Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) performance of SMEs: A structured framework

This paper deals with the use OSH factors for the correct identification and prioritization of OSH interventions especially within the Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) context, by taking into account the relevant OSH-factors. However, this should not be done on a one-to-one basis, but rather through a meaningful group of connected factors, which together impact on the OSH performance and on the overall performance. On the basis of the above, this paper aims at identifying the OSH-related factors and to work them into a structured framework, using a Focus Group approach. This framework explains each factor on the basis of a set of sub-factors, and clusters the factors into areas of affinity, thus creating three different levels of detail. Finally, the areas of affinity are worked into a hierarchical structure. The hierarchical structure and the three levels of detail are the tools enabling a rational planning of the interventions.