Safety Standards Compliance among Universities Employees in Nairobi County, Kenya During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic is a global health crisis which has introduced different parameters in the work environment. This is especially true for university employees who have been affected by it. This has led to introduction of various adjustments to the workplace environment such as social distancing measures of 1.5 meters, wearing of face masks, regular washing of hands, online learning, remote working etc. There are over 22 million confirmed cases worldwide and this shows just how far reaching the virus is within different geographic areas and communities. The communities which encompass university employees are now faced with multiple challenges emanating from the risk of contracting the virus itself, to the knock-on repercussions from containment measures on health, education and livelihood systems. The specific objectives of this study are to determine the following among university employee during COVID 19 pandemic and they include: to determine the worker’s knowledge of safety standards, to determine safety policies, to establish safety communication and to establish employee participation in implementation of safety standards. This study adopted a mixed method research design which encompassed desk review methodology. Data was collected through use of key informant interviews. Thematic analysis was carried out to analyze qualitative data. This paper therefore was to find out whether the employees in the sampled universities in Nairobi County, Kenya complied with safety standards especially regarding with the issue of COVID-19 pandemic.