Safety activities in small businesses

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cunningham, Thomas R. ; Sinclair, Raymond C.
• Description:
  Background: Workplace injuries occur at higher rates in smaller firms than in larger firms, and the number of workplace safety activities appear to be inversely associated with those rates. Predictors of safety activities are rarely studied. Methods: This study uses data from a national random survey of firms (n= 722) with less than 250 employees conducted in 2002. Results: We found that, regardless of firm size or industry, safety activities were more common in 2002 than they were in a similar 1983 study. Having had an OSHA inspection in the last five years and firm size were stronger predictors of safety activities than industry hazardousness and manager's perceptions of hazardousness. All four variables were significant predictors (ß range .19 to .28; R2= 27). Conclusions: Further progress in the prevention of injuries in small firms will require attention to factors likely subsumed within the firm size variable, especially the relative lack of slack resources that might be devoted to safety activities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety Small Business Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Small Business Injuries Monitoring Systems Safety Measures Safety Practices Small Businesses Work-related Injuries Work Environment Worker Health Workers Workplace Monitoring

  More +
• ISSN:
  0925-7535
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  32-38
• Volume:
  64
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043577
• Citation:
  Saf Sci 2014 Apr; 64:32-38
• Contact Point Address:
  Thomas R. Cunningham, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH, 45243
• Email:
  Tcunningham@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Safety Science
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ab0397378c29e0b66e37d8c033cd5b528276f8c58c004c1de56bd5346fd25f94ee41dbe3e81a591bc2a0aa4c44672547032cdb53b7528cdc887b4bd154e929bb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195445/cdc_195445_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 296.46 KB ]