A Pilot Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of Workers Toward Usage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at a Palm Oil Mill in Kuala Gula, Perak, Malaysia

Abstract

Background: Safety and health issues in palm oil mill workers in Malaysia continue to generate operational and management challenges for the industry. One of the primary factors triggering these issues is that workers do not consistently wear the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during their job.
Objective: This pilot study investigates the level of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of palm oil mill workers toward usage of PPE, identifies the relationship between these three constructs and PPE usage, and explores the relative contribution of each construct to PPE usage in the workplace.
Methods: A cross-sectional pilot survey was conducted at a single palm oil mill in Kuala Gula, Perak, Malaysia. Data were collected from 30 mill workers — representing the entire workforce of the selected mill — using a structured bilingual (Malay–English) questionnaire distributed manually. The questionnaire was divided into five sections covering demographics and four constructs (knowledge, attitude, practice, and PPE usage), each measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22, comprising reliability test, descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression and exploratory factor analysis.
Results: Reliability analysis produced a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.865, indicating very good internal consistency. All three independent variables showed positive correlations with PPE usage. The regression model explained 34.3% of the variance in PPE usage (R² = 0.343, Adjusted R² = 0.267). In the standardised coefficients, attitude had the largest point estimate (β = 0.302), followed by knowledge (β = 0.248) and practice (β = 0.148); however, individual t-tests did not reach statistical significance (all p > 0.05), which is consistent with the limited statistical power expected at this sample size. The KMO value of 0.725 confirmed the adequacy of the data for factor analysis.
Conclusion: As a single-mill pilot, this study provides preliminary evidence that workers’ attitude and knowledge are positively associated with PPE usage. Findings should be interpreted with caution given the small sample size and exploratory design. The results provide a useful basis for designing a larger multi-mill confirmatory study, and offer initial guidance for mill management considering integrated behavioural and educational interventions to improve PPE compliance.