In Bangladesh, accidents and workplace dangers dominate the newspapers front page. Every year, thousands of the workers suffer severe injuries and fatalities in the workplace. The Tazreen Fashion incident and the incident of Rana Plaza collapse were the two most fatal events in the history of Bangladesh (Chowdhury and Tanim, 2015). The RMG sector started its journey in the late 1970s in Bangladesh. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Bangladesh faced the real momentum in the RMG sector in Bangladesh (Robbani, 2000). Due to its creation of more than 4 million employments nationwide and exporting 80% of its products over the preceding few decades, RMG is recognized as one of the nations economic drivers (BKMEA, 2018). 

In recent years, this industry has faced challenges regarding ensuring the safety of workers in the workplace (Al-Mahmood et al., 2012). The incident of Rana Plaza and Tazreen fashion shot up urgency among the Bangladesh government, ILO, and other stakeholders regarding the implementation of workplace safety practices for workers (Barua & Ansary, 2017). Given the potential of the RMG sector in Bangladesh, numerous diverse national and international commitments and the initiatives have been made to improve workplace safety in order to protect the lives of RMG workers and regain the trust of international consumers in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster (Ansary and Barua, 2015). After this incident, the government has emphasized implementing workplace safety practices in the organisation, especially in the RMG sector of Bangladesh (Barua & Ansary, 2017). The need for immediate workplace safety practices in the RMG sector of Bangladesh is further heightened by the buyers power & suppliers motivation for a Code of the Conduct (COC) in the apparel industry, which buyers devised to address different social and compliance issues in accordance with mandated standards, especially as the maximum of the buyers are from the foreign countries (Hossain & Arefin, 2015). Bangladesh Institute of the Labour Studies and the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA, 2006) prepared the OHS practices in Bangladesh (Ahmed et al., 2020) consisting of workplace safety practices like safety procedures, rules, acts, codes, and regulatory guidelines (Ansary & Barua, 2015). Even with such regulations in place, the RMG sector is falling short in managing occupational hazards and accidental incidents (Mahmood et al., 2021). In Rana Plaza disaster of the 2013, 1134 people died, and more than the 2500 people were injured due to violating construction and occupancy guidelines and the poor safety measures (Barua & Ansary, 2017; Trebilcock, 2020). Numerous incidents in the Bangladesh RMG factories can be linked to poorly maintained organisational machi-nery (Hasan, 2018; Bluff, 2014). By analyzing such incidents, scholars emphasized the need for both Fire safety practices Hasan, (2018) and Equipment Safety practices in manufacturing companies (Ramos et al., 2016; Islam et al., 2016; Akhter et al., 2019). 

Among the eight most significant ILO conventions, Bangladesh has ratified only two conventions on OHS (Hoque & Shahinuzzaman, 2021). Under "The Factories Act (1965) and Factories Rules, (1979) some legislation has been passed keeping a little relevancy (Mahmood et al., 2021). Most importantly, there is less enforcement of training programs relating to OHS policies in the workplace that can enhance workplace safety (Alama et al., 2020). Workplace safety practices often denoted as the practices of ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of workers in the workplace (Mahmood et al., 2021), can be directly linked to the organisations productivity (Morillas et al., 2013). In the contemporary literature, safety training aids in improving employees effectiveness at work by increasing their safety-related knowledge and decreasing a hazard at work (Hilyer et al., 2000), which aids in upholding mandated safety practices in the workplace (Carder and Ragan, 2003; Jazayeri and Dadi, 2022; Bluff, 2014). Though there is extensive literature on the necessity of workplace safety practices in different sectors, the connection between workplace safety practices and employee retention has received less attention. To address this gap in the literature, we aim to investigate the impact of workplace safety practices (specifically in the RMG sector) on the employee retention, with employee safety training as a moderating factor. 

