Occupational risk-prevention diagnosis: A study of construction SMEs in Spain

Abstract

Occupational risk-prevention implementation and its integration in the management systems of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are studied in the Spanish Construction Sector, through a prospective analysis of data collected from a sample of 106 firms (SMEs) in the Autonomous Community of Castile-La Mancha (Spain). The selected sample is well suited to the economic reality of that Autonomous Community, considering the size of the population and the chosen confidence intervals and probabilities. The following data-collection techniques were used: surveys, open questions, closed questions, and dichotomous questions. Qualitative Focus-Group techniques were chosen, to contrast the information and to validate its reliability, in view of the training criteria and the hierarchical position of the interviewees working for firms with experience in the Construction Sector. Participants included risk-prevention experts from the public administrations. The results point to difficulties with the integration of Occupational Risk Prevention (ORP) in the Management Systems of SMEs in the Spanish construction sector, outside the corporate structure of the firm.