The relationship between critical success factors, internal control and safety performance in the Malaysian manufacturing sector

There is a lack of conceptual models that explain the relationship among critical success factors, internal control and safety performance, especially in the manufacturing sector of Malaysia. The enforcement of internal control is linked to safety performance, and more research is needed to validate this relationship. Unless management identifies the critical success factors that have significant impact on safety and health, safety management systems such as OHSAS 18001 compliance auditing will have little impact on organizations' safety performance. This study measured organizations' perceptions on six critical success factors and enforcement of internal control by conducting a survey using a questionnaire given to 300 organizations in Malaysia's manufacturing sector. Hundred and five organizations participated in this survey with a response rate of 35 percent. The reliability and validity of all the scales were found acceptable. The internal control was found to be the key mediator in the relationship between critical success factors and safety performance. Path analysis using Partial Least Squares (PLS) version 2.0M3 showed that Management Commitment, Employee Involvement, Safety Training and Government Regulation are related with Safety Performance through enforcement of internal control. This study emphasizes the need for enforcement of internal control to achieve outstanding safety performance.