Ethnomethodological Research on Proactive Safety Behavior of The Young Workers

This research project aims to contribute to the existing research on proactive safety behaviour. Specifically, it investigates how the concept of proactive safety behaviour can be applied in order to understand and improve safety outcomes for younger workers in a Malaysian context. The increase number of accidents and injuries involving this age cohort of workers motivates the focus on younger workers. This research is innovative as it integrates a human resources framework of ability, motivation and opportunity with theoretical perspectives on proactive behaviour. It is hypothesized that proactive ability proactive motivation and proactive opportunity will predict proactive safety behavior amongst young workers. This study also aims to identify a range of positive outcomes for workers engaging in proactive safety behaviour. This research is an ethno-methodological study intended to gain an understanding of Malaysian young worker perceptions of proactive safety behaviour.


Introduction
The global workforce is increasing as a consequence of the rapid development of emerging economies (ILO, 2014). 80% of the global workforce now resides in developing countries (Kortum, Leka, & Cox, 2011). The majority of these workers are young people, with about 90 percent of them residing in developing countries in Asia (Aziz & Osman, 2019;Tucker & Folkard, 2012). With per annum estimates of worldwide workplace accidents reaching over 264 million with over 350,000 fatalities (Hämäläinen, Takala, & Saarela, 2006;ILO, 2014), there is a huge concern over the safety and health of young workers. It has been reported that about 62.5 million young workers are engaged in hazardous work, compared with 51 million in 2004 (Dorman, 2012;Selamat et al., 2020;Selamat & Mukapit, 2018). Studies have shown that young workers are more likely to experience work related accidents than the older workers (Miller, Handelman, & Lewis, 2007;Tucker, Diekrager, Turner, & Kelloway, 2014). A range of factors contributing to this apparent increased risk for younger workers have been suggested, including a propensity for risk taking by younger workers (Aziz et al., 2021;Westaby & Lowe, 2005), levels of physical and psychological development (Sudhinaraset & Blum, 2010) and also the work environment (Lewko et al., 2010).
In this project, we explore the potential role played by proactive safety behaviour in improving safety outcomes for younger workers. Few studies have so far explored the role of proactivity in a safety context, and none has examined how the concept of proactive safety behaviour may be applied to improve safety outcomes for younger workers.

Literature Review
Proactive safety behaviour is gradually emerging as a new area of research. Proactive safety behaviour refers to employees being proactive in taking responsibility for improving safety outcomes for themselves and others. This is to be distinguished from the traditional view of employee safety behaviour, which is seen as compliance with safety routines. The notion that employees should act proactively, rather than being compelled or directed to act, in pursuit of safety goals is an appealing one. To date, however, there are only four published articles and one unpublished PHD thesis that have focused explicitly on proactive safety behaviour in organizations. The work of Fugas and colleagues (Fugas, Melia, & Silva, 2011;Fugas, Silva, & Melia, 2012, 2013Fugas & Silva, 2014) has examined PSB through the theoretical lens of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 2005). Fugas, Melia & Silva (2011) explored the normative antecedents of proactive safety behaviour. Injunctive and descriptive safety norms deriving from supervisors and co-workers were identified as potential social influences on PSB. Descriptive norms refer to perceptions of how supervisors and co-workers participate in and comply with safety practices, whilst injunctive norms denote the perceived approval of proactive and compliance safety practices. This study indicates that proactive safety behaviour of employees is empowered by peer approval for proactive safety behaviour. However, the perception of supervisors' safety did not affect individual safety behaviours. Employees are frequently influenced by individuals who belong in the same status and with whom they have more frequent interactions. Overall, supervisors' and co-workers' descriptive and injunctive norms were found to possess no relationship with safety behaviour compliance. Fugas, Silva & Meliá (2012) attempted to identify the socio cognitive factors and the role of supervisors and co-workers in proactive safety behaviour. Their findings indicate that proactive safety behaviour is influenced by workers' safety attitudes and co-workers' safety behaviour. In determining workers' safety compliance, the results showed the mediating role of supervisors' safety behaviour. Overall, safety compliance was found to be strongly regulated by the combination of worker's safety attitudes, co-worker's safety behaviour and organization's formal safety procedures. Fugas, Silva & Meliá (2013) again used the theory of planned behaviour in their attempt to understand the co-existence of proactive safety behaviour and compliance safety behaviour. Proactive safety behaviour was defined as an internalized workers attitude, while compliance safety behaviour was construed in terms of regulated procedures of the safety system. The results indicated that internalized workers attitude is necessary but insufficient to explain proactive safety behaviour. Fugas, Silva & Meliá (2014) identify two possible motivating factors toward proactive safety behaviour: (1) The employees' attitudes and understanding of proactive safety behaviour; and (2) their perceived safety norms of other units in the organization (co-workers and superiors). Their findings indicated that supervisor's and co-workers' norms are potential motivators of proactivity safety domain. A recent doctoral thesis by Geddes (Geddes, 2012) utilises the (Zohar & Luria, 2005) model of safety climate and Hoffman and Morgeson's {Formatting Citation} model of co-workers' and supervisors' effect on safety behaviour. The focal point of this thesis was to scrutinize the relationship of social exchange and safety climate to safety behaviour outcomes. The author concluded that a supportive working environment, reinforcing safety compliance and organizational encouragement, are determining factors in proactive safety behaviour.

