Developing a novel quantitative approach to evaluate the organizational factors affecting occupational health and safety in the mining industry

Abstract

The mining industry is among those sectors that urge close attention to occupational health and safety (OH&S). Occupational Health and Safety management promotes many organizational practices based on carefully managing risks and reducing negative occurrences in the production process. Implementing different OH&S practices can also foster significant improvements in working conditions. However, the success of OH&S management efforts depends on workers' attitudes towards OH&S practices and, consequently, their engagement. Although many studies have explored factors influencing occupational health and safety management, few have focused on the mining sector. The main goal of this study is to propose and test measurement instruments for Organizational factors affecting Occupational Health and Safety in the mining sector. The study provides two levels of empirical validation: Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted using SPSS, while AMOS was employed for Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Exploratory Factor Analysis exposed five factors defined by 21 items. Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated the reliability of the obtained factor structure. The proposed measurement scale resulted in good fit indexes as well as convergent and discriminant validity. The study can significantly contribute to further research in the field.