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Table of Contents

Contents

Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4

Statement of Problems …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

Literature Review……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6

Research Objectives ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9

Research Questions and Hypotheses ……………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Research Methodology, Design, and Methods ………………………………………………………………….. 11

Research Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Research Design ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12

Research Methods ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12

Data Collection Methods …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12

Sampling Design ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13

Data Analysis Procedures……………………………………………………………………………………………. 13

Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics and Assumption Testing ……………………………………………. 14

Data Analysis: Hypothesis Testing ………………………………………………………………………………….. 29

Findings……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 36

Recommendations …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 37

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Executive Summary The executive summary will go here. The paragraphs are not indented, and it should be

formatted like an abstract. The executive summary should be composed after the project is

complete. It will be the final step in the project. Delete instructions and examples highlighted in

yellow before submitting this assignment.

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Introduction Senior leadership at Sun Coast has identified several areas for concern that they believe

could be solved using business research methods. The previous director was tasked with

conducting research to help provide information to make decisions about these issues. Although

data were collected, the project was never completed. Senior leadership is interested in seeing the

project through to fruition. The following is the completion of that project, and includes

statement of the problems, literature review, research objectives, research questions and

hypotheses, research methodology, design, and methods, data analysis, findings, and

recommendations.

Statement of Problems Six business problems were identified:

Particulate Matter (PM)

There is a concern that job-site particle pollution is adversely impacting employee health.

Although respirators are required in certain environments, particulate matter (PM) varies in size

depending on the project and job site. PM between 10 and 2.5 microns can float in the air for

minutes to hours (e.g. asbestos, mold spores, pollen, cement dust, fly ash), while PM less than

2.5 microns can float in the air for hours to weeks (e.g. bacteria, viruses, oil smoke, smog, soot).

Due to the smaller size of PM less than 2.5 microns, it is potentially more harmful than PM

between 10 and 2.5 since the conditions are more suitable for inhalation. PM less than 2.5 are

also able to be inhaled into the deeper regions of the lungs, potentially causing more deleterious

health effects. It would be helpful to understand if there is a relationship between PM size and

employee health. PM air quality data have been collected from 103 job sites, which is recorded

in microns. Data are also available for average annual sick days per employee per job-site.

Safety Training Effectiveness

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Health and Safety training is conducted for each new contract that is awarded to Sun

Coast. Data for training expenditures and lost-time hours were collected from 223 contracts. It

would be valuable to know if training has been successful in reducing lost-time hours and, if so,

how to predict lost-time hours from training expenditures.

Sound-Level Exposure

Sun Coast’s contracts generally involve work in noisy environments due to a variety of

heavy equipment being used for both remediation and the clients’ ongoing operations on the job

sites. Standard earplugs are adequate to protect employee hearing if the decibel levels are less

than 120 decibels (dB). For environments with noise-levels exceeding 120 dB, more advanced

and expensive hearing protection is required, such as earmuffs. Historical data have been

collected from 1,503 contracts for several variables that are believed to contribute to excessive

dB levels. It would be important if these data could be used to predict the dB levels of work

environments before placing employees on-site for future contracts. This would help the safety

department plan for procurement of appropriate ear protection for employees.

New Employee Training

All new Sun Coast employees participate in general health and safety training. The

training program was revamped and implemented six months ago. Upon completion of the

training programs the employees are tested on their knowledge. Test data are available for two

Groups; a) Group A employees who participated in the prior training program, and b) Group B

employees who participated in the revised training program. It is necessary to know if the revised

training program is more effective than the prior training program.

Lead Exposure

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Employees working on job sites to remediate lead must be monitored. Lead levels in

blood are measured as micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (μg/dL). A base-line blood test

is taken pre-exposure and post-exposure at the conclusion of the remediation. Data are available

for 49 employees who recently concluded a two-year-long lead remediation project. It is

necessary to determine if blood lead levels have increased.

Return-On-Investment

Sun Coast offers four lines-of-service to their customers, including air monitoring, soil

remediation, water reclamation, and health and safety training. Sun Coast would like to know if

each line of service offers the same return-on-investment. Return-on-investment data are

available for air monitoring, soil remediation, water reclamation, and health and safety training

projects. If return-on-investment is not the same for all lines of service, it would be helpful to

know where differences exist.