Hence, in this article, we explore workplace safety practices, measured by fire safety practices, safety equipment, and machinery safety, and then examine the relationship between workplace safety practices and employee retention and the moderating role of employee safety training in this relationship. Our research lends depth to understanding the impact of workplace safety practices on employee retention with the moderating effect of the employee safety training in the RMG sector, which is one of the most crucial contributors to Bangladeshs economy. The objectives of this study were:

1. To find out the impact of the safety practices on employee intention to stay in the RMG sector
2. To examine the moderating role of employee safety training on the relationship between workplace safety practices and the employee intention to stay

Workplace Safety Practices 

Common workplace safety initiatives have focused on monitoring the physical work environment and task routines to prevent the errors and accidents (Fogarty and Shaw, 2010). Occupational hazards affect workers life from different aspects. The employer must ensure a safe environment for employees work engagement as safety in the workplace is the fundamental precondition for workers (Kuppe-lwieser and Finsterwalder, 2011). Over 2.3 million casualties are caused annually by work-related diseases and accidents, of which over 350,000 are work-related accidents, according to ILO (Ansary & Barua, 2015). The workplace safety influences the workers mentality in the workplace. For achieving sustainability and for attaining a competitive position in the corporate world, the workplace safety practices are the first thing to be ensured (Ansary & Barua, 2015). For regulating labour and developing groundwork, in the 1950, the WHO (World Health Organisation) collaborated with the ILO. As per the study of Oxenburg et al. (2004), workplace safety practices must be tracked properly otherwise the investment would be a failed project. Fire safety practices are an important component that should be ensured to reduce workplace hazards and accidents (Hasan, 2018). Lastly, machinery safety is also a critical part of the ensuring workplace safety in any organization (Hasan, 2018; Bluff, 2014). The components of ensuring workplace safety practices that are discussed in this study are:

Fire Safety Practices

The RMG sector plays a major part in Bangladeshs inclusive growth but has a poor fire prevention record (Alama et al., 2020). Before adopting something like the Accord in 2013, the Bangladesh RMG sector went through a series of fire incidents and collapsing buildings. In a fire hazard at the Garib & Garib Sweater company in February 2010, 21 died; since another fire at the “Thats It Sportswear” manufacturer in Late November of the following year brutally murdered 29 more (Hasan, Mahmud & Islam, 2017). The Tazreen Fashion fire on November 24, 2012, constituted one of the most devastating fire hazards in Bangladeshs Garment sector, killing the 112 employees (Mahmood et al., 2021). The Frequency band factory explosion occurred in 2005, killing 64 garment employees while injuring 80 others (Wadud et al., 2014). The Phoenix Garments explosion happened in 2006, killing 22 employees. According to the BNBC, each structure with more than six stories is considered a high-rise structure (Wadud & Huda, 2017). Property owners should obey fire regulatory standards and configure fire-fighting apparatus in certain structures (Rahardjo & Prihanton, 2020). The problem will only be a No Objection Letter if it meets all fire protection design parameters and has sufficient fire extinguishers (Islam et al., 2016). According to the Bangladesh National Building Regulations section on "Fire Drill and the Emergency Process," every building must comply with its specifications and have an emergency escape plan, a first aid and fire services plan, instructions for occupants, and other requirements (Savitha & Malathi, 2018). All construction laborers should be trained in first aid and fire services (Rahardjo & Prihanton, 2020). The fully automated fire and smoke surveillance system must include lien-category temperature - the sensitive detection systems, optical, ionized, or the chemically delicate detection systems, and fire detection (Section 4.41) (Islam et al., 2016). As per Barua et al. (2018), BNBC mandates that the Fire Department and Security Agencies inspect tall structures for sprinkler systems managed to install the every 10 feet. Fire officials reported that smoke causes more deaths than just a blaze in a house fire and individuals could die from oxygen deprivation if the construction doesnt offer an escape route to a secure position (Al-Amin et al., 2020; Haque et al., 2018).

Safety Equipment

Manufacturing companys Safety Equipment and Instruments List, Device Collection Safety goggles, protective clothing, helmets, security audits, and the industrial safety devices (Islam et al., 2016). A significant manufacturing safety gear made to wear by employees safeguards their vision from serious destruction done by brazing or circuit board activities (Khan & Wichterich, 2015). Employees of RMG in Bangladesh frequently use Gloves for protection for their occupational and personal safety (Mahmood et al., 2021). Employees working in great places and manufacturing in Bangladesh usually use Commercial Protective Gear Face Safeguard (Kabir et al., 2019). Akhtar and Shimul, (2012) suggested that the adaptable boots protect the employees legs from prospective damage inflicted by the equipment and heavy machinery striking the legs, sharp things lacerating the legs, and catching fire. 

