Working in small enterprises – Is there a special risk?

Abstract

Ownership structure is an important factor. For independent enterprises, the ergonomic, physical and chemical work environment is more hazardous in small enterprises than in large ones. For enterprises that are part of a larger organization, the work environment tends to be more hazardous in large enterprises when controlling for the same factors. For the psychosocial factors, the trend is different – better in small than in large enterprises independent of ownership. In all enterprises, both public and private, the quality of health and safety management systems and workplace assessment is remarkably higher in large than in small enterprises. These differences in work environment for small and large enterprises have been studied in the ‘Danish Work Environment Cohort Study’ and ‘Surveillance of health and safety activities in enterprises’. These datasets are linked together to a reliable database with data on work environment and enterprises including size, ownership structure, and health and safety management.