HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES IN CHETTINAD CEMENT CORPORATION

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Bonfring International Journal of Data Mining, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 2015

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Health and Safety Measures in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur Dr.G. Yoganandan and G. Sivasamy  Abstract--- The cement industry plays an important role in the construction and engineering industry. This study aimed at finding out the views and awareness workers on health and safety measures in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. The various welfare measures provided by the employer will have immediate impact on the health, physical and mental efficiency of the employees. The sample size was 319. The tools used in this research are percentage analysis, chi-square, t-test and factor analysis. This study found that majority of the employees belong to the age group of 31-40 year and there is a significance relationship between experience and their perception on health and safety measures in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited and there is a significance relationship between designation and the workers perception on overall facilities. The study suggested that the organization need to increase salary to the employees, take appropriate measure to reduce the air pollution caused by the manufacturing operation and also through other measures like planting trees and using air filters.

according to the value system, social institution, degree of industrialization an general level of social and economic development. Even within one country, its content may be different from region to region. The Chamber’s Dictionary defines the term welfare as state characterized by happiness well-being of property. Welfare refers to a state of living of an individual or a group in a desirable relationship with total environment ecological, economic and social. The welfare measure provided by the organization enhances the image of the organization among the working community, it helps the organization to ensure industrial peace and reduce the attrition rate of workers, it also enhances the productivity of the workers and thus improves the standard of living of the employees. According to the international labour organization report “workers welfare” may be understood as including such services, facilities and amenities as may be established in the vicinity of undertakings to perform their work in healthy and congenial surroundings and to avail themselves of facilities which improve their health and bring high morale Prabu[1].

Keywords--- Cement Industry, Employee Health, Labour Welfare, Working Condition, Safety

II.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of this study.  I.

INTRODUCTION

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VERY organization has to put tremendous attention on the management of health and safety of workers in the workplace. The individual employee who not well in term of physical and psychological (mental) health may be one of the important causes of accident which may result in an injury in the workplace or work-related ill health for others also. The health and safety if not managed properly would lead to serious long-term consequences. The law expects the employers to be responsible for the health and safety of their employees. Employers also have moral responsibility to their employees to protect their health and safety. The organizations need to ensure that people are not injured as a result of work. Labour Welfare is an essential part of social welfare. It means the adjustment of the labours work life, social life and family life to the society. The concept of welfare is necessarily dynamic, bearing a different interpretation from country to country, from time to time and even in the same country Dr.G. Yoganandan, Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies(MBA), K.S.R College of Arts and Science(Autonomous),Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, India–637215. E-mail:[email protected] G. Sivasamy, Research Scholar [M.Phil-Management], K.S.R College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, India–637215. Email:[email protected] DOI: 10.9756/BIJDM.8024

  

To study the effectiveness of health and safety measures adopted by Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. To know the employees perception regarding the safety programs and practices. To find out the impact of industrial safety and work environment on productivity. To find out the employees’ satisfaction on the safety measures and work environment in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. III.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study aimed at finding out the views and awareness workers on health and safety measures in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. For the purpose of gathering data from the employees, a detailed questionnaire was prepared by carefully taking ideas from the previous researches done in this concept - health and safety measures. Stratified random sampling method was adopted by the researchers to gather the data from the employees working in the company. The researchers distributed 350 questionnaires but only 319 filledin questionnaires were identified by the researcher as valid for the purpose of research and therefore the sample size of the study was 319. Statistical tools like percentage analysis, chisquare analysis, t-test and factor analysis are used to analyse the data. The researchers carefully scrutinised relevant literatures in order to understand the studies conducted in the

