The Influence of Safety Training on Technicians’ Safety Culture in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industries in Kenya

Abstract

Technicians in pharmaceutical manufacturing industries work in sensitive occupational settings. They are routinely exposed to chemical hazards due to the nature of their work. In order for them to perform, safety is paramount. This research assessed the influence of safety training on safety culture of technicians in pharmaceutical manufacturing industries in Nairobi County. To achieve the objective, descriptive survey research design was employed. In selecting the study sample purposive sampling was utilized. Thirty-three (33) Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industries were selected based on the inclusion criteria from the study area, Nairobi Metropolitan. Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industries formed the sampling unit from where respondents were drawn. The population of the study was 4,000 employees drawn from the sampled Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industries. The sample of the study was three hundred and seventy nine (379) respondents, who comprised of Technicians. Data was collected through self-administered structured questionnaires and observation. The collected data was subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis by employing SPSS. The results show that the safety maturity level recorded in 85% of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industries is at continually improving safety maturity level and only 15% of the sampled industries were at the involving safety maturity level. This was based on an analysis of the safety culture key dimensions. The findings have also shown that majority of the respondents at 75.4% had their first encounter with OSH training at work environment commonly referred to as On the Job Training (OJT) and only 23.3% were trained during their academic/professional education. The findings have shown that a majority of the respondents; 89.0 % and 80.8% of the respondents had been trained on the requirements of OSH Act 2007 and Evacuation procedures respectively. Notably, the training area with the least awareness was Exposure Limits of hazardous chemicals and substances at 29.1% across all PMI’s. The p values for OSH Training and Safe work documentation are p<0.001 and 0.421 respectively, indicating that OSH training is a statistically significant predictor of Safety Culture. Based on the results the study accepts the null hypothesis; there is a statistically significant difference in influence of safety training on safety culture of technicians among pharmaceutical manufacturing industries. The study therefore concludes that OSH training has a significant positive influence on safety culture in pharmaceutical manufacturing industries in Nairobi, Kenya. The study indicates that there is need to incorporate OSH competency in the professional training of potential employees in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industries in Kenya.