SAFETY PRACTICES OF INDUSTRIES IN THREE AREAS OF SPECIALTIES IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Abstract

This study appraised the safety practices of industries in the three out of the six major
areas of Technical Education, which span across building, mechanical, and electrical
technology industries. Two research questions and two null hypotheses, tested at 0.05
level of significance guided the study. A 15-item questionnaire, meant to ascertain the
safety practices in the workplace was administered to 30 factory workers in the three
industries in three areas of technical education. The instrument which was validated
by experts, yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.87. Mean was used to analyze data to
answer the research questions, while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed
to test the hypotheses. Findings showed that the prevalence of accident in industries is
not because of absence of safety equipment, but a combination of careless attitude of
workers, and employers’ failure to enforce compliance to safety rules. The study also
revealed that safety practices in an industry does not depend on the type of work it
engages in. The findings have implications for technical education practitioners.
Amongst others, it was recommended that industries should provide adequate
measures to safeguard the health of workers.