Barriers to occupational health and safety management in small Brazilian enterprises

Garnica, Guilherme Besse; Barriga, Gladys Dorotea Cacsire

doi:10.1590/0103-6513.20170046

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Research Article • Prod. 28 • 2018 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-6513.20170046 linkcopy

Barriers to occupational health and safety management in small Brazilian enterprises

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Paper aims To determine main barriers to the implementation of occupational health and safety management systems OHSMS in the context of small Brazilian enterprises from the perspectives of owners/managers, labor auditors, and OHS consultants.

Originality: Survey with three different perspectives on small Brazilian enterprises.

Research method: Survey conducted with stakeholders who influence the safety culture in small enterprises to identify the main barriers to the implementation of OHSMS.

Main findings: Owners/managers tend to blame employees and the government for difficulty in implementing OHSMS, and external actors tend to blame management and resource allocation. Opinions converge on inappropriate management behavior, ineffective information and communication and production prioritization.

Implications for theory and practice: These barriers should be overcome not only to facilitate the implementation of OHSMS but also to improve the conditions for the management of all small business operations.

Keywords
Work accident; Small business; Occupational Safety

Barriers observed in Brazil	Reference	Masi & Cagno (2015)
Difficulty in complying with the legislation because they are very strict.	Gomes et al. (2016)	Stringent legal requirements
Difficulty in complying with the legislation for demanding various documents.	Gomes et al. (2016)	Bureaucracy
Lack of consistent business support policy; Lack of public policies focused on OHS conditions in small buildings.	Nadae et al. (2013) Gomes et al. (2016)	Lack of technical support by control authorities
Lack of effective cooperation between entrepreneurs.	Nadae et al. (2013)	Behavior of trade unions
-	-	Difficulties in the interaction with external agencies
Lack of effective participation of other stakeholders.	Nadae et al. (2013)	Lack of guidelines
Lack of effective participation of other stakeholders.	Nadae et al. (2013)	Lack of technical support by consultants
Lack of support from senior management and the area of human resources.	Oliveira et al. (2010)	Systematically wrong behavior of management
Little experience with management systems.	Vitoreli et al. (2012)	Management not adequately skilled
No audits for the detection of nonconformities.	Almeida & Nunes (2014)	Lack of knowledge of the criticalities of the company by management
Lack of follow-up of the managers.	Almeida & Nunes (2014)	Lack of knowledge of the effect of the interventions
Lack of strategic vision for OHS; Little concern about OHS; Safety conditions would be the employees' responsibility;	Oliveira et al. (2010) Nadae et al. (2013) Gomes et al. (2016)	Inadequate OHS policy
Active participation of employees.	Oliveira et al. (2010)	Personnel inadequately involved in OHS activities
-	-	Inadequate dedication of time
Lack of financial resources.	Vitoreli et al. (2012)	Inadequate dedication of economic resources
-	-	Lack of organizational coherence and flexibility
Communication failures.	Oliveira et al. (2010)	Absent or ineffective communication
Lack of performance indicators in OHS; Little knowledge about legislation;	Oliveira et al. (2010) Gomes et al. (2016)	Absent or ineffective information
Non-definition of OHS as one of the organization's strategic objectives.	Oliveira et al. (2010)	Prioritization of production over safety
-	-	Difficulty in planning the OHS activities
-	-	Difficulty in obtaining authorizations by management
Active participation of employees.	Oliveira et al. (2010)	Systematically wrong behavior of personnel
-	-	Personnel not adequately skilled
-	-	Lack of knowledge of the criticalities of the company by workers
Employees without commitment;	Oliveira et al. (2010)	Lack of awareness of OHS relevance by workers
Lack of available employees;	Vitoreli et al. (2012)	Lack of technical resources
Lack of performance indicators in OHS;	Oliveira et al. (2010)	Absent or ineffective information collection system

Elementary school	High school	University graduate	Postgraduate
5.3%	36.8%	44.7%	13.2%

Food	Footwear	Construction	Metallurgy	Others
2.6%	52.6%	7.9%	28.9%	7.9%

Law	Engineer	Medical area	Others
47.6%	19.1%	23.8%	9.5%

Barriers	Owners	Auditors and Consultants
B1 - Systematically wrong behavior of management	3.47 (1.18)	4.29 (0.96)
B2 - Management not adequately skilled	3.24 (1.28)	3.81 (1.08)
B3 - Lack of knowledge of the criticalities of the company by management	3.34 (1.17)	4.00 (1.22)
B4 - Lack of knowledge of the effect of the interventions	3.18 (1.04)	4.00 (1.05)
B5 - Inadequate OHS policy	3.26 (1.20)	4.00 (1.00)
B6 - Personnel inadequately involved in OHS activities	3.55 (1.18)	3.95 (0.92)
B7 - Inadequate dedication of time	3.08 (1.05)	3.90 (0.94)
B8 - Inadequate dedication of economic resources	3.24 (1.02)	4.05 (1.07)
B9 - Lack of organizational coherence and flexibility	3.16 (1.08)	4.19 (0.81)
B10 - Absent or ineffective communication	3.42 (1.22)	4.00 (0.84)
B11 - Absent or ineffective information	3.42 (1.20)	4.09 (1.09)
B12 - Prioritization of production over safety	3.39 (1.28)	4.33 (0.91)
B13 - Difficulty in planning the OHS activities	3.18 (1.16)	3.95 (0.92)
B14 - Difficulty in obtaining authorizations by management	3.34 (1.32)	4.29 (1.10)
B15 - Systematically wrong behavior of personnel	3.68 (0.96)	3.86 (0.96)
B16 - Personnel not adequately skilled	3.29 (1.06)	3.81 (1.03)
B17 - Lack of knowledge of the criticalities of the company by workers	3.29 (1.04)	3.76 (1.04)
B18 - Lack of awareness of OHS relevance by workers	3.42 (1.18)	3.76 (1.04)
B19 - Lack of technical resources	3.34 (1.10)	4.19 (0.93)
B20 - Absent or ineffective information collection system	3.47 (1.06)	3.52 (1.03)
B21 - Stringent legal requirements	3.63 (1.05)	3.24 (1.34)
B22 - Bureaucracy	3.50 (0.98)	3.38 (1.32)
B23 - Lack of technical support by control authorities	3.26 (1.15)	3.19 (1.17)
B24 - Behavior of trade unions	2.89 (1.20)	2.95 (1.40)
B25 - Difficulties in the interaction with external agencies	3.03 (1.03)	3.09 (1.04)
B26 - Lack of guidelines	3.24 (1.12)	3.33 (1.28)
B27 - Lack of technical support by consultants	3.34 (1.34)	3.62 (1.16)

Internal stakeholders	Intersection of perspectives	External stakeholders
Employees behavior (B6, B15 and B18)	Management behavior (B1 and B12)	OHS management (B4, B5, B9 and B14)
Government requirements (B21 and B22)	Lack of information and communication (B10 and B11)	Technical and financial resources allocation (B8 and B19)

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Associação Brasileira de Engenharia de Produção CNPJ: 30.115.422/0001-73, Avenida Cassiano Ricardo, Nº 601, Residencial Aquarius, CEP: 12.246-870, http://portal.abepro.org.br/ - São José dos Campos - SP - Brazil
E-mail: production@editoracubo.com.br

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[1] Framework relates the barriers observed in Brazilian researches with the proposed by Masi & Cagno (2015).