Literature Review Health and safety are crucial in managing the risks to protect the employees and the

organization. Researchers attribute workers' safety environment and culture to managerial

actions and strategies. Given the critical nature of the work environment at Sun Coast, where

employees work in mines to extract toxic substances, safety issues remain core to the

contraction, compensation and long-term litigation. As the safety director at Sun Coast,

evaluation of safety matters narrows us to the following key issues.

Particulate Matter (PM) Article

McClellan (2016) undertook an approach that involved quantitative analysis that on a

microscale exposed a number of sources on particulate matter and showcased a very strong

relationship between the high concentration of PM2.5 and adverse affects it caused. This was

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validated through a study that was took place between 1970 and 2010, where it showed that the

effects of PM2.5 went down compared to prior years. The crude death rate has also gone down

over time. The death rate in the United States shows that the health effects of PM2.5 are not all

that big when compared to the total number of diseases.

Safety Training Effectiveness Article

Qualitative data from Norris, Spicer, and Byrd (2019) illustrate that the annual 10-hour

safety training courses in the construction sector are inadequate and result in a significant

number of accidents. VR-based safety training helps businesses effectively exercise detecting

and preventing hazards while instructing employees what it's like to lose without placing them in

risk of losing their lives. Norris, Spicer, and Byrd (2019, p. 37) claimed that the results of this

study "showed that VR training was more effective than traditional training methods in a number

of ways. Researchers found that higher levels of engagement and opportunities for direct, safe

exposure to dangerous environments make it possible for trainees to interact with each other and

get feedback in real time, which enables them learn more.

Sound-Level Exposure Article

Hearing loss is the third most common long-term condition that affects Americans. Most

individuals who lose their hearing do so through recreational activities, which results to hearing

loss complaints in the workplace. Cannady discusses about programs that protect the employees'

hearing and try to keep people from losing their hearing. There are approaches and strategies that

employees and organizations may benefit from having and may include, employees use of

organizational strategies and personal protective control mechanisms to lessen their exposures

during recreation. Controls could include distancing from loud places, reducing exposure time,

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keeping a safe distance from the source, turning down the volume of the source, or getting rid of

old equipment that causes unnecessary noises.

New Employee Training Article

Per their research, Kostanjek and Jagodi outlined a deployment program established by

the implementer in coordination with the Human Resources functional organization for all new

recruits until they were categorized into their functional units that assisted in their specialized job

profession training. According to Kostanjek and Jagodic (2020), deployment and specialized

training play a key role in accelerating the transfer of knowledge, enhancing the integration of

new employees into the workplace, and contributing considerably to the transfer of information

and skills.

Lead Exposure Article

The study group received 1000 ppm of lead acetate in tap water for 90 days, and revealed

that the frequency of lead exposure was around 21 mg Pb/day per animal. This was intentionally

done to create a model to analyze Pb exchange throughout bodily compartments, namely in bone

tissue. It was concluded that the lead exposure resulted in changing the underlying bone

structure.

Return on Investment Article

In the research conducted by Hoeckel et al. (2019), the authors discuss that everything had an

equal balance when all points are reviewed to understand an supplier-risk’s maturity and

performance. The return on investment is very highly dependent on the risk tolerance level of the

company and his ability to study and decipher the equilibrium between maturity and

performance of the supplier/risk management.

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Research Objectives Safety is a crucial component in an organization, especially in areas where harmful

substances are extracted. The government, employees, and the organization executive have a role

in ensuring safety. There are a bunch of perils in today's workplaces, which, if not taken care of,

will result in employees' physical injuries and bruises, affecting their ability to report to duty and

the organization's overall performance. Sun Coast should implement strategies that guarantee the

health and safety of employees at work; if not, they could face serious lawsuits that could lead to

hefty fines or even closure. A lot can be done to reduce employee illnesses and injuries by

conducting a thorough risk assessment, making policies, and implementing the proper

procedures (ComplianceQuest, 2022). Health strategies are crucial in ensuring that both Sun

Coast and the employees understand the potential dangers in the workplace. Training is an

additional component that could be used in Sun Coast to enlighten the employees on the right

procedures, practices, and ways to act to reduce the risk of getting sick, hurt, or contaminated.

