Abstract
The Agrifood Industry is the largest Portuguese Industry, constituted mainly by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It is noted that more than any other type of organization SMEs have their own speci?cities that make it particularly appropriate to develop tools to facilitate communication and knowledge sharing for employers and workers. To this extent, identifying critical success factors is the key to increase SMEs productivity. Likewise, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in SMEs have their own characteristics, which dif?cult the prevention strategies implementation and aggravate the problematic of work accidents. This study analyses a ?eldwork in 60 food processing companies in Portugal, related to the dairy, meat processing, bakery and horticultural subsectors. The analysis of the results allowed to identify that, at the national and regional level, the main failures are concerned with (1) lack of risk assessments regarding occupational noise, lighting, thermal environment and vibrations; (2) safety signaling, the circulation ways are not identi?ed with appropriate safety colors; (3) general lighting, with too many shade areas and finally (4) complementary presence of associated risks to falls at the same level, falling of objects, thermal burns, the use of machines and equipment, ?re, mechanical, ergonomic hazards and incorrect body postures. This study assesses the most relevant occupational health and safety risks in the Portuguese food processing industry to contribute to the improvement of OSH management and prevention of work accidents.
Highlights
By 2016, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 98.8% of all nonfinancial enterprises in the European Union (EU), equivalent to 22.7 million enterprises (Muller et al, 2016) employing around half of EU workers, which justifies the need for effective management of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in these enterprises, in order to provide the well-being of workers as well as a work environment with harmonized rules, which will enable high-quality products to be obtained, benefiting consumers and businesses, and ensuring their long-term survival (Netto, 2014)
The Portuguese legislation sets that micro-enterprises and whose activity is not of high risk, such as many agrifood industries, OSH services may be provided by the employer, or by a designated worker
The conclusions of this study indicate that risks may be better managed in this group of companies, where good OSH conditions are associated with business success
Summary
By 2016, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 98.8% of all nonfinancial enterprises in the European Union (EU), equivalent to 22.7 million enterprises (Muller et al, 2016) employing around half of EU workers, which justifies the need for effective management of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in these enterprises, in order to provide the well-being of workers as well as a work environment with harmonized rules, which will enable high-quality products to be obtained, benefiting consumers and businesses, and ensuring their long-term survival (Netto, 2014).statistics show that most of the workers do not have adequate safety and health protection in their workplace, and the percentage of work-related injuries is higher within SME workers (Sousa et al, 2005). By 2016, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 98.8% of all nonfinancial enterprises in the European Union (EU), equivalent to 22.7 million enterprises (Muller et al, 2016) employing around half of EU workers, which justifies the need for effective management of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in these enterprises, in order to provide the well-being of workers as well as a work environment with harmonized rules, which will enable high-quality products to be obtained, benefiting consumers and businesses, and ensuring their long-term survival (Netto, 2014). Taking into account the numbers, the size of the company becomes an organizational risk factor, and the importance of effective means to prevent damage to the health and safety of its workers is evident (EU-OSHA, 2018). The reasons that identify the poor adherence to OSH management measures in these companies include (Walters and Wadsworth, 2016): International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety, 3:3 (2019) 23-33
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