A model proposal and implementation concerning occupational health and safety within the framework of world class manufacturing

In today's competitive environment, business firms should strive for leading the industry and they must literally achieve this goal. Due to the rapid globalization, institutional survival and goal attainment in the sense of being the best depend on incorporating the best practices while simultaneously displaying the best performance at each level. This recent approach oriented towards being the best at each practice and realizing each contained strategy with excellence is called World Class Manufacturing. The synergistic action of the practices and strategies contained in WCM helps raise the power of the firms to the desired level. For an effective WCM that guides would-be industry leaders, an emphasis on human capital should be articulated. A high-level performance in Occupational Health and Safety practices that the firms primarily address within the world-class manufacturing context will help move ahead of the competitors. In that sense, Larry Hansen's model that defines the success of World Class Safety (WCS) as a function of safety culture, WCS leadership, WCS program and WCS performance has been taken as a starting point for this study. With reference to the above-referred model, the purpose of the study is to analyze the effect of WCS components and subcomponents, if any, on WCS performance of a selected number of EBSO 500 companies (Aegean Region Chamber of Industry Top 500 Companies) located in a specific area. As a significant contribution to the WCM literature in the national context, a pilot study was conducted on Occupational Health and Safety practices and WCS components in the context of Izmir Province and periphery for the first time. Keywords: World Class Manufacturing, World Class Safety, Components of World Class Safety