AN ASSESMENT OF THE PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF OCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT (ISO 18001) PROGRAM AT EAST AFRICA BOTTLING SHARE COMPANY(EABSC) ADDIS ABABA PLANT

Abstract

Human Resources is the most important element in the company and in the implementation of the business process, therefore the company should pay attention to maintaining Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) the employee, contractors, and surrounding Community. The purpose of this study to find out the practices of implementation Occupational safety and health Act OSHA (ISO 18001) and its challenge in the case of East Africa bottling Share Company. The study also tried to correlate implementation of OSHA on the performance of employee and then the company. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate the extent of implementation of OSHA and the challenges during implementation. Performance measures correlated against the set of practices under OSHA practices to evaluate the relationship between the two. A descriptive statistics and correlation model was used to evaluate the overall association between OSHA implementation and employee performance then company. The results from the study show that OSHA implementation have varying degrees of implementation in East Africa bottling share company, from the perception of Policy and leadership commitment , employee commitment and involvement , analysis of work place to identify hazards , hazard prevention and control to protect workers and safety and health training .The contribution of OSHA implementation for the business were measured using variables reduction on work place injuries and illnesses, decrease in the number of absenteeism, reduction of related costs and improve of compliance local and international laws and finally improve image of company . On challenges faced OSHA implementation, safety and health training, using of the necessary personal protective equipment‟s to protect workers were found bit challenging. The greatest opportunity was top management commitment and policy. Results from the descriptive statistics and correlation analysis show that implementation of OSHA in East Africa bottling Share Company is positively correlated significantly to employee performance and company.