Research Design
We report the results of a qualitative study of proactive safety behavior amongst young Malaysian workers. Young workers (aged between 18-34) dominate the labor market participation in Malaysia Koen et al (2017) Koen et al (2017), and are at heightened risk of workplace accidents (Awang, Mansor, & Rodrigo, 2015). This study was designed to identify other factors that might affect proactive behavior amongst young Malaysian workers in a safety context. This research also aims at identifying the young workers understanding of and engagement in proactive safety behavior and also its key determining factors. To conduct this exploratory study, we adopted an ethnomethodological approach. Ethnomethodology has been described as a descriptive science of sense-making (Heap, 1976), one that enables both the researcher and the subjects to explain and create meanings of practical actions and the circumstances of those actions (Attewell, 1974). The fundamental principles of an ethnomethodological approach involve investigating and gathering in situ information and consequential actions based on ordinary members' mutual understanding and concerted efforts (Garfinkel, 1996;Garfinkel & Livingston, 2003) The strength of an ethnomethodological approach lies in the indexicality (meaning) and reflexivity (context) (Maynard & Clayman, 1991;Rawls, 2008) two symbiotic facets of a continuous cycle in ethnomethodology that provide a detailed description about an event (McNall & Johnson, 1975). Ethnomethodology has its stance in qualitative research, focusing on the interpretable social orders in a person's daily life (Dix et al., 2004) that eventually lead to the production of sensible knowledge that can be understood by everybody (Scheele, 1975).

Participants and Procedure
The sample consisted of 33 young Malaysian workers from a variety of industries, aged between 21 and 28 years old, and with an average working experience of 2.84 years. The inclusion criteria for the participants were that they had to be 18 to 28 years old and currently employed. Interviewees were recruited through a letter that was sent out to approximately forty Human Resources (HR) departments of Small Medium Enterprises (SME) in the Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, using a list of addresses that were provided by the SME Corporation Malaysia. The HR managers in those companies were then asked to forward the invitation to young employees. All of the managers agreed to do so. Furthermore, I have approached other government sectors to extend the invitation. This is to strengthen the research into understanding the proactive safety behavior among the young employees from both private and public sector. The invitation indicated that participation in the research was voluntary and that participation could be made by contacting me through mobile phone or email. A total of 15 male informants and 18 female respondents contacted me and agreed to be interviewed. Details of the respondents are presented in Table 1 below.

Membership Categorization Device Analysis (MCDA) findings from NVivo
I successfully extracted eight categories of membership using the Nvivo analysis. Four major categories were consistent with the research framework, namely, proactive ability, proactive motivation, proactive opportunity, and proactive safety behavior. Four additional membership categories were identified, which were labelled workplace hazards, management initiatives on safety, physical injuries, and mental stress.

Proactive Ability
There was a consistency amongst respondents from the medical field, manufacturing, oil and gas industry, and aviation industries in identifying safety training as being associated with the ability to engage in proactive safety behavior. Safety training (e.g., college training and safety training) emerged as a strong catalyst for knowledge in understanding risk and preventing workplace accidents. . One significant finding from the analysis was the use of media for developing safety knowledge. Independent information-seeking behavior is a practice of safety knowledge enrichment adopted by the informants. All of the research informants were born between 1980 to 1994, the generation is typically known as Generation Y (Weiler, 2005). Media exposure and gratification have equipped them to be more likely to use media as a reference for safety information compared to the older generation. Informants believed that knowledge of safety is available online and hence accessible anytime and that this media assisted them in safety decision-making.. "I need to find (safety knowledge) myself. I need to be independent to search for something like safety training [R33], and I have to surf the internet to find the best solution (in safety)." [R18]. Informants also mentioned receiving safety knowledge from the broadcast media: "I learned about safety from experience and awareness, from foreign TV shows like National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and also self-awareness." [R16].

Proactive Motivation
The findings of the qualitative analysis identified two distinct motivational mechanisms in operation in respect of choices about whether tor not to act proactively in respect of safety; intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. He suggested proactive behavior as a career advancement (self-improvement) mechanism, for example; "When people (the employers) know all these things (safety boots), they will be pleased to give us a job. [R2]." As a musician and sound engineer, Respondent 3 had to carry heavy musical instruments and facilities such as speakers and audio controller. Upon seeing the risk, he bought a pair of safety boots himself, and the safety boot symbolized autonomy. The proactive opportunity also relates to self-empowerment. Acknowledgment and the feelings of appreciated encouraged the young workers to contribute to proactive safety behavior. The informants believed that continuous safety improvement is essential not only for themselves but also to the coworkers and the organization." "I feel proud of.

