Green Occupational Health, Safety and Performance of Devolved Healthcare Services in Kenya

Abstract

Green human resource management is the adoption of policies and practices to attain sustainable use of a firm's resources while enhancing environmental sustainability, which also boosts employee morale and satisfaction with firm performance. Level Five hospitals in Kenya are increasingly expected by law to implement environmentally sustainable practices. This study aimed to determine the effect of green occupational safety and health on the performance of devolved healthcare services in Kenya. A mixed-methods research design was used, whereby the researchers combined the elements of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study targeted 5,960 employees working in 12 Level 5 hospitals in Kenya. This study applied multi-stage random sampling, which refers to dividing the population into units or smaller and smaller groups and selecting the sample (Kothari, 2019). In the first stage, simple random sampling was used to select four of the 12 Level Five hospitals with an accessible population of 1310. In the second stage, purposive sampling was used to select a sample of 131 respondents, representing 10% of the accessible population (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2013). Data collection tools were questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively and inferentially while qualitative data was subjected to content analysis. The findings revealed a strong positive and significant relationship between green occupational safety and health and the performance of devolved healthcare services in Kenya. The study concluded that green occupational safety and health had a significant effect on the performance of devolved healthcare services. The study recommended that devolved healthcare services should improve if they continuously used green occupational safety and health management systems that reduce accidents and injuries; utilized paperless offices so as to create a clean and safe work environment; applied eco-friendly medical waste disposal methods such as waste minimization, segregation, and recycling; used eco-friendly safety gadgets; and conducted regular safety and health audits.