Abstract:
Despite the presence of safety and health legislation, places of work in Kenya continue
to have poor safety and health conditions and consequently there is continued accident
occurrence. In 2007, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007 (OSHA, 2007)
replaced the Factories and Other Places of Work Act, Cap.514 which had been in
existence for over five decades. The enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health
Act, 2007, has since not caused a notable impact on safety and health status in
workplaces. Workers and employers continue to be unaware of existence of the Act and
its provisions and therefore proceed to work in contravention of the requirements of the
Act. The Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services (DOSHS) is charged
with the responsibility of prosecuting those who contravene the provisions of OSHA,
2007. The Directorate also ensures safety and health of persons in workplaces by regular
inspections and maintains records of such activities. This report details the outcome of
delving into the impact prosecution under the provisions of OSHA, 2007 by the DOSHS,
on the compliance to some aspects of safety and health of workplaces between October
2007 and December 2010. The research examined how the prosecutions influenced
compliance to safety and health in workplaces on the aspect of workplace registration,
risk assessment, safety and health audit and fire safety audit. The study involved perusal
of records about workplaces that were inspected and subsequently prosecuted under the
provisions of the Act. A comparison was then done between the status of compliance to
selected aspects of safety and health of the workplaces before and after the proceedings
to bring the impact to light. An interview schedule was administered to officers of
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DOSHS office stations to gather information about the cases prosecuted and status of
compliance thereafter. It emerged from the results of this study that prosecution in
respect of selected aspects of safety and health yielded remarkable compliance. The
outcome of this research would be useful in providing a way forward as to whether
prosecution is a more appropriate approach in enhancing compliance to safety and health
requirements in Kenyan workplaces.
