Improving Occupational Safety and Health in micro and small enterprises

Safety and health at work is everyone’s concern. It’s good for you. It’s good for business.
Improving Occupational Safety and Health in
micro and small enterprises (OSH non-experts)

http://osha.europa.eu
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Structure of the presentation
1. The SESAME project
2. Why look at OSH in Micro and Small Enterprises
3. Recent policy developments
4. Understanding MSEs, their owner-managers and workers
5. What works for whom and in what circumstances
6. Policy pointers and conclusions

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1. The SESAME project (2014-2017)
4 phases:
1. ‘State of play’: critical review of the current research, new trends and challenges,
focused analysis of the ESENER-2 survey
2. ‘View of the workplace’: contextualised understanding of the diversity in OSH
practices, processes and mechanisms of MSEs in Europe: 162 case studies
3. ‘Policies, strategies, instruments and tools’: understanding regulation and
governance and collection of 44 good practices from 12 different countries
4. ‘Final analysis’: key findings and policy pointers for more efficient policy
programmes and support instruments
Strong EU
comparative
dimension involving 9
EU countries (BE,
DE, DK, EE, FR, IT,
SE, RO, UK)
Objectives:
- State of the current knowledge
- View from the workplace
- Effective means for improvement
Focus on Micro
and Small
Enterprises: 5 to
49 employees

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1. The SESAME project: specific added value
 A strong consideration of the socio-economic and
regulatory context
 A prominent attention for the workers’ perspective
 An acknowledgement of the heterogeneity of MSE
• the diversity of their practices and needs
• the consequences of these on the design requirements of
strategies and instruments to improve OSH

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2. Why look at OSH in MSE?
But MSEs also have a social value!
Table: SMEs and large enterprises: number of enterprises, employment,
and value added in 2016 in the EU-28 non-financial business sector
Source: European Commission, Annual
Report on SMEs 2016-2017

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Persisting higher OSH risks
in MSEs
 more occupational deaths
and serious injuries in smaller
companies.
 death caused by occupational
accidents is decreasing, but
this is not the case for
mortality and morbidity
caused by work related
exposures (of which reliable
sources for MSEs are lacking).
 many studies report poorer
work environment and
working conditions in MSEs
OSH-arrangements according to size (EU 28,
source: ESENER 2014)

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A persistent and growing structural vulnerability
 The “fissured workplace” in a global economy (Weil):
• Activities are increasingly distributed in complex value chains
and networks of contracting, outsourcing, franchising and
ownership
• MSE are prone to be situated in dependent and less powerful
positions in these networks
• Risks and costs are shifted by larger companies to the smaller,
both upstream and downstream
• This causes pressure on working conditions and growth of
precarious work
• There is a growing blurring about who precisely determines key
dimensions of the employment relation, such as wages, working
times, work environment and OSH conditions: is it the employer
or the customer?

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The high road
 Searching and finding
niche markets
 Developing a stable
customer base
 Maintaining a committed
and loyal staff
 Adjusting to new
conditions with agility
The low road
 Working long hours
 Keeping costs down
 Agreeing to even poorer
sales conditions
 Squeezing employee
conditions
 Accepting low personal
income
Most small
firms caught
between both
The business strategy dilemma of MSE

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3. Recent policy developments
Growing interest in OSH in MSE
• In all countries
• Among policy makers, regulators,
social partners and others
• There is more knowledge about
MSE
• Key policies at the EU-level:
• The EU Strategic Framework on
Health and Safety at Work 2014–
2020
• The European Pillar of Social
Rights
• Communication of the EC on
Modernisation of the EU
Occupational Safety and Health
Legislation and Policy
• EU-OSHA priorities (OIRA,
SESAME-project)
Concerns
• Economic orthodoxy, austerity and
retreat of public government may
limit investments in regulation
• A political context favouring lower
regulatory burden for businesses
aiming to enhance competitiveness
• General decline in resources for
inspection eroding public regulation
and enforcement
• Still overall low priority for MSE in
terms of inspection and support