Machinery Safety

The major recommendation for workplace accidents and risks corresponds to hazard control rules and regulations: comprehensive risk mitigation; preventive hazards & protections; maintaining records and making plans; rehabilitative services; safe machinery, and constructing OSH consciousness (Bair et al., 2020). By Hossain and Ahmed, (2022) following a number of unsafe incidents, the Bangladeshi RMG industry has begun to focus on machinery safety. According to the BLA, if an "Employment Investigator" finds that a buildings machinery or any component of it poses a significant risk to workers, they are required to notify the institutions operator in writing. The Bangladeshi National Construction Code 2006 involves comprehensive regulations on the safe operation (Ahmed & Kabir, 2021). Each ground of an employment environment will have a minimum height of 3.5 meters for non-air-condi-tioned building structures and 3.0 meters for air-conditioned residences and will need to bring the safest machinery for their employees (Section 1. 12.2.). As per Hossain & Ahmed, (2022), A manu-facturing facilitys stairways and guardrails must be at least 2.0 meters wide and 0.9 meters high with extremely safe machinery (Section 1.12.5), but the Bangladeshi RMG industry still doesnt have the necessary machinery safety implementation for its workers. 

Employee Intention to Stay

The success and well-being of any firm are determined by the retention of important employees. Keeping top employees in the organization also helps in succession planning, increasing customer satisfaction, and ultimately increasing organizational performance (Terera & Ngirande, 2014). Employee turnover always creates a higher cost for the organization. Festing & Schäfer, (2014) clearly stated that contented and satisfied employees are more likely to remain in the organization for a longer period. High personnel turnover often results in missed opportunities for reaching departmental budgets and production objectives, which costs the company more money (Aruna & Anitha, 2015). One of the most crucial responsibilities of organizational management in every company is to maintain the most substantial and dynamic human resources commitment and engagement (Michael, Prince and Chacko, 2016). Retained employees bring the highest competitive advantage to the organization rather than the highly talented employees who have left tendencies (Khalid & Nawab, 2018; Rahman et al., 2023). 

Workplace Safety Practices and the Employee Intention to Stay

In this competitive world, the organization faces a tremendous challenge which is to train their employees for increasing skills and competencies apart from innovation and the technological advancement (Akila, 2012). Because of this, the idea of safety and health in the workplace has become recognized as a way to reduce employee churn and increase staff retention (Aman-Ullah et al., 2022). Overall job satisfaction and loyalty to a business are the substantially influenced by how employees perceive fire safety and the efficacy of fire prevention measures (Khan et al., 2019). Besides, a safe working environment boosts the employees physically and mentally which leads to higher employee retention (Shakeel and But, 2015). As a result, more workers were retained. The organization takes a safety training program to ensure that employees are getting a safe working environment that increases their productivity and performance (Shamsuzzoha and Shumon, 2010).” Furthermore, since it keeps employees motivated and in good health, which minimizes labor turnover, safety and health management aids the business in lowering costs, reducing risk for workers on the job, and boosting productivity (Iqbal et al., 2017). 

Employee Safety Training

The RMG sector is essential to the Bangladeshs productivity expansion and the states leading the exporter sector (Ansary & Barua, 2015). The ILO RMG training program, with monetary assistance from the governments of the Netherlands, Canada, and the United Kingdom, launched a preliminary study (January - May 2017) to create a scientific proof archive of the labor environment in Bangla-deshs RMG sector (Barua & Ansary, 2017). The study showed the poor conditions of the workplace, dangerous infrastructure, and poor maintenance of safety policies in the RMG sector of Bangladesh. Mahmood, Ruma et al. (2021), agreed that employee often faces different workplace hazards because of the lack of proper safety training. The Rana Plaza incident in Bangladesh was caused by these failures to comply (Islam et al., 2016). A professional safety training program that started operating in Dhaka on October 9 will advantage the 800,000 ready-made textile workers all over Bangladesh (Mahmood, Ruma et al., 2021). The learning has been provided mainly through the Bangladesh Employers Federation (BEF) with the assistance of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and financing from Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK. BGMEA, as well as BKMEA, also supports the program (Ahmed et al., 2020). This gathering would then continue raising awareness about important OSH problems within and between 800,000 employees in the 585 industries by June 2017 (Ahmed et al., 2020). And as per the Alama et al. (2020) all the RMG sector employees need appropriate training on these seven things, but sadly Bangladesh is far from these things even today.

