MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE TANZANIAN’S SMALL SCALE MINING FIRMS: DOES COMPLIANCE COST MATTER?

Abstract

This article examines how management practices influence the implementation of occupational health and safety at workplace in Tanzanian’s small scale mining firms. The paper focuses on the mediating effects of perceived compliance costs. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze data from 297 small scale mining firms and verify all hypotheses on direct and indirect effect of management practices on the implementation of occupational health and safety at the workplace. Using the ERG theory, the results demonstrate that Safety Training (ST) and Employee Communication (EC) have positive influence on the implementation of organization Safety Support (OSS) and Proactive Hazard Control (PHC) at the workplace. In relation to the contingency theory, the findings further revealed that the effects of EC on OSS and PHC were fully mediated by perceived compliance cost (PCC). Also, it partially mediated the effect of ST programs on the implementation of OSS and PHC at the workplace. These results imply that although the implementation of health and safety programs seems to cost the organization, ignoring it will make the organization incur more costs.  Therefore, management should avoid too much cost –cutting measures in the process of ensuring safety at the workplace.