The influence of hazard control and prevention toward safety behaviors and safety outcomes in coal-fired power plants using PLS-SEM.

INTRODUCTION: The electrical utility industry, which plays a vital role in sustaining other sectors, contributes to high occupational accident rates in the utility industries. The high accident rate shows that there has been insufficient effort made to control unsafe actions and conditions in the workplace. This study aims to examine the influence of hazard control and prevention as leading indicators of safety behaviors and outcomes in coal-fired power plants in Malaysia. METHODS: This quantitative research was conducted by distributing survey questionnaires randomly to five coal-fired power plants in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 340 respondents were involved in this research. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis was performed using SmartPLS to validate and examine the relationship of the proposed model. RESULTS: The results validate the construct of hazard control and prevention consisting of planning, action, managing, and verifying, while the safety outcomes construct consists of occupational accidents, fatal accidents, near misses, and lost time injuries. The results indicate that hazard control and prevention significantly relate to safety compliance, safety participation, safety motivation, and safety knowledge. Moreover, safety outcomes were influenced negatively by hazard control and prevention through safety compliance. CONCLUSION: The model provides a better understanding of the influence of hazard control and prevention on safety behavior and outcomes. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The model can be used as guidance for practitioners and researchers in planning and implementing hazard control and prevention to improve health and safety in the workplace.

Systematic Literature Review on Indicators Use in Safety Management Practices among Utility Industries.

BACKGROUND: Workers in utility industries are exposed to occupational accidents due to inadequate safety management systems. Accordingly, it is necessary to characterize and compare the available literature on indicators used in safety management practices in the utility industries. METHODS: The systematic literature review was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis statement. This study considered 25 related studies from Web of Science and Scopus databases. RESULTS: Further review of these articles resulted in three mains performance indicators; namely, driven leading indicators, observant leading indicators, and lagging indicators consisting of 15 sub-indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies should consider researching a more comprehensive range of utility industries, measuring subjective and objective indicators, integrating risk management into safety management practices, and validating the influence of leading indicators on safety outcomes. Further, researchers recommend including accidents, fatalities, lost time injuries, and near misses in safety outcomes.