A study fell into my hands recently and after a quick look, I would like to share a few interesting points:
1. Regarding the documented OSH (occupational safety and health) policy, established management system, or action plan,is reported to exist in the majority of establishments (76%), with higher prevalence noted in larger establishments. By country,the highest shares are reported in the UnitedKingdom (98%), Spain (97%) and Ireland(96%), in contrast to Greece (38%), Turkey (38%) and Luxembourg (46%). Moreover, in Greece the documented OSH policy is more for the legislation obligation for the companies aiming to get certified.
2. The second most frequent reason for not applying OSH policy, is a ‘lack of expertise’ to develop it (51%), which is highest in Germany (65%) and France (60%). This is again an interesting finding, suggesting that even in the older Member States there could be a lack of expertise at establishment level to implement OSH policies and systems.
3. Just a meer 28% of Greek higher management reflects often on the issue of occupational safety and health, which means that the other 72% of the HIGH MANAGEMENT does not or never deals with the issue.
4. Fulfilment of legal obligations’ is most frequently reported in Spain (85%), Ireland (78%) and Bulgaria (77%), in contrast to Greece (30%), Slovakia (33%) and Cyprus (35%). I guess we prefer more the “image of the enterprise” factor.
5. Regarding the health factor, in Greece there is the tendency to deal with it inhouse compared to northern EU-countries that hire external consultancy. From my experience, in small companies either no measure is taken at all for the issue, or a “doctor” and a 2 hour season is made with no proper results. The company has now grounds that actually did something, the employees just waste their time and everybody is happy… well somewhat :S.
The whole study titled: “European Survey of Enterpriseson New and Emerging Risks”, can be find here
