Thesis:

Determinants of compliance to occupational safety and health standards in food manufacturing industries Thika sub-county, Kiambu county, Kenya

Under the rule or guideline, such as a specific policy, legislation, or law, workplaces must comply with a minimum of 19 requirements or key dimensions of the standards under OSHA 2007, thereby improving safety in the workplace. Finding out what influences and whether the food manufacturing industries in Thika sub-county Kenya adhere to occupational safety and health requirements is the aim of the research. The research was guided by the following research objectives: to establish the organizational determinants of compliance to OSH standards among employees; to identify the level of awareness of OSH standards among employees; to identify the sociodemographic determinants of compliance to standards among employees in the food manufacturing industries in Thika Sub-County, Kiambu County, Kenya. The study employed an analytical cross-sectional study design technique where qualitative and quantitative methods of data gathering were employed. A stratified sampling method was used to form food manufacturing industry strata which were grouped according to the industries with similar final products and the target respondents were the employees where 317 respondents were proportionately sampled to participate in the study Additionally all 34 employers, Occupation safety officer, and public health expert were the key informants. A questionnaire, a key informant guide, and an observational checklist were used as research tools to collect data. Data that was verified, coded, and analyzed with SPSS version 26 and NVIVO v.10 was used to analyze qualitative data recorded. Both the Chi-square test for independence and binary logistic regression analyses were applied to evaluate the degree of association between determinants of compliance with occupational safety and health standards. For the statistical analysis, the level of significance was set at≤ 0.05. According to this study, the rate of adherence to occupational safety and health standards was 76.5%, far lower than the 100% target compliance rate set by the Occupational Health and Safety standards. According to the second objective on sociodemographic determinants of adherence with standards for workplace health and safety, male gender(OR=2.1,95%CI=1.12-3.92) and having a primary level education(OR=8.3%,95%CI=2.28-30.53) decreased the likelihood of complying with occupational safety and health standards, whereas having 1-4 years of work experience(OR=5.9,95%CI=0.06-0.49) increased the likelihood of complying. According to the third objective on organizational factors influencing adherence to occupational safety and health standards, having safe working conditions (OR=3,95%CI=0.18-0.59)and providing personal protective equipment (PPE)(OR=2,95%CI=0.29-0.96) enhanced the likelihood of following OSH regulations, whereas keeping employees out of OSH related activities(OR=1.89,95%CI=1.04-3.45) decreased the likelihood of following OSH regulations. Finally, according to the fourth objective adherence to standards for workplace health and safety was more likely when people were aware of OSH standards(OR=2,95%CI=0.31-0.94). Adherence to OSH standards was 76.5%, falling short of the 100% target. Compliance was higher with work experience, safe conditions, PPE, and OSH awareness but lower among males and those with less education. Enhancing OSH training, improving workplace safety, providing PPE, and encouraging employee involvement in OSH activities for better compliance is needed in Kiambu County.