Assessing Workplace Hazards in Small and Medium Enterprises: An Empirical Study from Southern Pakistan

Abstract

Employees are undeniably among an organization's most valuable assets. In the course of their daily work, millions of individuals labor in environments, which substantially expose them to various hazards. Mitigating and eliminating these hazards not only ensures workplace safety but also contributes significantly to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations. This study was explored the status of occupational health and safety practices related to workplace hazards while focusing on 35 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) situated in the SITE area of Kotri, Sindh, Pakistan. An empirical study was conducted using a questionnaire adapted from the work of Ezekiel M. Makori [1]. Further, data was analyzed in three stages with the help of SPSS. In the first stage, data reliability was checked with Cronbach’s alpha, which was 0.80. In the second stage, statistics was used to compute the mean, standard deviation, and variance of the variables and in the third stage inferential statistics was applied. Results showed that there are many hazards that exist in the working environment of the SMEs notably noise, fire, temperature, and working environment with a greater mean value. There was a negative correlation between occupational health and safety practices and workplace hazards. It is recommended that effective workplace inspections should be conducted on a regular basis to identify the hazards and eliminate them.