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4. Better understanding MSE and OSH
The good news
 Owner-managers want to
be decent employers and
take care of employees
 They listen to peers,
customers and employees
 They are solution and
action oriented
 They are open to
achieving an ‘acceptable
work environment’
The bad news
 OSH is a minor task among
many more important ones
 They underestimate risks
and overestimate their
knowledge and control
 They don’t like interference
with their business
 Systematic risk assessment
and OSH management are
difficult to implement
Good reasons for concern:
 Higher risks and less resources for controlling them
 More accidents and diseases compared to bigger firms

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4. Better understanding MSE and OSH: resource
poverty
The owner-manager
• The various tasks of the owner-
manager:
• Attract and maintain customers
• Organise daily production
• Do paperwork (invoice, payments,
tax, etc.)
• Secure financing
• Hire and personal management of
staff
• Procurement
• Time for the family
• …and take care of OSH
Resource poverty
• Common in all MSE:
• Linked to their position in value
chains and lack of power
• Multidimensional:
• Lack of knowledge
• Lack of time
• Lack of money
• Lack of technological resources
• Low level of OSH knowledge on
risks (awareness and analysis),
how to address these, low
learning potential
• Owner-managers and workers
alike: hindered risk control and
impact on own OSH

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4. Better understanding MSE and OSH: the workers’
perspective
Shared perspectives:
 Limited personal experience of
accidents/illness
 Social and spatial proximity
 Informality – ad-hoc decisions
 Shared company perspective
 Development of ‘common
sense’, difficult to refute
Shift of responsibility to worker:
 Strong socialisation
 Failure to identify risks and how
to manage these
 Autonomy but also to choose
unsafe solutions in view of
performance and problem-
solving
 This becomes normalised
practice and undermines formal
OSH management
A vulnerable workforce
• Lower education and skills
• Poor formal voice and representation
• Precarious employment relations

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4. Better understanding MSE and OSH: typology
 MSE are a lot more diverse than large companies
 Size plays a role in ‘professionalisation’ of management and involvement of owner-
manager in core production
 Sector plays a role: construction, transport, healthcare, farming, HORECA,
industry… all have their specific business and economic context and risk factors
 National and regulatory contexts among the EU differ as well
But MSE and their owner-managers also differ in their approach to
risks and risk management
Avoiders Reactors Learners
OSH Neglect React to external
pressure
Actively look for
knowledge
Risk Unavoidable Unavoidable, but
react when made
aware
Can be controlled
Responsibility Mainly with workers Shared with
workers
With the employer

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4. Better understanding MSE and OSH:
institutional pressure
 MSE do not operate in a vacuum but are influenced by the
pressure of their environment:
− “Coercive” pressure by state and market forces
− “Normative” pressure by professional beliefs, associations,…
− “Mimetic” pressure by peers: “we do like the others”
 MSE are looking for the acceptable level of risk control:
• “How much do we have to do in order to be accepted by
workers, customers, authorities, peers and the local
community?”

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5. What works: basics
Effective
OSH
regulation
Competent employer
engagement for
evaluating and
controlling risks
State regulation –
inspection and
enforcement
Worker participation –
individual and
representative (practical
know-how)
The three pillars of regulation (FW Dir. 89/391): the prevention triangle

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• Societal legitimacy
• Social acceptance
• Trust
• Knowledge about
risks and solutions
5. What works: basics
Stick
(Regulation)
Carrot
(Incentives)
Sermon
(Information)
The standard
pursued by
small firms
Policy
instruments
Key mechanisms
Context
dependent
• Dissemination
• Training
• Advice
Tangible
programmes
• Insurance
• Subsidies
• Certificates
• Legislation
• Inspection
• Fines

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5. What works: findings of the policy analysis
 Many examples of what works well
• In terms of regulation, enforcement and support
• Mainly voluntary programmes and tools used by the small group
of learning MSE
• Often pilot programmes are terminated due to a lack of
sustainable funding
 But resources in all studied countries are too limited to reach
out and make a difference to the great majority of MSE
• Most MSE do not by themselves seek out information and take
action on OSH
 Even within the limited resources, efficiency can be improved
through development and co-ordination of strategies
• But more resources are needed to achieve a widespread impact

