Discussion and conclusion
The enforcement of internal control has mediated the relationship between the Employee Involvement, Government Regulation, Management Commitment and Safety Training with Safety Performance. This relationship has indicated that part of the influence of ‘Employee Involvement’, Government Regulation’, ‘Management Commitment’ and ‘Safety Training’ on ‘Safety Performance’ has been taken over by ‘Internal Control’. Thus, the enforcement of internal control is recognized as an important determinant in the organization’s efforts to enhance safety performance, and prevent accidents in the workplace as suggested by Neal et al. (2000). This would mean the manufacturing firms should concentrate on enforcing internal control to achieve good safety performance. Furthermore, they should make the effort to comply with government rules and regulations, demonstrate the commitment from management, encourage involvement from workers and conduct frequent training on safety to implement an effective safety management system. As revealed by Makin and Winder (2008), the identified critical success factors which have the greatest impact on safety management system, will also impact the organization’s overall safety performance. Out of the six critical success factors, only management commitment, safety training, and government regulation were found to predict internal control. Through proper identification of hazards and risks at workplace, these three safety management systems were found to contribute to sound safety management initiatives that allow management to ensure the employees work in the safest and healthiest environment Vinodkumar (2005). This finding is in line with the observations of Zohar (1980), Fernandez-Muniz et al., (2007), Lee (1998), Ostrom et al. (1993), Tinmannsvik and Hovden (2003), Cox and Cheyne (2000) and Mearns et al. (2003). However, the remaining three critical success factors failed to predict internal control. It can be argued that employee’s perception of management commitment gave an overall picture of the totality of employees’ assessment about the management’s concern for safety and health at the workplace. In an effort to achieve the stated intention, management could have organized many activities and initiatives. Hence, employee involvement, safety communication and safety champion may not necessarily predict the enforcement of internal control. The perception of employees on the level to which the encouragement of management in welcoming the employees’ involvement in safety related decision making and activities, open communication on safety matters and safety champion by creating positive safety culture in promoting safety at workplace did not predict internal control.