Proactive Opportunity
Technology emerged as one potential constraint on the opportunity to engage in proactive safety behavior. One informant, a retail superstore team leader, indicated that most of his employees were exposed to occupational risk and injury by virtue of where they worked. According to him, those who worked at the poultry or seafood department were at significant risk of injury while performing their jobs. "I give you an example when cutting fish or meat; we use machines. That is risky……. when we use that machine." [R1].
In other cases, a lack of social support inhibited proactive safety behavior engagement. When an informant was asked whether talking to her supervisor helped her to improve safety at the workplace, she indicated that the action was useless: "I don't think I will benefit from that (supervisory support). Also, other people are not doing anything." [R12].
The availability of other work opportunities, such as employee involvement schemes, has stimulated proactive safety behavior. This encouraged informants to make positive changes to workplace safety:

Proactive Safety Behavior
Respondent 1, a retail superstore supervisor, explained about his task of transferring and depositing money from his office to the bank. He understood that he exposed himself to danger and 65 that a safety Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) for this task was not available. Therefore, he has taken a proactive measure. "I understand that transporting a lot amount of money to the bank every day is very risky, I might probably get robbed ....so I ask a policeman at a mobile police station in front of my office to escort me to the bank" [R1]. Sometimes adverse working environment trigger actions to rectify the situation. The concern was raised due to the informant's safety awareness. R3 explained the way he attempted to initiate and take extra precautions for safety:

Workplace Hazards
Workplace hazards are defined as any source of potential damage, harm, or adverse health effects on something or someone under certain conditions at work (Mitolo & Montazemi, 2014) physically or mentally. I have organized the data according to six types of workplace hazards that can be identified; safety hazards, work organization hazards, physical hazards, ergonomic hazards, chemical hazards, and biological hazards (www.osha.gov/dte/grant_materials/fy10/sh-20839-10/circle_chart.pdf).
Safety hazards. Safety hazards are a common hazard that occurs in the workplace such as electrical hazards (short circuits), working from heights, tripping hazards, and machineryrelated hazards (Matern & Koneczny, 2007). The most prevalent safety hazards reported by the informants were electrical short circuits.
In According to Respondent 20, there was no preventive measure taken by her employer despite the rising number of cases involving sexual harassment towards female law enforcers. The only preventive measure they have taken was to write a report in a logbook as future references, should the situation worsen. Drug abuse is another form of work organization hazard that I have identified from the interviews. Respondent 2 mentioned that, as a musician and sound engineer, he is at-risk of becoming a drug addict. Some musicians got involved in drug abuse due to peer pressure, while others used cannabis for endurance.

Mental Stress
In this category, mental stress is explained by looking at two aspects; the type of stress and the coping process. Overall, most of the informants did experience manageable stress caused by workloads.
(Heavy) Workload.. maybe... Honestly speaking, I think all we will have this problem... work stress, maybe, as long as we are in the academic field [R4]. Physiological strain, such as a headache was also experienced by an informant whenever she had to work based on targets.
Especially when I need to achieve the target. I will suffer from dizziness and migraine (because of stress) [R9].
The informants revealed that social support is one of the most common coping strategies for overcoming mental stress. Respondent 5 [R5] agreed that talking to a close family member helped her to overcome stress.

I talk to my husband or my family [R5].
A medical officer mentioned that having access to mentoring and coaching program helped her to manage work stress.
We will share our problems with our mentor. We also have a coach...a specialist.....its like coaching. We learn a lot of things through this coaching and mentoring [R27]. Professional help like counselling and therapy program was provided by the airline company to assist with mental support; Normally they (the company) will call the doctor to the office for therapy [R29]. However, stress can also occur due to inadequate workloads: (I will be under a lot of stress) when I have so many things to do.........or when I have nothing else to do [R2].
The above informant mentioned that this happened because of his passion in his job.

Discussion and Conclusion
To develop and sustain a safe working environment is not an easy task. It requires a coordinated effort from the employers and the employees. However, in cases where the employers are unacquainted with safety importance, employees often initiate or take charge of their safety. Occasionally, employers who failed to provide a safe working environment are those who are struggling with financial stability. Small and medium-sized industries often neglected the importance of safety primarily because they are not able to see the cost-benefit effect. Most small-medium sized industries have short-term business planning, often relying on government funds to operate. The allocation is limited and sufficient to support the business operation without extra funding for the training and development program. The Malaysian Government is concerned about this situation. Hence the government-provided safety training scheme under the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF). Despite this initiative, the number of workplace accidents keeps rising (SOCSO, 2017).