Management of Workplace Risks and Hazards using a Safety Consciousness Framework

Faisal C. Emetumah^1±, Okechi D. Azuwike ¹ and Anthony C. Okoye²

¹Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria.

²Department of Environmental Management, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.

Accepted December 21, 2017

Safety consciousness provides the approach required in making all stakeholders realize and appreciate the need to undertake work operations in such a way that hazards and risk of accidents are reduced as far as reasonably practicable in the workplace. While most safety studies have focused on safety climate and safety culture with reasonable commensurate improvements, much still needs to be done considering that safety anomalies are still very much relevant in organizations operating in high risk sectors. Reviewed literature shows that consciousness is very subjective in meaning. It has several dimensions and a number of 20th century perspectives. Safety management provides the platform to identify relevant hazards and determine the level of risk involved through systems integration. The study proposes a framework of safety consciousness which integrates the relevant facets of safety management with the aspects of consciousness.

Key words: Framework, Hazard, Management, Safety Consciousness, Risk, Workplace.

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