Moderating Role of Employee Safety Training

The world is getting more competitive day by day and organizations are facing many challenges to sustain in this competition (Elsafty & Oraby, 2022). The main challenge that an organization face is employee turnover which creates a huge loss in the organization (Hongvichit, 2015). More than merely protocols and customs are the required for health protection measures in the workplace and continual improvements to occupational welfare (Ricci et al., 2016). An effective safety training programs not only give employees the knowledge they need, but also give them the confidence to take an active role in fire safety procedures (Cloutier et al., 2015). This type of the safety training increases dedication and makes workers believe that the company is paving the way for their safety (Bayram, 2019). Besides, through training programs, employees are trained in safe machine operation, maintenance procedures, and the appropriate use of safety features and the personal protective equipment (PPE) (Ricci et al., 2016). Employees that get quality safety training become more knowledgeable, skilled, and confident when using machinery properly (Getuli et al., 2022). Workplace hazards increase the turnover of retained organizations. As per Khan, (2018), personnel who receive more safety training exhibit greater levels of dedication than those who receive less instruction. Elsafty and Oraby, (2022) claimed that achieving commitment and retention can only be done by designing proper safety training that is entirely based on employees safety needs assessment. A safety training creates a psychological bonding between employees and the organization which increases commitment among the employees (Umugwaneza et al., 2019).

Participants and Procedure

The study was “Causal” in nature. An investigation of cause-and-effect the relationships among the variables was intended to find out in this study. Cause and effect relationship between workplace safety practices and employees retention was the examined in this study with a moderation effect of employee safety training between them. Because phenomena-related hypotheses were generated and data was examined using statistical tools, the study was quantitative in nature (Zikmund et al., 2013). The study focused on readymade garments (RMG) employees who were working in Savar, Gazipur and around some other garments located in Dhaka city. Dhaka was selected as study location as maximum of the RMG establishment are situated in Dhaka, which is the city of Bangladesh. All the respondents who took part in the survey, were full-time garments employees and thus, the unit of analysis was the individual level. The survey used 23 * 10 = 230, or 10 times the number of measuring items (Boateng et al., 2018). Employee information was gathered via a self-administered questionnaire. To check the con-tent validity of the questionnaire, at first a draft questionnaire was made for a pre-test survey. A small portion of respondents among the employees of the RMG sector was taken for the pretest survey.  As per the feedback of pretest, the content of the questionnaire was improved with the help of indu-stry experts and academics of Human Resource Management Discipline, Khulna University, Bang-ladesh. Then the final self-administered question-naire was prepared for the survey. The survey was conducted during the period of January to March in the year 2023. The 28 statements in the designed questionnaire are split into two sections. Through Fire Safety, Safety Equipment, and the Machinery Safety, the first section described workplace safety practices and these were the independent variable. Employee intention to stay was shown as the depen-dent variable, and safety training was shown as a moderating variable. The survey was conducted by 23 close-ended items under the scale categorized as Fire Safety, Safety Equipment, Machinery Safety, Employee intention to stay, and Employee safety training. The respondents demographic traits were assessed in the second section. Through the use of five factors, including name, age, gender, income, and the working experience, the demographic infor-mation of the respondents was gathered.

