Safety Intervention Program for Supervisor of Manufacturing Sector in Malaysia: a Quasi-experimental Research

Over the last decade, work-related accidents have been a major concern in Malaysia. Manufacturing continues to be the leading cause of accident cases. Previously published research revealed that unsafe behaviour committed by workers is the predominant factor for workplace accidents. Programs that promote safe behaviour among employees may help prevent work-related accidents. In Malaysia, various studies on safety behaviour as antecedents of workplace accidents have been undertaken, and it has been determined that failing to follow SOP and appropriately use PPE are the primary risky behaviours that result in accidents. Thus, intervention programs aimed at preventing such risky activities appear to be critical for reducing workplace accidents, particularly in the manufacturing sector. However, there is a dearth of such empirical intervention studies conducted in the Malaysian industry. The purpose of this study is to perform an intervention program aimed at enhancing worker safety behaviour through the supervisor's guidance in doing hazard self-assessment. Supervisors from high-risk manufacturing enterprises received a one-day instruction on the workplace hazard self-assessment module and were instructed to perform the intervention for 12 weeks with their employees. To test the effectiveness of the intervention program, a quasi-experimental design with a control group was employed. The findings demonstrated a substantial difference in safety behaviour between the intervention and control groups following the program, confirming the intervention's effectiveness