Finally, reimbursing for work-related illnesses and injuries affects the company's bottom line a

lot, which is why it's essential to have health and safety procedures in place.

However, apart from the company's management, the government has a role in enforcing

health and safety laws requiring companies to follow specific rules when making their health and

safety procedures (OSHA, 2022). Suppose a company doesn't ensure its employees have a safe

workplace. In that case, hefty fines should be charged, or even the organization shut down

temporarily or permanently, depending on how terrible the violations are. If the company does

not adhere to the stipulated rules for health and safety, it could lose money, employees, clients,

vendors, productivity, and the company's brand image.

Research Problem

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Sun Coast Remediation has lost a significant amount of money in the past due to how

unsafe and dangerous its work environment is. The company's management has observed that

employees are calling in sick more often, getting hurt or sick more often, and performing less

work. So, it's important to research how to make and enforce a health and safety policy, as well

as how it impacts the company's employees and how well they do their jobs.

Research Objective

• To examine the correlation between health and safety at work and also how productive

employees are.

• To figure out what employers can do to improve health and safety at work.

• To find out what employees can do to improve health and safety at work.

• To propose a safety and health policy for Sun Coast Remediation that is complete and

efficient.

Research Questions and Hypotheses RQ1: What is the correlation between health and safety conditions at work and how productive

workers are?

Ho: There exists no statistically significant connection between health and safety conditions at

work (independent) and how productive workers are (dependent).

H1: There is a statistically significant relation between health and safety conditions at work and

how much work people get done.

RQ2: What do employers do to enhance the health and safety of their employees at work?

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Ho: Employers do not even make a big difference when it comes to enhancing health and safety

at work.

H1: Employers have a significant role to play in improving health and safety at work.

RQ3: What do staff do to improve health and safety at work?

Ho: Employees don't make a big difference when it comes to improving health and safety at

work.

H1: Employees have a significant role to play in making the workplace more secure and

healthier.

Research Methodology, Design, and Methods

Sun Coast has a number of issues that must be fixed, ranging from These include

particulate matter, how well safety training is done, exposure to noise, training for new

employees, exposure to lead, and ROI. To address these issues properly, it's important to use

good research methods and assess the issues at stake to safeguard the health and safety of the

employees and the organization as a whole.

Research Methodology

In this investigation, quantitative methods will be used to do the research. Quantitative

methods operate well when the documents are in the form of numbers, which allows to quantify

the correlation between variables so that data can be evaluated (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).

Quantitative research is the most appropriate method to compare Sun Coast because it gives

more social and process-based data that won't alter the findings for Sun Coast.

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Research Design

The type of research employed is descriptive research, which does not incorporate

experiments. It will help researchers reach to end state by applying statistical analysis to test

formal hypothesis, thus by exposing the information. This research plan will help Sun Coast

take care of the issues.

Research Methods

Sun Coast will employ three different kinds of research to examine the data that is

collected for this study: descriptive statistics, causal-comparative research, and correlational

research. Considerations about the quantity of lead in the blood are examined using descriptive

statistics. Blood is tested using descriptive statistical techniques to determine how working in

places with lead affects people. The results are based on data and numbers. Correlation methods

are used to discover how the different factors in particulate matter and return on investment are

related to each other. The correlational research method is employed to describe and measure

how closely two or more variables or sets of scores are related to each other. Causal-

comparative research is used to research things like levels of noise, how well safety training

works, and how to train new employees.

Data Collection Methods

The data in this study is retrieved came from questionnaires administered, methods of

observation, and the documentation analysis. This technique also saves money since the

research is done in the same area. The observation methods used to quantify the variables can't

be garnered from the employees at work. That's why it's important, because the researcher gets

first-hand information from the observation method.

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Sampling Design

Simple random and convenience sampling is an general principle applied in sampling

design. The actual results of an experiment will be generated from random samples, which

cannot be changed. This will be done to make sure that there are no biases and that the sampling

method would get the right number of samples. The data will be collected through observation,

which will be used as the sampling method. Convenience samples seem to be used in places

where employees have been subjected and need to be examined, so the sample cannot be selected

at random.

