Put Safety First: Exploring the Role of Health and Safety Practices in Improving the Performance of SMEs

Abstract

The study was conducted to ascertain the role of health and safety practices (HSPs) in improving the performance of the firm and safety performance. The study was conducted in Pakistan, a developing country from South Asia. This study collected data from various small and medium enterprises (SMEs) located in Karachi and Sindh, Pakistan. Data were analyzed through statistical packages for scientific solutions. The feasibility of survey data was primarily tested with the help of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, .80, which shows the construct items to have interitem consistency. Subsequently, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistic techniques (Pearson correlation coefficient of significant [two-tailed] and simple regression) were used. The study findings reveal that HSPs have a significant effect on the performance of SMEs and safety performance. Firms in developing countries need to pay more attention to HSPs so that the positive benefits of increased SME performance and safety performance can be attained. The implications are discussed in detail.

Customer Satisfaction and Standard Adoption Practices on the Sustainable Performance of Supply Chain Management: A Manufacturing Firm Case Study

“…Supply chain social sustainability (SCSS) has been well-defined by the contextualization, (Everard & Longhurst, 2018) "meeting today's needs without compromising the ability to meet future generation's needs." Sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to supply chain dimensions (Hou, Weng, Gao, Wang, & Khokhar, 2020), such as environment, economics and scholars, need interpretation for punter and investor necessities (Hou, Khokhar, Khan, Islam, & Haider, 2021). From an economic perspective, this definition emphasizes environmental and social characteristics of SCSS and the need of cooperation between manufacturing companies and supply chain in addition to fulfilling customer satisfaction not only meeting the requirement of focal firms (Garmendia, Prellezo, Murillas, Escapa, & Gallastegui, 2010).…”

Closed Loop Supply Chain: Evaluating Ecological Footprint

“…Because consumers are inclined to purchase the most recent versions with the most cuttingedge features and appealing designs, the production of electronic equipment is expanding quickly in today's competitive business environment. This causes the amount of electronic waste to increase quickly, reaching 24,750,278 tons by 2022 (HOU et al, 2021). When compared to other wastes, the amount of e-waste generated occurs at a rate that is around three times faster.…”

Impacto de las prácticas de seguridad y salud en el trabajo sobre el desempeño de las empresas manufactureras de Aguascalientes, México

“…Diversos investigadores han estudiado la relación entre las PSST y el desempeño de la empresa. Hou et al [8] hallaron que las prácticas de seguridad e higiene tienen un efecto positivo en el desempeño de las pymes y el desempeño de seguridad. Por otro lado, Mohammadfam et al [49] encontraron que el desempeño de las empresas certificadas con respecto a prácticas de gestión de seguridad y salud ocupacional es significativamente mejor que el de las empresas no certificadas, mientras que Unnikrishnan et al [7] hallaron que la competencia entre las pymes es la razón principal para la implementación de prácticas de seguridad.…”

“…Lo mismo ocurre con las enfermedades laborales. Por ello, las empresas deben prestar mayor atención a las prácticas de seguridad e higiene para lograr beneficios positivos traducidos en un mayor rendimiento de las Pyme y de la seguridad [8]. Las estadísticas mencionadas evidencian la necesidad de generar y difundir conocimiento sobre los beneficios de que la aplicación de recursos organizacionales a las PSST tiene sobre los diversos ámbitos del desempeño de las empresas, por lo que este trabajo tiene como objetivo evaluar la relación entre dichas prácticas y el desempeño de seguridad, el económico-financiero, el ambiental y el operacional, mediante el estudio de una muestra de 45 empresas manufactureras de Aguascalientes.…”