Motives behind the implementation of Occupational Health and Safety practices in logistics operations

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept of high relevance for business in general, and within logistics in particular (Seuring et al., 2008), and represents a set of actions that extend beyond the legal obligations and the explicit monetary interests of the company, aiming to benefit the society (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). An important dimension of CSR is Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) (Wokutch, 1990; Montero, Araque and Rey, 2009; Koskela, 2014).<br> The objective of this thesis is to shed light on the motives behind the implementation of OHS practices in logistics operations. More in detail, the author aims to identify the motives, evaluate their importance, and classify them in a CSR motivation framework.<br> To achieve the research objective a mixed-method approach is adopted, combining qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. More in detail, the research utilizes the Delphi method where a virtual panel of experts is formed. Ten logistics experts involved in OHS practices participated in three rounds, identifying in total ten motives. Three series of questionnaires were distributed, and thirty questionnaires were in total collected.<br> The findings reveal that reduction/avoidance of accidents, compliance with legislation, protection of employees, protection of investment, improvement of service reliability, and monitoring of operations, are some of the motives that drive companies to apply OHS practices in their logistics operations.<br> The analysis of the findings suggests that the most important motives behind the implementation of OHS practices can be mainly viewed as a defensive mechanism of damage control, rather than an ethical responsibility to act as a socially responsible citizen.<br> The major contribution of the thesis is that it examines a topic where relevant research is scarce. Additionally, it provides to logistics practitioners a clear picture of how different companies are motivated to implement OHS practices in their logistics operations.