ISSN 2277 - 5048 | © 2015 Bonfring

Bonfring International Journal of Data Mining, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 2015

areas of health and safety measures. It should be noted that there was in-depth study conducted with respect to health and safety measures in cement industry hence there exist a research gap and the researchers would like to address the research gap by conducting a study on the above mentioned topic. IV.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Deepali S. Kadam [2] in her article “A Study of Health and Safety Measures With Reference to Selected Co-Operative Sugar Factories” found that implemented health provisions give job satisfaction to majority of workers. The author suggested that the organisation should provide good fencing facilities to avoid accidents in the industry. The study also suggested that the organization should provide safety equipment to all workers, who work at height occasionally or daily. Logasakthi [3] in her article “A study on employee health, safety and welfare measures of Chemical industry in the view of Salem region” found that there is a relationship between the experience and safety, there is no difference between age and periodic health check up facilities of the organisation. The study has also found that most of the respondents satisfied with the facilities provided by the organization. The author suggested that the organisation can provide overcoat and mask to avoid health infection. Prabakar. S [4] in his article “Employees satisfaction & welfare measures: A case study with special reference to Don Bosco College of Arts & Science” found that out of all the employees are joined in trade union most of the respondents are having more than 10 years of experience. Majority of the employees are highly satisfied with the welfare facilities. The author suggested to the management that the employees are not aware of the existing schemes. Sulaiman [5] in his article “A Study on Employee’s Satisfaction and Safety Measures” found that there is no difference between the satisfaction levels of employees regarding the safety measures within the organisation. The author suggested to the company that the safety policies can be made be known to all employees, contract employees by circulating the policies in both English and regional language. The study also suggested that enough attention should be given on minor accidents so that major accidents can be prevented. Gabriel Dwomoh [6] in his article “Impact of occupational health and safety policies on employees’ performance in the Ghana’s timber industry: Evidence from Lumber and Logs Limited” found there is a positive relationship between health and safety policies and employees performance. The author suggested to the company that they should concentrate more on to reduce the accidents in the workplace. The study also suggested that the organization can take more steps to satisfy the employees and, to retain them with the organisation. Ramanigopal [7] in his article “Effectiveness of health safety measures towards employees of Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited” found that majority of the employees are aware of health and safety policy. Most of the respondents agree that the management’s response towards accident is very quick. The author suggested that the organization shall provide training programs frequently to the employees so that they can

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upgrade themselves. The study has also suggested that the company can provide safety equipments to the apprentices working in the organisation. Ruby Melody Agbola [8] in his article “Impact of Health and Safety Management on Employee Safety at the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority” found that majority of the employees knows very well about the organisation’s health and safety policy. Nearly one third of employees have experienced accidents or health problems that are related to works. The author pointed out to the company that health and safety management systems occurs due to, ignorance of safety regulations, lack of safety rules, unavailability of essential safety equipments, poor training in safety. Mark Fleming [9] in his report “Assessing Employee Safety Motivation” states that the main goal of this study is to develop an instrument to assess employee safety motivation and to evaluate the reliability and validity of this newly developed measure. The author found that there is a lack of motivation for the employees about the safety work environment. The author suggested to the company to concentrate more on training and education about the safety working condition to the employees. The study also highlighted that there should be less work load to the employees so that the employees will be able to concentrate more on safety working environment. Nor Azimah Chew Abdullah [10] in his article “Assessing Employees Perception on Health and Safety Management in Public Hospitals” states that the study is conducted to know the safety satisfaction, role of supervisor, safety objectives & involvement. General view of the employees with regard to their occupational health and safety practices were low. There was also a trend to look at health and safety practices as preventing quick and effective working. The health and safety issues affect both men and women at work. The author suggested to that the communication should be in proper way to reach all the employees. There is a need for ongoing commitment and determination from all employees to improve safety performance in an organization. V.

ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

Table: 1 Distribution of Employees on the Basis of Demographic Variables Demographic variables Gender

Age

Educational Qualification Marital Status Designation

Male Female 18-30 Years 31-40 Years 41-50 Years 51-60 Years Below 12th Diploma UG PG Unmarried Married Worker Supervisor

Source: Primary data

ISSN 2277 - 5048 | © 2015 Bonfring

Number of respondents 283 36 103 156 60 0 84 61 174 0 30 289 180 139

Percentage 88.7 11.3 32.3 48.9 18.8 0 26.3 19.1 54.6 0 9.6 90.4 56.4 43.6

Bonfring International Journal of Data Mining, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 2015