Data Analysis Procedures

RQ1 attempts to find out if there is a strong correlation between the particulate matter and the

health conditions of employees. Correlation is the best method for evaluating the RQ1

hypotheses because I need to know if there is a relationship.

RQ2 attempts to find out if there is a strong link between the sum of money spent on safety

training and the number of hours lost due to accidents. Regression is the best way to test the RQ2

hypotheses since what matters is whether or not there a relationship. Regression will show if the

health and safety training cut down on lost-time hours and if we can predict lost-time hours

based on how much we spent on training.

RQ3 attempts to find out if we can use noise level to figure out what kind of ear protection is

best. Regression is the best way to test the RQ3 hypotheses because I need to know if there is a

relationship. Regression will demonstrate if there is a link between the use of earplugs, the

amount of noise, and hearing loss.

RQ4 is used to find out if the different training program has worked better than the old one. The t

test is the best way to find out if there is a statistically significant difference between Group A

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and Group B employees.

RQ5 is used to identify out if lead exposure changed the amount of lead in the blood

significantly. The t test will show whether the new training program is better than the old one.

The t test is the best way to test the RQ5 hypotheses because I need to know if there is a

statistical difference between how employees were before and after they were exposed to lead.

The t test will show if the exposure caused the employees' blood lead levels to rise.

RQ6 is used to discover out if the four lines of service all have the same average return on

investment. Since more than one line of service is of interest, ANOVA is the best way to test the

RQ6 hypothesis.

Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics and Assumption Testing Correlation: Descriptive Statistics and Assumption Testing

Frequency Distribution Table

Microns Frequency

0.1-1.0 8

1.1-2.0 7

2.1-3.0 7

3.1-4.0 10

4.1-5.0 13

6.1-7.0 9

7.1-8.0 15

8.1-9.0 18

9.1-10.0 10

10.1-11.0 6

More 0

Mean Sick Days Frequency

1.0-2.0 1

3.0-4.0 6

5.0-6.0 31

7.0-8-0 42

9.0-10.0 19

11.0-12.0 4

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More 0

Histogram

Descriptive Statistics Table

Microns

Mean sick days per employee

(annual)

Mean 5.6573 Mean 7.1262

Standard Error 0.2556 Standard Error 0.1865

Median 6 Median 7

Mode 8 Mode 7

Standard Deviation 2.5941 Standard Deviation 1.8926

Sample Variance 6.7291 Sample Variance 3.5820

Kurtosis -0.8522 Kurtosis 0.1249

Skewness -0.3733 Skewness 0.1422

Range 9.8 Range 10

Minimum 0.2 Minimum 2

Maximum 10 Maximum 12

0

10

20

F re

q u

en cy

Microns

Histogram for Microns

0

10

20

30

40

50

F re

q u

en cy

Mean Sick Days

Histogram for mean annual sick

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Sum 582.7 Sum 734

Count 103 Count 103

Measurement Scale

The measurements of scale used here include interval scale for the Microns and nominal for the

mean sick days of the employees. The two variable are continuous.

Measure of Central Tendency

Mean, mode and median were used to measure the central tendency. The mean, mode, and median

of the microns are 5.66, 8, and 6 respectively. The mean, mode, and median of the mean sick days

are 7.1262, 7, and 7 respectively. The median, mean, and mode are used to determine whether data

has a normal distributions.

Skewness and Kurtosis

The kurtosis and skewness of the microns are -0.8522 and -0.3733 respectively. The kurtosis and

skewness for the mean sick days per annum are 0.1249 and 0.1422 respectively. Skewness should

range from -3 to 3 while kurtosis should range from -10 to 10. The skewness of microns does not

fall within the acceptable range while that of the employee’s mean annual sick days fall within the

acceptable ranges. The kurtosis for both variables fall within the acceptable range.

Evaluation

From the descriptive statistics, the values for the different central tendency measures including

median, mean, and mode were significantly different indicating that the microns data is not

normally distributed. The values of central tendency measures for the employee’s mean annual

sick days were approximately equal which shows that its normally distributed. The skewness of

microns does not fall within the acceptable range while both the kurtosis and skewness of the

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employee&#