Occupational Hazards, Legislation and the Combined Effect of Work Environment Stressors on Performance

Occupational safety and health regulations are established to maintain a safe and healthy work environment and to assure the welfare of people at work. The intended goals of these written laws, rules, and regulations are not met without proper enforcement. Work environment stressors such as heat, light, dust and noise affect both employee well-being and job performance. To date, there is a gap in the literature on the combined effect of stressors on the health and performance of employees in real time, which this study intends to address. The aims of this study include identifying the current state of occupational safety and health in North Cyprus, evaluating the effectiveness of the North Cyprus occupational safety and health law numbered 35/2008, ascertaining the degree to which employer risk assessment obligations are met, and determining the combined effect of work environment stressors on job performance. This thesis consists of two Phases. In Phase I, the methods used are directed towards identifying current practices, the effectiveness of the occupational safety and health law, and to evaluate the risk assessments conducted by employers with questionnaires. In Phase II, measurements were made in real time of work environment stressors (heat, light, dust, noise) using appropriate devices. Work sampling method and employee self-assessments were used to evaluate work performance. The combined effect of work environment stressors on performance were identified using univariate analysis and linear regression. The results show that the North Cyprus occupational safety and health law (35/2008) is effective as written but not useful due to lack of enforcement. An occupational safety and health management system model is suggested to overcome these challenges. This study also shows that there is a significant combined effect of measured work environment stressors on work performance. The combined effect of work environment stressors on employee job performances in a manufacturing company is an important contribution to the literature as these measurements were made in real time compared to researcher-controlled stressors that have been reported in the literature. Moreover, the use of the work sampling method to evaluate performance is studied for the first time in a manufacturing environment. The design and results of this thesis will form the basis for future research in this field.