It is clear from the table 1 that majority of the employees in the cement industry are male. The ratio of female employees to male employees is 1:8, which shows in the cement industry, there is a clear gender preference or bias. The educational background of majority of employees in the cement industry is under-graduation and majority of the employees fall in the age group of 31- 40 years. Majority of the employees are married and majority of the employees are workers. Chi-square analysis is used in this research to find out the association between (1) experience of the employees and their perception on health and safety factors, (2) designation of the employees and their perception on overall facilities available in the organization for health and safety. Table 2: Association between Experience and Perception on Health and Safety (Chi square) Pearson chi-square

Calculated value 106.190 (a)

DF 6

Table value 12.592

Source: Primary data It is evident from the table 2 that the calculated value is more than the table value. Therefore Null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, it is inferred that there is a significant relationship between experience of the employees and their perception on health and safety measures in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. Table 3: Association between Designation and Perception on Overall Facilities for Health and Safety (Chi square) Pearson Chi-Square

Calculated value 13.273a

DF 2

Table value 5.991

Source: Primary data It is evident from the table 3 that the calculated value is more than the table value. Therefore Null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, it is inferred that there is a significant relationship between designation of the employee and their perception on the overall facilities provided by the company for employee health and safety. To identify the factors influencing the health and safety of workers in the cement industry, the researchers have adopted factor analysis. The variables are chosen from past research works. The factor analysis is applied on the variables to reduce those variables into few factors. The following section deals with the results of factor analysis. Table 4: KMO and Bartlett’s Test Kaisers-Meyer-Olkin Measure of sampling Adequacy Approx. Chi-Square Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Df Sig

.638 5473.086 300 .000

The table 4 shows the value of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of sampling adequacy, which is 0.638. The test value of Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity was significant and it is indicating that correlation matrix is not an identify matrix. This KMO and Bartlett’s are signifying the value i.e. 0.638 which is greater than the value 0.5. Hence the value signifies that data collected is highly significant for conducting factor analysis.

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Table 5: Factors Influencing the Health and Safety of Employees Factors

Safety

Welfare

Health Working condition Sound Pollution Proffer Fringe benefits Air pollution

Variables Ventilation Machinery Condition Drinking Water First Aid Ambulance Shoes Helmet Gloves Canteen Transport Uniform Medical Check up Shift timings Cleanliness Lighting Hours of working Training & Development Noise Leave Recreational Hospital Insurance Grievance Dust & Fumes Mask

Factor Loading .653 .601 .561 .538 .734 .748 .849 .866 .828 .759 .447 .683 .595 .576 .721 .786 .729 .765 .708 .741 .498 .214 .848 .591 .810

The factor analysis is a factor reduction technique. The variables can be regroup using the factor analysis as follows. Factor 1 - Safety Ventilation, machinery condition, drinking water, first aid, ambulance, shoes, helmet and gloves make the first factor which may be named as safety. Factor 2 - Welfare Canteen, transport and uniform make the second factor which may be named as welfare. Factor 3 – Health Medical check up, shift timings, Cleanliness and lighting make the third factor which may be named as health. Factor 4 - Working condition Hours of working and training & development make the fourth factor which may be named as working condition. Factor 5 – Sound pollution This factor consists of one factor Noise. Factor 6 - Proffer Leave, recreational and hospital make the sixth factor which may be named as proffer. Factor 7 – Fringe Benefits Insurance, grievance and dust & fumes make the seventh factor which may be named as fringe benefits.

ISSN 2277 - 5048 | © 2015 Bonfring

Bonfring International Journal of Data Mining, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 2015

Factor 8 – Air Pollution This factor consists of one factor namely mask facility. The author would like to highlight that only in 5 variables the factor loading is very strong, that is above .8. The organization has to at least focus on the five variables or four factors is the criteria of choosing the factor is fixed as factor loading of 0.8 and above. The four factors are    

Factor 1 – Helmet (.849) and Gloves (.866) Factor 2 – Canteen facility (.828) Factor 3 – Grievance handling (.848) and Factor 4 –Mask facility (.810) The researchers would like to point out that to consider the factor variables with factor loading of .8 and above or consider even lesser variables with lesser factor loading is at the discretion of individual researchers and there is no hard and fast rule on this. VI.

