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.

References

Abdul 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.2022.944238

Arifin, 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). Occupational safety management in Malaysia. 11–14.

Awang, H., Mansor, N., & Rodrigo, S. K. A. (2015). Work related injury and illness: Exploring the return-to-work program in Malaysia. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 46(6), 1124–1133.

Bazzoli, A., & Curcuruto, M. (2021). Safety leadership and safety voices: exploring the mediation role of proactive motivations. Journal of Risk Research, 24(11), 1368–1387. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2020.1863846

Boxall, P., & MacKy, K. (2009). Research and theory on high-performance work systems: Progressing the high-involvement stream. Human Resource Management Journal, 19(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-8583.2008.00082.x

Cioni, M., & Savioli, M. (2016). Safety at the workplace: accidents and illnesses. Work, Employment and Society, 30(5), 858–875. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017015590759

Desai, R. M., & Rudra, N. (2019). Trade, poverty, and social protection in developing countries. European Journal of Political Economy, 60(September 2017), 101744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2018.08.008

Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51(4), 327.

Fugas, C. S., & Silva, S. A. (2014). Patterns of proactive safety behaviors in the transportation sector. Safety, Reliability and Risk Analysis: Beyond the Horizon, 429–434.

Gremler, D. D. (2004). The Critical Incident Technique in Service Research. Journal of Service Research, 7(1), 65–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670504266138

Heaton, J. (2021). Pseudonyms are used throughout. Qualitative Inquiry, 1(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13910

ILO. (2018). Improving the Safety and Health of Young Workers (Issue April). https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---safework/documents/publication/wcms_625223.pdf

ILO. (2022). Experiences of violence and harassment at work : A global first survey.

International Labour Office. (2020). Quick Guide on Sources and Uses of Statistics on Occupational Safety and Health. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Kim, B. J., Park, S., & Kim, T. H. (2019). The effect of transformational leadership on team creativity: sequential mediating effect of employee’s psychological safety and creativity. Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, 1597. https://doi.org/10.1080/19761597.2019.1587304

Koen, V., Asada, H., Nixon, S., Rahuman, M. R. H., & Arif, A. Z. M. (2017). Malaysia’s Economic Success Story and Challanges. 1–52.

Lewko, J. H., Runyan, C. W., Tremblay, C. S., Staley, J. A., & Volpe, R. (2014). Workplace Experiences of Young Workers in Ontario Richard Volpe Source : Canadian Journal of Public Health / Revue Canadienne de Sante ’ e Publique , Vol . 101 , Stable URL : http://www.jstor.org/stable/41995500 . 101(5), 380–384.

Li, K., & Griffin, M. A. (2022). Safety behaviors and job satisfaction during the pandemic: The mediating roles of uncertainty and managerial commitment. Journal of Safety Research, 82, 166–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2022.05.008

Liu, W., Tangirala, S., Lee, C., & Parker, S. K. (2019). New directions for exploring the consequences of proactive behaviors: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2334

Lyu, S., Hon, C. K. H., Chan, A. P. C., Wong, F. K. W., & Javed, A. A. (2018). Relationships among safety climate, safety behavior, and safety outcomes for ethnic minority construction workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030484

Malaysia, D. of S. (2017). Department of Statistics Malaysia Labour Force Survey Report , Malaysia , 2016. April.

Park, J., Park, J. S., Jung, Y., Na, M., & Kim, Y. (2024). Factors affecting work-related non-fatal injuries among aged workers in South Korea. Frontiers in Public Health, 12(January 2024), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1260337

Rusyda, H., Selamat, M., Siti Fardaniah, A., & Nik Hairi, O. (2021). Ethnomethodological Research on Proactive Safety Behavior of The Young Workers. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting Finance and Management Sciences, 11(2), 202–221. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS

Shankar, S., & Rusyda, H. M. (2023). Pemantapan Modal Insan Melalui Organisasi Pembelajaran dan Hubungannya dengan Penerimaan Transformasi dalam kalangan Pegawai Rendah Polis PDRM di Kontinjen Kuala Lumpur. E-Bangi : Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.31862/9785426311961

Shankar, V., Runyan, C. W., Harpin, S. B., & Lewko, J. (2021). Perspectives of parents of working adolescents in Ontario, Canada. BMC Public Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10377-9

Sudhinaraset, M., & Blum, R. W. (2010). The unique developmental considerations of youth-related work injuries. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 16(2), 195–201.

Tran, M., & Sokas, R. K. (2017). The Gig Economy and Contingent Work: An Occupational Health Assessment. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(4), e63–e66. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000977

Turner, N., Tucker, S., & Deng, C. (2020). Revisiting vulnerability: Comparing young and adult workers’ safety voice intentions under different supervisory conditions. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 135, 105372. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.105372

Weiler, A. (2005). Information-seeking behavior in Generation Y students: Motivation, critical thinking, and learning theory. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(1), 46–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2004.09.009

Westaby, J. D., & Lee, B. C. (2003). Antecedents of injury among youth in agricultural settings: A longitudinal examination of safety consciousness, dangerous risk taking, and safety knowledge. Journal of Safety Research, 34(3), 227–240.

Wilk, V., Soutar, G. N., & Harrigan, P. (2019). Tackling social media data analysis: Comparing and contrasting QSR NVivo and Leximancer. An International Journal, 22(2), 94–113. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-01-2017-0021

Wong, V., Hassan, N., Wong, Y. P., Chua, S. Y. N., Abdul Rahman, S., Mohamad, M. L., & Lim, S. (2025). Nurses’ adherence to ethical principles – A qualitative study. Nursing Ethics, 32(4), 1162–1176. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330241291159

Zainuri, M. Z., & Rusyda, H. M. (2023). Faktor-Faktor Penentu Dan Kecenderungan Kepada Kemalangan Di Tempat Kerja Dalam Kalangan Pasukan Narkotik Polis Diraja Malaysia. E-Bangi Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.17576/ebangi.2023.2001.30