The data analysis allowed insight into the reasons why participating small businesses complied with the OHS Act. These reasons were analysed and categorised in accordance with the foci of the reasons upheld. Guidelines used for the categorisation (legal, financial, and moral components) of the reasons provided comprised: reasons linked to a specific category were plotted in such category; main words in each statement were used as basis for categorisation; categorisation occurred based on exclusion; and overlapping was eliminated as far as possible. The responses received from the 350 respondents were captured on ATLAS.ti (Version 9.1). Thematic content analysis was applied to these responses with a view to identify themes and patterns to recognise beliefs of respondents (Lune & Berg, 2017:182; Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016:579). Figure 1 below graphically illustrates the rationale behind compliance in small businesses based on these responses.
Health and safety of workers and provision of a safe workplace (moral rationale) seem to represent the most important reasons for complying with the OHS Act, followed by compliance being a compulsory legal requirement (legal rationale), and various financial rationales (such as protection against claims and compensation).
Visual representations of word frequencies are indicated through word clouds, with the font size correlating with frequency, thus representing frequently occurring words more prominently (Atenstaedt, 2017:231; Ertug, Gruber, Nyberg & Steensma, 2018:1613; Friese, 2018:17). Figure 2 below presents the word cloud (using ATLAS.ti) obtained by using all the responses received from respondents.
The analysis illustrated in Figure 2, supports the thematic content analysis depicted in Figure 1 below, indicating that small business owners/managers deem OHS compliance as more than a legal responsibility, with moral and financial rationales behind compliance being clearly recognised. Phrases to support this deduction include employee safety, protect, prevent, safe, environment (moral rationale); law, compulsory, legal (legal rationale);
claims, liability, loss (financial rationale).
Despite small business owners/managers indicating moral, financial and legal rationale for compliance, the incident rates in South Africa do not seem indicative of these intentions to comply. To determine actual compliance with legal directives, participants were requested to indicate their actual compliance in terms of general safety regulations of the OHS Act as well as registration with the Compensation Fund in terms of the COIDA. Small business owners/managers indicated their adherence to this responsibility as indicated in Table 3 and Figure 3 below.
52 Esterhuyzen ■ Occupational health and safety in small businesses … Figure 1: Reasons for complying with the OHS Act
Figure 2: Word cloud on the rationale behind OHS compliance
53 African Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 16 No. 1, April 2022, 42‑61
Table 3: Rating of actual compliance with general safety regulations in terms of the OHS Act
General safety regulations
1 2 3 4 5
Total
Average Do not
comply at all
Partially comply
Fully comply
Not applicable
Do not know
n % n % n % n % n % n %
Personal safety equipment should be supplied if necessary
5 1.4 49 14 263 75.2 26 7.4 7 2 350 100 2.8
Intoxicated persons should not be permitted at the workplace
9 2.6 21 6 294 84 19 5.4 7 2 350 100 2.9
Display appropriate
symbols and signs 18 5.1 70 20 232 66.3 20 5.7 10 2.9 350 100 2.7
Do not permit persons in dangerous premises
8 2.3 37 10.6 260 74.3 34 9.7 11 3.1 350 100 2.8
First aid emergency equipment and procedures must be in place with minimum contents of first aid box
22 6.3 54 15.4 247 70.6 16 4.6 11 3.1 350 100 2.7
Average weight 3.5 13.2 74.1 6.6 2.6 100
Source: Adapted from Esterhuyzen (2017:248)
Despite recognising moral, financial and legal reasons for compliance, the findings in Table 3 indicate actual compliance (excluding responses of ‘not applicable’ and ‘do not know’) on 2.7 to 2.9 out of 3.0 (full compliance). Average compliance for ‘Personal safety equipment should be supplied if necessary’ is indicated as being 2.8; ‘Intoxicated persons should not be permitted at the workplace’ at 2.9; ‘Display appropriate symbols and signs’
at 2.7; ‘Do not permit persons in dangerous premises’ as 2.8; and ‘First aid emergency equipment and procedures must be in place with minimum contents of first aid box’
at 2.7. This indicates that the compliance with general safety regulations in the OHS Act is not at the optimal level of 100% compliance. Full compliance should be reached if small business owners/managers truly take cognisance of the rationale behind compliance as indicated in their responses. This is vital to ensure that small business owners/managers do everything in their power to address the unacceptable levels of OHS incidents in South African workplaces. Truly recognising the moral, legal and financial rationale as the rationales behind compliance should motivate small business owners/managers to comply more rigorously with all OHS legislative requirements and directives, thus reducing workplace incidents and accidents.
