Students’ occupational safety and health (OSH) behaviour level and comparison of three vocational courses in national secondary school: A case study

This study was conducted to determine the level of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) behaviour of vocational students and compare the level of OSH behaviour between different vocational courses in sekolah menengah kebangsaan (SMK) or national secondary school in a state in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. The study was conducted on form four students who participated in the Program Vokasional Menengah Atas (PVMA) or Upper Secondary Vocational Program for the Automotive Service, Motorcycle Service and Aesthetic Services course. Data were collected from 45 students using questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and comparison of mean OSH behaviour was performed using SPSS v.26 software. The findings of the study show that the mean OSH behaviour of vocational students as a whole is at a high level (M = 4.00, SD = .51). However, the percentage of students who are close to accidents is quite high at 20% indicating that efforts need to be made to overcome this problem. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis Test also found that there was no significant difference between the three vocational courses with the level of OSH behaviour of students (H(2) = 4.352, p=.113). As conclusion, the level of vocational students’ OSH behaviour still in the need to be monitored and appropriate program need to be carried on by the ministry and teachers. It is also recommended that similar studies be conducted for more vocational courses and a larger study sample is used.