Measurements

We took responses to each of the statements under the independent variable, dependent variable, and moderating variable on a five-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree). The Fire Safety practices of the organization was measured using 5 items adopted (Hasan, 2018). Those items focused on the emergency exit, alternative escape stair, firefighting apparatus, exit door, and firefighting demonstration. A typical scale item was “My organization has an ample amount of firefighting apparatus in the proper place.” Safety Equipment practices was measured with the help of 4 items developed by (Hasan, 2018) and (Ramos et al., 2016). Those items measured safety goggles, breathing apparatus, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), etc. A typical scale item was “My organization provides me with necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) for my job.” Machinery Safety was measured with the help of 4 items developed by (Hasan, 2018; Bluff, 2014). Issues like fencing of machinery, Safety inspector audit, proper knowledge, etc. will be measured by this scale. A typical scale item was “My organi-zation properly maintains the fencing of mac-hineries.” Employee intention to stay was measured with the help of 5 items developed by (Kashyap and Rangnekar, 2014; Iqbal & Hashmi, 2015) and those items measured growing opportunities, loyalty, great deal of effort, intention to leave, career aspiration. A typical scale item is “I see a future for myself within this Institution.” Practices of Safety Training was measured using the items developed by (Carder & Ragan, 2003; Jazayeri & Dadi, 2022; Demirkesen & Arditi, 2015) and were modified as per the study context. A typical scale item was “My organization provide safety orientation to the newly assigned employees.” We had measured the demographic characters of the respondents as well with the indicator of age, gender, income level and work experience of the respondents. Nominal and ordinal scale was used to measure these demographic variables to show its influence on the intention to stay in the organisation.

Data Processing Tools

Using the information gathered, inferential analysis was conducted. The respondents demographic traits were displayed in a frequency table. Correlation was calculated in this study to demonstrate the direction of relationship between the variables. Later, mode-rated regression analysis was employed as a statistical approach to assess the studys hypothesis (Hair et al., 2010). Three methods were taken to examine how varied Safety Training affected moderation: 1) Controlling factors (Yu et al., 2017) Main effect factors, and interaction terms. Regression coefficients are used to estimate the moderating impact (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Precher et al., 2007; Wu & Zamboo, 2008). With the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0, the quantitative data that had been gathered was arranged and examined.

Demographic Profile of the Respondents

Table 1 showed the demographic factors, such as gender, age, income, and working experiences of the respondents. As per the survey and respondents, 61% were male which was the maximum number and 39% were female. The age distribution of the respondents showed that 40% of them were between the ages of 21 and 30; 49% were between the ages of 31 and 40; 9% were between the ages of 41 and 50; and only 10.4% were over the age of 50. 

Table 1: Demographic Profile of the Respondents.

According to data on income levels, 32% of respondents had an income between 21,000 and 30,000 takas, 42% had an income between 31,000 and 40,000 takas, 14% had an income between 41,000 and 50,000 takas, and 12% had an income over 50,000 takas.  Once more, 47.0% of respondents had experience working for less than two years, 40% had experience working for two to four years, 9% had experience working for five to seven years, and 4% had experience working for eight to ten years.Correlation Analysis

Table 2: Correlations.

The study findings underscore a significant positive correlation between workplace safety practices and employee intention to stay in the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sector in Bangladesh. Specifically, fire safety practices exhibited a substantial link (r = .464**), showing an 11.9% increase in explanatory power when coupled with safety training. This emphasizes the necessity for organizations to priori-tize fire safety measures to the ensure long-term employee retention. Moreover, safety equipment practices displayed a positive influence on employee intention to stay (r = .409**), with an additional 10.2% explanatory enhancement when combined with safety training. This combination mitigates the accidents and occupational hazards, emphasizing the importance of implementing both practices. Similarly, machinery safety practices exhibited a strong positive relationship (r = .478**) with employee the intention to stay. The inclusion of machinery safety practices and safety training increased the explanatory power by 34.9%, highlighting the crucial need for these measures in retaining employees in the RMG sector. 

This research addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between workplace safety practices and the employee retention, underscoring safety trainings moderating effect. It provides essential insights for RMG industry the stakeholders, particularly managers, on the crucial safety issues and their impact on employee retention. However, the study solely focuses on employee intention to stay, neglecting broader influences on motivation, satisfaction, turnover, performance, and loyalty. To further benefit the RMG sector, the policy-makers should prioritize sustainable safety protocols aligned with global standards. Longitudinal studies assessing the enduring effects of the safety procedures on retention and exploring varying safety standards impacts across organizations could provide valuable insights for future research. 

The authors are grateful to all the participants for their valuable time and insights for the study.

The authors affirm that there are no conflicts of interest that could influence the publication of this research.