health and safety. The research was carried out using a survey descriptive method. The survey had a valid sample size of 77 answers. From the replies and analysis, it was shown that occupational health and safety affects employee performance by reducing absenteeism, causing bad morale, resulting in financial losses, and reducing production input. These include electrical accidents, fire accidents, employees' existing health conditions and mechanical and tool hazards in the workplace today. Organizing challenges in implementing health and safety policies for employees include misappropriation of funds intended for such purchases, a lack of a leadership mindset and corporate commitment, the use of technology as a strategic enabler, and a regulatory framework that requires strict adherence. Thus, according to the findings of the research, employers should promote a pro-OSHA culture among their workforce in order to reduce the number of workplace injuries and, as a result, help workers be more productive. Quality safety gear for manufacturing employees should be provided by the management of Nigerian bottling firm so that injuries can be avoided and lower performance can be achieved.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTON
1.1 The Study's Background
One of the most important aspects of every company is its health and safety. In the wake of World War II, several European countries embarked on an industrialization drive and were confronted with the horrors of industry in the process (Chalak, 2012). There have been a number of developments in occupational medicine, nursing, hygiene, and safety since then. Occupational health and ergonomics, psychology, toxicology, and industrial relations are just a few of the fields that have developed alongside occupational health and safety and are today recognized as being strongly tied to it. The primary objective of any business is to maximize profit while keeping costs to a minimum, and increasing productivity is one way to do this. Effective use of production elements is essential for the growth and success of any firm. Labor has been shown to be the most unique of the several production components. By virtue of its awareness, it is capable of rational thought, resistance, and the consequent adoption of measures that benefit the organization; as such, it may make a considerable contribution to guaranteeing appropriate wages for the working force. Every organization must prepare for the possibility of a mishap. One is lethal and the other may leave you in excruciating pain for months. These errors have a substantial financial effect on the organization. Employees are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs if their employers take the time and effort to look into potential health hazards and accidents at work.
Workers' health is often overlooked in many industries. Experts in other fields may be asked to cover for employee safety and health instead of creating full-time posts for employee safety and health specialists (Chalak,2012). Workers and labor unions, on the other hand, often misunderstand the extent to which poor working conditions may result in employee safety and health, and so they focus their efforts on fighting for higher wages while putting in much less effort to advance their careers. Employer health and safety services and research also get limited funding from businesses (Eyiah,2019). In order to have a better knowledge of workplace health and safety, it is vital to distinguish between the two parties: Employers and employees must be held accountable for their part in any accidents or illnesses that arise as a consequence of their failure or unwillingness to take precautions. Keeping employees healthy ensures that any diseases can be managed and efficiently handled with "this is what pushes corporations in developing safety and health programs for their workers through medical scheme operations." A lack of attention to employee health may have a negative impact on a company's financial well-being, including accidents, diseases, missing work time, death, and so on (Howell,1999). Workers bear the weight of the decrease in gross as a result of their productivity. The purpose of this research is to investigate how employee health and safety influences worker productivity. "Impact of health and safety services on employee performance" is the primary focus of this study. A production or service system's performance may be described as the relationship between the output it produces and the inputs that go into it. Accidents and illnesses in the workplace may reduce production by taking away workdays. To put it another way, employee health and safety is a major issue that might have a huge impact on not just businesses, but on society as a whole. Therefore, strengthening health and safety services may have the greatest impact on productivity and total economic growth.
An explanation of the issue at hand
Many people believe that "Health Is Wealth." It's hard to argue with that. Improved worker health and productivity are thus believed to go hand in hand because of this assumption (Farh,2012).
As an example, the Nigerian bottling sector is used in this research to demonstrate the importance of health and safety services and how they are implemented. The fundamental problem is the discrepancy between the importance that people place on health and safety and what they really do. The lack of adequate occupational health and safety measures has long been a source of worry for many in the industry. To address this problem, countries in both the developed and developing world have passed laws to safeguard employees' physical, mental, and psychological health while at work (Gitahi,2014).
There are many ways wealthier countries have dealt with the problem, but rising countries are still trying to figure out how to deal with it. An accident or illness at work may have a direct or indirect effect on individuals, their families, companies, and the nation as a whole. This problem of employee health and safety is a concern. A natural event like the weather might also be the source of this noise, dust, or chemical toxicity. Employees' health and safety are directly affected by all of these threats, regardless of how they manifest themselves. Moreover, these dangers might have a negative impact on our society and our nation as a whole. So, fixing one issue will almost probably lead to the solutions of many others. In order to make this happen, businesses, governments, and workers must work together to improve workplace health and safety.
