Impact of Employer Safety Policies on Safety Performance in Ghana's Manufacturing Sector: Mediated by Safety Training

Abstract: Occupational health and safety (OHS) remains a major concern in manufacturing industries, particularly in developing economies where accident rates persist despite regulatory frameworks and formal safety systems. While employer safety policies are widely regarded as essential drivers of workplace safety, limited empirical evidence explains how these policies translate into improved safety performance in high-risk industrial contexts. This study examines the impact of employer safety policies on safety performance and investigates the mediating role of safety training within Ghana’s manufacturing sector. A quantitative cross-sectional design was adopted using stratified random sampling across sixteen manufacturing subsectors. Data were collected from 863 employees in large-scale manufacturing firms through structured questionnaires measuring employer safety policies, safety training, and safety performance using both leading and lagging indicators. Reliability and validity of the constructs were established prior to hypothesis testing. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with bootstrapped mediation analysis was conducted using R and Python software. .The results indicate that employer safety policies significantly and positively predict safety performance (β = 0.375, p < 0.001). Safety training was also positively associated with safety performance and partially mediated the relationship between employer safety policies and safety performance (indirect effect β = 0.059, p < 0.001). The study contributes to OHS literature by clarifying the mechanism linking policy frameworks to safety outcomes in a developing-country manufacturing context. Practically, the findings highlight that formal safety policies must be complemented by continuous and effective safety training programmes to translate organisational safety intentions into improved workplace safety outcomes in developing industrial contexts.