Journal of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development. Vol. 2 (1), 37-48, September 2016 COGNITIVE SCIENCES AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Perceived Work Environment and the Occurrence of Accidents: A Study Based on Kuching Area of Sarawak Li Sa Lau1, Talwar P. Y.1*, Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce1 and Yin Bee Oon1 1,2 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia ABSTRACT Perceived work environment could be described as the opinions and attitudes of workers towards their work condition. Elements of perceived work environment such as physical environment, supportive work environment, and perceived work tasks may possibly be important factors that influence the occurrence of accidents. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between perceived work envi- ronment and the occurrence of accidents within an electronic manufacturing industry in Kuching, Sarawak. A cross-sectional survey utilizing a bilingual self-report ques- tionnaire was conducted to garner data from 50 workers. Independent t-test and Pear- son moment correlation were used to assess data. The results indicated that the occur- rence of accidents was not affected by age group. Although physical environment and perceived work tasks did not demonstrate significant relationships with the occur- rence of accidents, supportive work environment exhibited a significant inverse rela- tionship, thereby indicating that accidents could be lowered in the presence of higher supportive work environment. Thus, support and help from co-workers are essential determinants of safety at the workplace. Keywords: Accidents, perceived work task, physical environment, supportive work environment, safety INTRODUCTION healthy working environment, it is essen- tial that every employer and every em- For the establishment of a safe and ployee make safety as his or her top pri- ority. Safety management system im- ARTICLE INFO proves the work environment and reduc- E-mail address: [email protected] (Talwar P.Y.) es the risk of accidents. Despite this, it is *Corresponding author not uncommon for accidents to occur in the workplace due to negligence. Reports e-ISSN: 2550-1623 and news about accidents in the factory © Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human sector have been notably widespread. Development, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Several factors like physical environ- Lau Li Sa, Talwar P., Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce and Ong Yin Bee ment, supportive work environment and industrial safety’, proposed by Heinrich perceived work tasks play crucial roles et al. (1980). Aimed at preventing unsafe in preventing workplace accidents. Phys- acts or unsafe conditions, this theory ical work conditions like lighting, tem- provided the foundation for accident perature and noise affect accident rates prevention measures. The first axiom (Bjerkan, 2010). For example, Chandra- which deals with accident causation sekar (2011) in his work reported that states that ‘‘the occurrence of an injury high temperatures caused the workers to invariably results from a complicated feel stressed and exhausted, and moreo- sequence of factors, the last one of which ver, the poor design of workplace made being the accident itself” (Heinrich, Pe- the space more prone to accidents. Relat- terson & Roos, 1980, p154). This theory edly, Tariq and Everett (2000) posited is also known as the ‘domino theory’, that an unsafe condition is a state where- since the accident sequence is likened to in the physical design of the workplace, a block of dominoes knocking each other ergonomics of tools and other materials down in a row. Heinrich et al. (1980) may interrupt the safety conditions at posited five metaphorical dominoes la- work. Within this context, Noorul, No- beled with accident causes. They are rudin, and Zalinawati (2012) suggested Social Environment and Ancestry, Fault that a workplace should be well-designed of Person, Unsafe Act or Mechanical or and well-planned. Besides, employees’ Physical Hazard (unsafe condition), Ac- perceptions towards safety also help cident, and Injury. According to the au- prevent accidents. Huang et al. (2014) thors, accidents could be avoided by and Clarke (2006a) emphasized that removing one of the dominoes, normally when workers were aware of hazards, the middle one or Unsafe Act. they tended to be more careful. In addi- tion to these factors, a supportive work In Malaysia, safety within the work envi- environment could also encourage work- ronment of the manufacturing sector, ers to provide useful feedback about compared to other sectors, has been matters relating to safety at the work- ranked uppermost for occupational acci- place. For instance, Zohar (2002) indi- dents.. This could be a cause for concern cated that supervisors who showed their and it leads to critical issues for both concern