The Survey of compliance degree of hotels in Tabriz with health, safety and environmental requirments and assessment of impact of HSE risk factors on the employees job satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the increasing development of the tourism industry in the country and, consequently, the expansion of the hotel industry, attention to health, safety and environmental factors (HSE) is of particular importance. Establishing af HSE system and observance of its requirements can prevent and control the risks posed to the environment and staff by any type of activity. HSE risk factors can have a direct or indirect effect on job satisfaction. The main purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the degree of compliance with HSE requirements in hotels in Tabriz and to determine the effect of physical, biological, chemical and social psychological risk factors related to occupational safety and health on employee job satisfaction. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on all hotels in Tabriz as a statistical population. First, a checklist was designed to assess HSE status and employee job satisfaction. In designing the checklist, various sources were used that are regardinf the HSE requirements, national and international regulations and rules and standards in hotel management. After coordination with the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism and the Hotel Owners Association of East Azerbaijan Province, a license was obtained and coordination with the hotels was carried out to visit and complete the prepared checklists. In this study, all parts of the hotel were examined for compliance with safety, health and environmental requirements and regulations. The effect of physical, biological, chemical and social psychological risk factors related to occupational safety and health, which affect job satisfaction in hotel management, was studied. Employee job satisfaction was measured using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the status of hotels in terms of compliance with HSE requirements, regulations and standards. Mean and standard deviation of scores were determined for the studied factors. Then, the difference between HSE risk factors was determined using one-way analysis of variance and using independent t-test, respondents' opinions on workplace conditions were measured based on their personal and occupational characteristics. Results: The results show that more than 87% of hotels do not have an HSE program. 12% of hotels had HSE expertise with related education. About 70% of hotels had health and safety plans for their staff. Also, 44% had an environmental management program and 100% had good housekeeping. The mean score of kitchen hygiene status in four and five star hotels was 0.97 ± 0.05 and 0.94 ± 0.08, respectively, and more than other hotels, which showed a significant difference between hotels (p-value= 0.012). According to the results, the highest mean safety score was related to five-star hotels with a score of 0.97±0.42 and the lowest was related to one- and two-star hotels with a value of 0.35. The average score for the environmental factor in all hotels was 0.31 ± 0.22, with 5-star hotels having higher scores. The average health requirements in four-star hotels (0.98 02 0.02) and five-star hotels (0.96 ± 0.03) were higher than other hotels, in which there was a significant difference between hotels (p-value=0.009). The results show that none of the employees had excellent job satisfaction, but more than 90% of the employees had moderate or good satisfaction and only about 50% had good satisfaction with the working conditions. The results of Pearson test showed that health requirements were significantly correlated with job satisfaction، but there is no correlation between safety requirements and environmental requirements with job satisfaction.The linear regression model showed that none of the health or safety and environmental risk factors had a statistically significant effect on the job satisfaction of the employees of the studied hotels، Therefore ،despite the correlation between health requirements and job satisfaction in Pearson test، this relationship is not necessarily linear. Conclusion: The results showed that 87% of the hotels had no HSE program and only 12.5% of the hotels had HSE expertise related to education and 69% of the hotels had health and safety programs for their employees.In terms of compliance with the health requirements of hotels the compliance of 2-and 5-star hotels was higher than other hotels.In terms of compliance with safety requirements 5-star hotels had the highest safety score and in terms of compliance with environmental requirements 5-star hotels had higher complance than other hotels.The results showed that HSE risk factors did not have a significant effect on job satisfaction. However, it is necessary to continue staff training programs on HSE to prevent exposure to risk factors.Sustainable development of hotels and moving towards a green hotel in compliance with environmental requirements can be among the development plans of hotels in the future. Keywords: hotel, health, safety and environmental requirements, HSE, job satisfaction