Headmasters’ Safety Management and Performance in Two Malaysian National Primary Schools

Abstract

A conducive environment to ensure safety among school students is crucial as most of the time they are at school and grow up in school settings. It is vital to understand that, this period is a critical development stage for students whereby their personality is developed holistically in a different environment from home. The failure of handling hazards effectively and neglecting attitude on reporting cases contributes to the rising number of accidents in schools. Thus, the study aims to explore headmasters’ strategies in safety management and how they strengthen teacher’s safety performances in schools.  An explorative case study research design was adopted using purposive sampling. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with two headmasters. The data analyses were performed by reviewing the informants’ transcripts, and the transcripts were coded through open, axial and selective coding. The findings of the study revealed seven strategies implemented by the headmaster's in managing school safety are: (a) Importance of Safety Management; (b) Acting as Role Model; (c) Communicates School Safety; (d) Safety Practices; (e) Training Teachers; (f) Budget Arrangements; and (g) Alliance with School Community. Findings also revealed headmaster’s strengthen teacher’s safety performances in schools in two ways: (a) Trust in Teachers; and (b) Teachers Execute Programmes. This study provides an insight into the headmaster's safety management and safety performance in two Malaysian primary schools. Besides, policymakers will benefit from the change that could be made on safety-related matters with the aim of reducing the number of accident and incident cases among school students.