54 Esterhuyzen ■ Occupational health and safety in small businesses … Figure 3: Small businesses registered with the Compensation Fund
Source: Adapted from Esterhuyzen (2017:202)
As a further example of actual compliance with regulatory requirements, findings (as depicted in Figure 3) revealed that only 66% of the small businesses were registered with the South African Compensation Fund, with 19% of small businesses not being registered, and another 15% of the small business owners/managers indicating that they did not know or were not sure. Even though 74.1% of small business owners/managers indicate compliance, only 66% of these businesses comply with the legally required Compensation Fund registration. This implies that should an OHS incident occur in these businesses, the employees of the businesses that are not registered will not be beneficiaries of the necessary pay-outs from the Compensation Fund regarding medical expenses, rehabilitation and re-integration into the workplace. Such lack of registration implies that small business owners/managers do not fully accept the legal, moral and financial responsibility to provide for the needs of employees should an OHS incident occur. It is of vital importance that small business owners/managers be enlightened as to the legal, moral and financial necessity associated with OHS compliance, including registration with the Compensation Fund.
Small business owners/managers were required to rate the effect (on a scale of 1–5) of OHS incidents on the small business in terms of the direct and indirect costs of OHS incidents, summarised in Table 4. Most small business owners/managers indicated that OHS incidents have an effect in terms of direct and indirect costs, with time lost or wasted being indicated as having the greatest effect.
55 African Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 16 No. 1, April 2022, 42‑61
Table 4: Perceived effect of OHS incidents on small businesses
Effects of incidents on OHS aspects
1 2 3 4 5
Total Average weight No
effect Minor
effect Moderate
effect Major
effect Do not know
n % n % n % n % n % n %
Direct costs
Medical expenses 61 17.4 72 20.6 85 24.3 49 14 83 23.7 350 100 2.4
Worker
compensation 70 20 69 19.7 74 21.2 49 14 88 25.1 350 100 2.4
Loss of production
or sales 55 15.5 67 19.1 88 25.1 73 20.9 67 19.4 350 100 2.6
Insurance costs 79 22.6 71 20.3 74 21.1 36 10.3 90 25.7 350 100 2.3
Damage to
equipment 55 15.7 82 23.4 71 20.3 62 17.7 80 22.9 350 100 2.5
Time lost or wasted 35 10 68 19.4 79 22.6 93 26.6 75 21.4 350 100 2.8
Re-training of
employees 59 6.9 87 24.9 65 18.5 61 17.4 78 22.3 350 100 2.5
Indirect costs
Social effect 75 21.4 102 29.1 56 16 30 8.6 87 24.9 350 100 2.2
Reputation of the
business 85 24.3 59 16.9 68 19.4 61 17.4 77 22 350 100 2.4
Total Average weight (%) 18.2 21.5 21 16.3 23 100
Source: Esterhuyzen (2017:199‑200)
The results of the perceived effect of direct and indirect costs are concerning, as small business owners/managers do not seem to fully recognise the potential impact of OHS incidents. As previously indicated, the fact that small businesses are often resource- restrained may indicate that small businesses might not survive the impact of the costs should an OHS incident occur, thus reducing business sustainability. Registration with the Compensation Fund to curb the potential financial and other repercussions of OHS incidents is therefore of great importance for small businesses.