1.3 The Study's Purpose
Health and safety services at Nigerian bottling firm Enugu have been studied to see how they affect staff productivity as a whole.
As a result, the following are the precise goals:
To determine the relative impact of health and safety at work on the productivity of employees.
Health and safety hazards in the workplace should be examined to see whether they are affecting workers' productivity.
Examine how an organization's health and safety policies affect its employees.
Aim: To provide recommendations on how to improve employee productivity via the application of occupational health and safety
1.4 Research Problems to Be Investigated
The investigation will be guided by the following set of questions:
How much of an impact does health and safety in the workplace have on how well employees perform?
Employee performance may be affected by what current health and safety hazards are there in the workplace?
An organization's health and safety application faces several hurdles.
What are some ideas on how to make advantage of workplace health and safety to increase the output of employees?
The Study's Importance
To help Nigeria's bottling firm and the country as a whole, the study would be of tremendous use in improving health and safety standards for the company's employees and so cutting costs. Also recommendation would be made on ways in which the employers, government, trade union could jointly make effort to promote health and safety in Nigerian bottling company thereby acting as a catalyst to influence other industries and generally improving the whole nation if this research is successfully carried out.
The study would further assist in showing how the various acts enacted are useful and should be implemented. If the study is accepted and appreciated, it could be significance to the nation as well.
The study will be significant to the academic community as it will contribute to the existing literature.
1.6 Scope Of The Study
This study will examine the relative effects of occupational health and safety on employee's performance. The study will also identify some contemporary health and safety hazard in the workplace that may affect employee performance. The study will further evaluate if health and safety service have an effect on employee performance. Lastly, the study will offer suggestions on how occupational health and safety could be used to enhance employee's productivity. Hence the study will be delimited to the Nigerian bottling company.
1.7 Definition Of Terms
Employee: Anyone who works for wages or salaries in the service of an employer.
Health: A state of being hale, sound or whole in body, mind and soul, that is from physical diseases or pain.
performance: Is the ratio or proportion of output of the commodity to the factors of production. According to “Mayadeo and Karmarker” may be defined “as the ratio between the production of a given measured by volume and one and more corresponding input factors also measured by volume”
Safety: This is the condition of being safe; it improves freedom from danger and hazards or keeping of oneself or other safe especially from danger of accident or diseases.
Any organization's health and safety is a critical component that requires careful consideration. "Occupational health practice received a boost following WWII, when most European nations went on an industrialization push and were faced with the evils of industry in the process" (Chalak, 2012). Various disciplines inherent in occupational medicine, nursing, hygiene, and safety have developed to varying degrees in various nations since then. Other disciplines with strong links to occupational health and safety, such as occupational health and ergonomics, psychology, toxicology, and, more recently, industrial relations, have evolved alongside occupational health and safety and are now accepted as disciplines closely related to occupational health and safety. Every company's main goal is to maximize profit at the lowest possible cost, and one method to do so is to boost productivity. In order to achieve organizational productivity and development, every organization must appropriately use the factors of production. Among the different manufacturing elements, labor has been identified as the most distinctive. This is because it has a consciousness, which allows it to think, resist, and so take actions that are beneficial to the organization, and as a result, the organization has a significant role to play in ensuring that the labor force is adequately provided for. Accidents are unavoidable in every business. Some of them are deadly, while others might leave you unable for a long time. The financial impact of these mishaps is significant for the company. As a consequence, when a company invests time and effort into investigating health dangers and accidents in its workplace, it may increase employee job satisfaction, and a happy employee is a productive employee.
The value of employee health is downplayed in many sectors. Employee safety and health is sometimes delegated as an extra task to cover burdened experts specializing in other disciplines rather than establishing full-time positions for employee safety and health specialists (Chalak,2012). Workers and labor unions, on the other hand, often underestimate the degree to which bad employee safety and health conditions might result, and hence devote their energy to fighting for pay while putting much less effort into work and improving their profession. Similarly, companies contribute relatively little to employee health and safety services and research(Eyiah,2019). It would be necessary to differentiate between the two parties in order to have a better understanding of employee health and safety: Safety is primarily concerned with the avoidance of illnesses or accidents, with the goal of ensuring that no accidents or diseases occur as a result of the employers' or workers' ignorance or incapacity to prevent such occurrences. Employee health, on the other hand, guarantees that the spread of any illnesses is controlled and effectively dealt with "this is what encourages companies in implementing safety and health programs for their workers via medical scheme operations." "The cost of not paying attention to staff health is harmful; accidents, illnesses, missed work time, mortality, and so on have multiplier effects on the fortunes of the business" (Howell,1999). Workers, in particular, bear the brunt of the gross as their output declines. The goal of this study is to go into the depths of employee health and safety and establish how it affects worker performance. The emphasis of this research is on the "impact of health and safety services on employee performance." Performance is simply defined as the link between the output created by a production or service system and the input used to produce that result. Working days are lost as a result of industrial accidents and sickness, which may contribute to a drop in productivity. Employee health and safety is therefore a significant problem that, if researched properly and extensively, might be of considerable advantage to both the firm and the country as a whole. As a consequence, improving health and safety services might give the highest results in terms of productivity and overall country development.
