Negotiating the meaning of proactive safety behavior among the young Malaysian workers: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Young workers, aged between 18 to 29 years old, make up over 18 percent of the Malaysian working-age population. Poor workplace safety is a major concern for these young Malaysian workers, with relatively high levels of workplace accidents and injuries being recorded. This study investigates young workers’ proactive safety behavior practices, defined as anticipatory, change-oriented, and self-initiated behavior in sustaining workplace safety in situations where management safety controls are often neglected. This qualitative research involved interview sessions with 33 young Malaysian workers with Critical Incident Technique (CIT). The findings were analysed with NVIVO. Altogether, four themes were extracted; proactive personality, proactive motivation and proactive opportunity and also proactive safety behavior as the outcome.  In conclusion, the young workers were able to understand the components of proactive safety behavior and its meaning based on their daily routine at work.ReferencesAbdul Kadir, N. B., & Rusyda, H. M. (2022). Developmental assets, creativity, thriving, and mental health among Malaysian emerging adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(September), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.944238Arifin, K., Abudin, R., & Razman, M. R. (2019). Penilaian iklim keselamatan persekitaran kerja terhadap komuniti kakitangan kerajaan di Putrajaya (Work environment safety climate evaluation of government staff community at Putrajaya). Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 15(4).Arifin, K., Aiyub, K., Razman, M. R., Jahi, J., Awang, A., Sahid, S., & Hussain, H. (2013). 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