Accident Prevention Behaviors of the Operational Employees of BASF Group in Thailand

Abstract

The purposes of this research were : 1) to study the level of the accident prevention behaviors of operational employees and safety management in the organization; 2) to compare accident prevention behaviors of operational employees of BASF Group Company in Thailand, as classified by personal information including sex, age, educational level, location, working experience, and experience with working accidents; 3) to study the relationship between safety management in the organization and accident prevention behaviors of the operational employees of BASF Group in Thailand; and 4) to study viewpoints and guidelines of working accident prevention of operational employees of BASF Group Company in Thailand. This study applied both quantitative and qualitative research methods (mixed method research). With regard to the quantitative method, samples were 158 operational employees derived by a stratified random sampling technique and 10 samples of operational employees who got highest accident prevention behaviors score that allowed the interview for the qualitative part. The questionnaire and in-depth interview questions were used as a tool for gathering the data. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviations, t-test, F-test (One-way ANOVA), Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient and analyzing qualitative data by content analysis.

The results of the research were as follows: 1) the level of accident prevention behaviors of operational employees and safety management in the organization were at the high level; 2) accident prevention behaviors of operational employees of BASF Group Company in Thailand as classified by sex, age, educational level, location, years of employment and experience with working accident were not significantly different; 3) there was a high relationship with the same direction between safety management in the organization and accident prevention behaviors; and 4) viewpoints and guidelines of working accident prevention of employees based on qualitative data were as follows : 1) the organization benefits the most from clearly defined safety measures and its promotion about safety in practice at the organizational level. Consequently, employees gain knowledge and understanding about their safe working operation, and feel motivated to report unsafe conditions found in their working area for immediate improvement actions; 2) safety is the most important responsibility of employees themselves and their colleagues. Therefore, safety must always be the first priority in operations; 3) strict implementation and enforcement about  safety measures in the organization help encourage employees to work safety with attention and finally result in employees’ strong safety habits in daily work; 4) support or driving forces by family, co-workers and supervisors have a critical impact to work safe behaviors preventing accidents in the operation; and 5) other factors that help promote, drive or enhance safe working include employees’ self-motivation; continual operation and safety activities of the organization; regular communication about safety; and lastly, safe and pleasant working environment.