Transcript PPT Dublin Conference-FINAL - Home

The application of OSH legislation to small
business: Meet the challenges, seize the
opportunities
Dublin 30th April 2013
Teresa Moitinho
Head of Unit
DG EMPL Unit B3
Health, Safety and Hygiene at work
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Setting the scene: application of OSH
legislation to small business
Meet the challenges:
Scope – legal context
Application of OSH legislation : acknowledging special difficulties due to
size-specific challenges, how to help small business to better implement
Seize the opportunities:
Provide small business with efficient tools to make compliance with OSH
legislation easier and more effective, achieving a better work environment
Investment in OSH pays-off
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Small business - backbone of the EU
economy
More than 20.7 million SMEs*, mainly microenterprises, in the EU,
representing:
99.8% of all enterprises (92.2% microenterprises);
67.4 % per cent of total employment;
58.1 % of gross value added (GVA)
Key driver for economic growth, innovation, employment and social
integration
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* Data for the non-financial business economy. EU SMEs in 2012: at the crossroads: Annual report on small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU, 2011/12,
Ecorys for the European Commission, September 2012.
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SMEs and occupational health and safety –
meet the challenges (I)
SMEs bear high costs related to negative OSH outcomes:
 In enterprises of 10 employees or fewer 6.9% of persons affected by one or
more work-related health problem and 2.5% by an accident at work*.
 Cost of work related accident and diseases estimated for the EU to be
between 2.6% and 3.8% of GDP (source EU-OSHA).
Size-specific challenges :
Difficulties in implementing OSH acquis related to
 Lack of structures;
 Knowledge and resources to manage their working environment properly,
including;
 Opportunities to use external expertise.
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* Eurostat, Labour Force Survey ad hoc module 2007 on work-related accidents, health problems and hazardous exposure.
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SMEs and occupational health and safety –
meet the challenges (II)
Major difficulties in dealing with OSH, by establishment size
(% establishments, EU-27)
Major reasons for not having developed a
documented policy, management system or action
plan (% establishments, EU-27)*
According to ESENER:
Lack of expertise and lack of
technical support and guidance
more often mentioned by small
establishments than large as a
major difficulty in dealing with
OSH
Less access to some health and
safety services in SMEs
Less developed procedures to
deal with work-related stress,
bullying or harassment or
violence
* ESENER- European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging
Risks.
Knowledge-related barriers (lack of awareness, lack of
expertise or the fact of not seeing the benefit) become
more important as the company size decreases when
considering the reasons for not developing an OSH
management system
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SMEs and occupational health and safety –
meet the challenges (III)
Effect on compliance –an example, risk assessment or similar measure by establishment size
(%establishments, EU-27)
Tailor-made solutions needed
for practical implementation!
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Risk assessment documentation by very
small companies in low-risk activities
HLG recommendation - Study carried out by the consultancy firm "Europe
Economics" for DG EMPL (following an open call for tender)
Main conclusions:
The extent of compliance with RA increases with the size of the company.
Achieving 100% compliance would require a significant increase in activity by LI,
above all among micro-enterprises.
The results of the modelling (should be treated with caution given the uncertainties
involved) suggest that the net impact of an exemption of the obligation to document
risk assessment in very small firms in low risk sectors would be relatively small, with
the possibility that an exemption might lead to a negative net benefit (and possibly a
substantial one).
Documentation may increase the quality of risk assessments, help to communicate
the results, induce firms to take more follow-up actions, and enable the results to be
acted on further into the future.
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Why does it matter for the EU economy?
From accidents at work via intangible outcomes to reduced benefits
Accidents at work
Injured
workers
Loss of
human
resources
Demotivated
staff
Lost time &
other hidden
costs
Quality loss
Absenteeism
Unsatisfied
customers
Less
productivity
Rotation
Image loss
Recruitment
& selection
costs
Less sales &
diminished
market share
Reduction of net benefits
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Seize the opportunities (I): Some tailor-made
solutions
 Create good practice guides adequate to end-user
 E.g. noise, vibration, work at height, construction, agriculture, small fishing
vessels, asbestos removal (in preparation Vehicle risks).
 Education and training
Develop OHS skills and transferability between employers e.g. e-skills and training.
 Involve all – including trade associations to create risk assessment
database.
 Develop in framework of SSDC or/and at national level.
Why: Many risks are common, tool could be OiRA
Advantages:





Work together
Leads employers to a common high standard of operation.
Best practices are shared.
Can be updated regularly.
Contributes to debate on health and safety at work.
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Seize the opportunities (II)Application of OSH
and enforcement
 Labour Inspection (LI) can help small business to meet the challenges and
seize the opportunities: advisory role and informative role
 Lis should accept tools (such as OiRA) made available to micro and SMEs
 2013-2015 plan of work of the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee:
"share OSH initiatives that help to foster a preventive culture in
enterprises of all sizes, in particular in small organizations".
 SLIC campaigns in the last years – focusing on companies up to 50 workers
- have proved to be a valuable tools not only for improving enforcement,
but also for raising awareness.
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Seize the opportunities (III): Integrating
prevention into the business
 The benefits related to H&S measures outweigh the costs incurred (the
ratio of payoff to investment — ranges from 1.29 to 2.89 for investments
in occupational safety and health)*.
 Good prevention systems should be a key measured company objective:
use reports, trends, incident analysis (including near miss).
 Leadership: Prevention objectives come from highest level (Owner) and
should be "visible and felt".
 Workers are key to successful implementation.
*BenOSH Study
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Conclusion: meet the challenges and seize the
opportunities
 Involvement of all actors / effective application of OSH legislation
 SMEs and small enterprises form the backbone of the EU economy – the
application of OSH legislation in this category of enterprises is a condition
for the success of OSH policy
 Efficient and adequate tools to help SMEs and small enterprises in this
regard
 Investment in OSH brings benefits to enterprises, also to small enterprises
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Further information
• DG EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND INCLUSION
• http://ec.europa.eu/social/home.jsp
• EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
• http://osha.europa.eu
• Thank you for your attention
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