Facilities Maintenance Employees’ Adherence of Safety Management Practices: A Research Study at Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia

In Malaysia, ensuring the adherence of facilities maintenance employees to safety management guidelines within higher education institutions presents a significant challenge. While the importance of maintaining a safe workplace is widely recognized, the extent to which safety regulations are followed by facilities maintenance departments remains unclear. This research emphasizes the value of preserving employee safety and wellbeing by examining how successfully facilities maintenance employees at Malaysian higher education institutions adhere to safety management practices. Using a quantitative methodology, the study evaluated 242 participants' compliance with safety procedures from a range of higher education institutions located throughout Malaysia. Finding the prevalent safety culture in the facilities maintenance profession and analyzing how organizational policies, individual characteristics, training programs, and communication strategies affect adherence to safety procedures were the objectives. The results of the data analysis show that ‘individual factors’ are the primary variables impacting the safety management practices employed by the facilities maintenance staff of these institutions' assets. This research is particularly relevant to higher education institutions striving to improve their safety procedures because it offers useful insights on how to make facilities maintenance employees' work environments safer. These findings provide a thorough understanding of the condition of safety procedures in this sector currently, assisting in facilitating the development of safety management strategies.