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5. What works: different roles and stakeholders
The role of regulation and inspections
 The main key is the standard established in regulation,
backed by enforcement through inspections
 Owner-managers pay attention to regulation
• in spite of a traditional reservation towards authorities, they like
to know what to do
 Regulation is the foundation for the activities of other actors
• social partners, peer organisations, advisory services, as well
as other actors
 Frequent and personal (although costly), tangible and
respectful inspections work best

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Peer organisations (intermediaries)
 Owner-managers look to peers to assess what is acceptable and do-
able
 Employers’ associations, craft guilds and business chambers have
access to and trust from small business
 Unions have access to and trust of workers and have a strong
regulatory impact through representation
• But they are not represented in MSE in most countries!
 Advice and recommendations from peers are considered legitimate
 Network groups and training activities (co)organised by peers are
more likely to be considered relevant
 The question is whether peer organisations have the necessary
funding and interest?
• In some countries peer organisations have low membership among
MSE and give priority to larger enterprises

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Support systems (intermediaries)
 Different countries have a wide variety of support systems
• But in most countries they only reach a small fraction of MSE
• Best reached with secure long-term funding from insurance
 Advisory service & occupational health services
• Varies from compulsory affiliation to market-based and
voluntary
• Most often encounter difficulties in reaching MSE as full
payment is often too expensive
• Often substandard quality due to limited resources
 It works when it is low cost, tangible, tailored and personal

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5. What works: design criteria tailored to the
owner-manager or MSE characteristics
 Resource poverty: Integrate OSH in other management
priorities, supply chain mechanisms
 Proximity: Use identified risks as point of departure
 Informality: Integrate in daily dialogue practices with workers;
face-to-face, networks of peers
 Owner-manager identity: Avoid direct criticism; ‘how to do’
rather than ‘how to find out’, make effect visible
 Workers’ voice: Integrate in teams and tasks; reward OSH
responsibilities, use daily dialogue, regional or value chain
representation
 Sector: Tailoring and ‘translating’ are more important for MSEs
than for large firms

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6. Pointers: lessons about regulation and support
systems for MSE
 OSH legislation and inspection
• Limited due to cost, most MSE never meet an inspector
• Development of simplified systems for risk assessment and OSH
management may help
• But will in most cases still not be used in practice
 Service through information on the internet
• Will in most cases not be read by a MSE
 Advisory services
• Do not in practice exist in some countries
• In other countries of low quality due to competition and no
quality standards
 We need new and coordinated strategies, building on good
experiences!

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6. Pointers: a policy strategy for OSH
improvements in micro and small enterprises
Peer organisations Support systems
Tailor to
sector and
subsector
The societal expectations for a safe and healthy work environment
(legislation)
This is how we do business here
(quality, effective and healthy)
Relate to
business
goals
Low cost
Focus on
how to do
- not how to
find out
Personal
Inspections
(enforcement)

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6. Pointers to take away
Orchestration in practice
• Who to initiate coordination?
• Most often authorities or sector
organisations
• Who to involve?
• Authorities, employer associations,
business organisations, labour
unions, insurance companies,
advisory bodies
• Most often in a sector approach
• Shared messages and coordinated
actions key to influence
• Trust, legitimacy and raise of
acceptable risk level
• The opposite results in paralysis of
MSE
• Need to secure long-term funding
• Move from pilot project to
sustainable policies and support
Beyond traditional OSH policy
programmes
• The economic and business
environment of MSE requires new
approaches
• Such as:
• Regulation of responsibility in order
to follow the economic power
• Regulation of the supply chain
• Basic rights for precarious workers
• Community-based advisory system

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This presentation was made by:
Monique Ramioul, HIVA-Research Institute for Work and Society, KU Leuven-Belgium
Peter Hasle, Sustainable Production, Aalborg University Copenhagen-Denmark
David Walters, Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre, Cardiff University-UK
And is presented by: #Name Presenter#

Improving Occupational Safety and Health in micro and small enterprises

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