personally through stimulating employees and the organization. Howev- open communication and discussion with er, due to the potential for the develop- the employees could reduce accident ment of the manufacturing sector, people rates in the workplace. All these aspects were willing to take the risk to work highlight the importance of perceived within this industry. In 2015, the contin- work environment and its influence on ually increasing growth of the manufac- safety as well as the risk of accidents, turing sector contributed nearly 25% either in an organization or industry. towards the GDP, wherein more than 60% of the products had been exported The theoretical framework for the pre- overseas (Trading economics, 2015). sent study was based on ‘the axioms of Correspondingly, the manufacturing Journal of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development. Vol. 2 (1), 37-48, September 2016 Lau Li Sa, Talwar P., Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce and Ong Yin Bee industry in Kuching had contributed (NPD) and permanent disability (PD) almost 27.4% towards the Sarawak cases occurred within the manufacturing economy with a total labor force of industry. In comparison to the other oc- 11.2%, and these contributions were cupational sectors, the marked difference expected to grow remarkably (Oxford in the number of NPD and PD cases is business group, 2016b). The approved quite alarming and a cause for con- investments in the manufacturing sector cern.Therefore, the current research is had risen from RM4.7 billion to RM8.3 focused on different aspects of safety billion, with an increase of 75% in 2013 within the electronic components manu- (Oxford business group, 2016b). The facturing industry in Kuching, Sarawak. electronics and electrical (E&E) compo- nent of the manufacturing sector re- OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENTS mained as the backbone of the export market (Oxford business group, 2016a). According to Barling, Loughlin, and Over the years, the E&E segment ex- Kelloway (2002), less than 1% of re- panded significantly in the market, main- search conducted by companies on occu- ly due to the advancement in technology. pational safety matters was available, This sector has played an important role and this condition had remained the as a key contributor towards the Sarawak same for more than twenty years.Most of economy. the studies have largely centred on the safety climate (Vinodkumar & Bhasi, Despite the significance of the manufac- 2009; Clarke, 2006b; Siu, Phillips & turing sector in the Malaysian economy, Leung, 2004; Smith & Dejoy, 2014; statistics provided by the Department of Hon, Hinze,& Chan, 2014), which is Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH, assumed to be of greater significance for 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2011, 2012b, the work environment. In Malaysia, very 2013, 2014, 2015) indicated that occupa- few known researches have specifically tional accidents within this sector had the focused on the perception of workers highest number of cases compared to towards workplace accidents, which also other sectors, with more than 1,440 re- could be considered as an important ported casualties. The occupational acci- segment of the safety climate. Therefore, dent statistics are shown in Table 1. the main objective of the present study is to identify the relationship between per- It is also evident from Figure 1 (Depart- ceived work environment and the occur- ment of Occupational Safety and Health rence of accidents in the electronic man- [DOSH], 2015) that the construction ufacturing industry. sector had higher death cases compared to other sectors. However, the highest METHOD number of non-permanent disability Journal of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development. Vol. 2 (1), 37-48, September 2016 Lau Li Sa, Talwar P., Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce and Ong Yin Bee Table 1: Occupational accident statistics by manufacturing sector from 2010 to De- cember 2015 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Dec 2015 Death 59 45 40 58 45 46 Non-Permanent disability 1,493 1,471 1,535 1,469 1,510 1,906 Permanent Disability 162 133 147 128 112 89 Total 1,714 1,649 1,722 1,655 1,667 2,041 Figure 1: Occupational accidents by sector until December 2015 A quantitative study utilizing a cross- sured about the anonymity of their re- sectional non-probability sampling re- sponses. Permission was obtained from search design with a convenience sam- relevant authorities prior to collection of pling technique was used to evaluate data. data from 50 male respondents of an electronic component manufacturing The bilingual self-report questionnaire industry in Kuching, Sarawak. Primary consisted of three sections. Demographic data was gathered through a self- profiles of respondents were incorpo- administered questionnaire. In order to rated