FINDINGS

The study found that majority (88.7%) of employees are male in the cement industry, majority (90.4%) of employee are married, majority (66.1%) of employees are savings less than 3,000 per month and, majority (68%) of employees are working in both A & B shifts. The study also found majority (92.5%) of employees have joined the labour union, majority (71.5%) of employees travel around 5 KM every day to come for work in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. The study has also found that there is a significant relationship between experience of the employees and their perception on health and safety measures in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. There is a significant relationship between designation of the employees and their perception on overall facilities provided by the organisation. VII.

SUGGESTIONS

The following are the suggestions to the company to improve the health and safety measures of the employees. The researchers suggests to the company to check the machinery condition and make service at a periodical time and to control the air pollution by planting trees around the industry and nearby villages or areas. The study also suggests to the company to concentrate in the working conditions like lighting, safety equipments, which is not up to the satisfaction of the employees. VIII.

CONCLUSION

The study aimed at finding out the health and safety measures of workers in Chettinad Cement Corporation Limited, Karur. For this purpose, a sample size of 319 was taken and stratified random sampling technique was adopted to choose the respondents. The study found that majority of the employees belongs to the age group of 31-40 years. The

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study has found that majority of the employees are undergraduates and possess 5-15 years of experience. The authors suggest that to control the air pollution by planting trees around the industry and also need to use water sprayers to reduce the dust and fumes within the campus. The study also suggests that there is a need to provide a different insurance scheme to the employees covering accident prone operational activities in the organization. The firm also has to provide gloves and mask to the employees for protecting their health. REFERENCES [1]. Prabu, A, A Study on Labour Welfare Measures in Salem Co-operative Sugar Mills Limited in Mohanur, Nammakal District. Salem: Shodhganga A Reservoir of Indian Thesis, 2014. [2]. Kadam, D. S., & Thakar, H. M, A Study of Health and Safety Measures With Reference To Selected Co-operative Sugar Factories”, Indian Journal of Research in Management, Business and Social Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 1, Pp. 117-121, 2014. [3]. Logasakthi, & Rajagopal, A study on Employee Health, Safety and Welfare Measures of chemical industry in the view of Salem region”, International Journal of Reseaarch in Business Management , Volume 1 , Issue 1, Pp. 01-10, 2013. [4]. Prabakar, S, Employees satisfaction & Welfare Measures A Case Study With Special Reference to Don Bosco College of Arts & Science , Sogathur, Dharmapuri”, Asia Pacific Journal of Research, Volume 3 , Issue 10, Pp. 01-10, 2013. [5]. Sulaiman, J., & Alaguthankamani, M, A Study on Employee's Satisfaction and Safety Measures (With Special Reference to two Wheeler Spare Parts Manufacturing Industry in Chennai)”,Indian Journal of Applied Research, Volume 3, Issue 3, Pp. 41-43, 2013. [6]. Dwomoh, G., Owusu, E. E., & Addo, M, Impact of occupational health and safety policies on employees’ performance in the Ghana’s timber industry: Evidence from Lumber and Logs Limited. International Journal of Education and Research” , Volume 1, Issue 12, Pp. 01-14, 2013. [7]. Ramanigopal, C. S., & Palaniappan, G, Effectiveness of Health Safety Measures Towards Employees of Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited”, International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Science , Volume 2 , Issue 6, Pp. 01-12, 2012. [8]. Agbola , “Impact of Health and Safety Management on Employee Safety at the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority”, journal of atmosphere, Volume 2, Issue 9, Pp. 156-166, 2012. [9]. Fleming, M., Assessing Employee Safety Motivation. Richmond: The Workers’ Compensation Board of B.C., 2012. Dr.G. Yoganandan is Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, K.S.R College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Tiruchengode. He has 2 years of industrial experience and 13 years of teaching experience. He has presented 26 research papers in international and national seminars, contributed book chapters to 3 edited books and published two books on banking and human resource management, 25 research articles in international and national journals of repute. He is also a regular guest speaker for various forums and management associations.

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Mr.G. Sivasamy is research scholar in Management Studies department, K.S.R College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Tiruchengode. He has published an article in international journal and presented around 5 research papers in national and international seminars.