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Occupational Health and Safety in Emerging Economies: An India based study

Sai Maudgalya, Tushyati
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384870134

Abstract Details

2013, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Industrial Engineering.
The field of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is currently facing two main challenges: 1) Increasing awareness and buy-in among stakeholders and 2) Considering differences (cultural, behavioral and anthropometric) in an increasingly diverse and global workforce; work environments and practices designed for one group of workers may not be appropriate for other groups. These challenges are most relevant in the context of worker health and safety in emerging economies; a large and comparatively cheaper workforce is a mainstay of these countries and OHS is an imperative to make their economic growth sustainable. This study addresses needs on two fronts: From a research perspective, there is a dearth of data on contextual and cultural variables in a developing country work environment that impact safety performance; most existing safety research on this topic is Western or developed country centric. From a practitioner perspective, worker health and safety is a relatively nascent field in developing countries; practitioners are struggling to understand safety perceptions and attitudes that can help localize safety practices and enable more effective implementation of safety programs. This empirical study has 3 objectives: 1) Determine if a safety culture is present in a developing country, 2) Understand contextual influences (perceptions, behaviors and cultural context) that affect safety culture, and 3) Demonstrate a positive correlation between improved worker health and safety and key business outcomes; a "business case" for worker health and safety will especially help gain support from management teams in the highly cost competitive business climate in developing countries. For the first two objectives, an empirical study was conducted in India using a sample set of 500 individuals (senior managers/executives, supervisors and workers) derived from 22 organizations across 5 sectors (Infrastructure/Energy, Mining, Biotech, Services/IT and Manufacturing) and spanning small, medium and large enterprises. A primarily qualitative methodology (the Grounded Theory approach) was adopted to code and analyze (frequency distributions, manual text analytics, and trend analysis) the data from the semi-structured one-on-one interviews. For the third objective, a critical appraisal of data from longitudinal case studies was undertaken to identify links between safety, productivity and quality. In addition, a theoretical quantitative model based on the Residual Method was developed to quantitatively measure the tangible and intangible output gains resulting from improvements in the worker-work environment. Though limited by the dependence on self-reported instruments, the strength of this exploratory study is its empirical disposition. The findings complement existing experimental and field research in this area and serve as a base for deriving insights and hypothesis that can be validated in the future by targeted quantitative studies. Study findings indicate that there is a safety culture prevalent in Indian organizations, but it varies greatly from large-scale industries to small-scale industries. Small-scale industries need the most help in terms of educating management about the business benefits of worker health and safety, and generating safety awareness among workers. Individual responses illustrated the influence of national culture and socio-economic conditions on safety related perceptions and behaviors; and underscored the need to consider cultural context when implementing safety and other worker-environment fit ergonomic initiatives.
Henry Spitz, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Sundararaman Anand, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Thomas Richard Huston, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
David Thompson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
442 p.
Industrial Engineering
worker health and safety; India ergonomics; impact of cultural differences on safety behaviors; occupational health and safety; emerging economy ergonomics; safety culture

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sai Maudgalya, T. (2013). Occupational Health and Safety in Emerging Economies: An India based study [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384870134

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sai Maudgalya, Tushyati. Occupational Health and Safety in Emerging Economies: An India based study. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384870134.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sai Maudgalya, Tushyati. "Occupational Health and Safety in Emerging Economies: An India based study." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384870134

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1384870134
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.