EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

Abstract

Cement industry is one of the major manufacturing industries and its workers are subjected to dust in different manufacturing and production processes. Portland cement is made up of a combination of calcium oxide, aluminum tri-oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, sand and other contamination. The study included determining the effects of environmental health on employee productivity in cement manufacturing industries in Kitengela town; finding out the effects of company surrounding on employee productivity in cement manufacturing industries in Kitengela town; and determining the effect of work environment maintenance strategies used on employee productivity. A case study was adopted as the research design. The research targeted 192 employees from three cement companies (Bamburi, Athi River Mining and Savannah). Cluster sampling technique was used to select a sample of 96 employees to participate in the study. The research instrument used in data collection was a questionnaire to elicit information from the employees. To ensure validity of the instruments, expert opinion was sought. Descriptive statistic was utilized to analyze data. Data was summarized into frequencies and percentages and presented in graphs, pie charts and tables. The study found that there are noticeable problems facing employees’ health that includes serious health problems. The study also found that there are employees with health problems in the companies who have taken sick off between 1-5 times since the beginning of the year. The study also found that majority of the employees if given the chance would be willing to work for another cement company. The study found that all the employees agreed that they have protective equipment in their line of duty which they use daily in their work. The study concluded that environmental health, company surrounding and work environment maintenance strategies used on employees influence employee productivity in cement manufacturing industries in Kitengela town. The study recommends that the company must ensure management at all levels of the organization receives adequate training; provide meaningful feedback in a constructive manner on a regular basis; respect employees as individuals, in addition to the job they do; ensure senior leadership models behavior that makes the rank-and-file proud to be part of the team.