1.2 Statement Of Problem
"HEALTH IS WEALTH" is a common saying that is tough to contradict. In light of this axiom, it is assumed that improving worker health would automatically lead to increased worker performance(Farh,2012).
The goal of this study is to learn how health and safety services work, how important they are, and how they are implemented in organizations using the Nigeria bottling industry as an example. The real issue is the disparity between professed significance and actual practice of health and safety. The issue of insufficient health and safety precautions for employees in the workplace has long been a concern in the sector. Both developed and developing nations have made efforts to address this issue, routinely enacting acts and legislation to protect workers from physical, mental, and psychological health dangers in the workplace(Gitahi,2014).
Because wealthy nations are aware of the costs, they have devised a variety of solutions to the issue; nevertheless, emerging countries are still grappling with it. This topic of employee health and safety is a concern because health and safety hazards are actual and prospective dangers that may result in an accident or poor health at work, and can impact workers, their families, organizations, and the country directly or indirectly. This might be disguised as noise, dust, or chemical poisoning, or it could be generated by a natural occurrence such as the weather. All of these dangers, in whatever shape they take, have major consequences for employees' health and safety, and their presence might be detrimental to the community and the country as a whole. As a result, solving one problem will almost certainly lead to the resolution of a slew of other issues. This may be accomplished by a united effort by employers, governments, and employees, whose combined efforts can significantly enhance the health and safety of our workplaces.
1.3 Objective Of The Study
The general objective of the study is the effect of health and safety service on employee performance, a study of Nigerian bottling company Enugu.
Therefore,the specific objectives is as follows :
To examine the relative effects of occupational health and safety on employee's performance.
To examine and identify some contemporary health and safety hazard in the workplace that may affect employee performance.
To evaluate the challenges facing organization in the application of health and safety to employee.
To offer suggestions on how occupational health and safety could be used to enhance employee's productivity
1.4 Research Questions
The following questions have been prepared for the study:
What are the relative effects of occupational health and safety on employee's performance?
What are some of the contemporary health and safety hazard in the workplace that may affect employee performance?
What are the challenges facing organization in the application of health and safety to employee.
What are the possible suggestions on how occupational health and safety could be used to enhance employee's productivity?
1.5 Significance Of The Study
The research would be great significance to Nigeria bottling company as an organization and the nation at large, in order to improve their employee’s health and safety standards and as such reduce their cost. Also recommendation would be made on ways in which the employers, government, trade union could jointly make effort to promote health and safety in Nigerian bottling company thereby acting as a catalyst to influence other industries and generally improving the whole nation if this research is successfully carried out.
The study would further assist in showing how the various acts enacted are useful and should be implemented. If the study is accepted and appreciated, it could be significance to the nation as well.
The study will be significant to the academic community as it will contribute to the existing literature.
1.6 Scope Of The Study
This study will examine the relative effects of occupational health and safety on employee's performance. The study will also identify some contemporary health and safety hazard in the workplace that may affect employee performance. The study will further evaluate if health and safety service have an effect on employee performance. Lastly, the study will offer suggestions on how occupational health and safety could be used to enhance employee's productivity. Hence the study will be delimited to the Nigerian bottling company.
1.7 Definition Of Terms
Employee: Anyone who works for wages or salaries in the service of an employer.
Health: A state of being hale, sound or whole in body, mind and soul, that is from physical diseases or pain.
performance: Is the ratio or proportion of output of the commodity to the factors of production. According to “Mayadeo and Karmarker” may be defined “as the ratio between the production of a given measured by volume and one and more corresponding input factors also measured by volume”
Safety: This is the condition of being safe; it improves freedom from danger and hazards or keeping of oneself or other safe especially from danger of accident or diseases.
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