Report - Improving occupational safety and health in SMEs: examples of effective assistance

Innovative solutions to safety and health risks in the construction, healthcare and HORECA sectors

One conclusion from the EU-OSHA economic incentives project is that incentives schemes should not only reward past results of good OSH management (such as accident numbers in experience rating), but should also reward specific prevention efforts that aim to reduce future accidents and ill-health. Experts from the economic incentives project therefore suggested the development of compilations of innovative and evidence-based preventive solutions, starting with the three sectors construction, health care and HORECA (hotels, restaurants, catering). The preventive measures from these compilations are worth promoting in their own right, as well as being applied in economic incentives schemes. These preventive solutions can be used as a basis for incentive-providing organisations to develop their own incentive scheme, adapted to the specific situation in their sector and country.

How to create economic incentives in occupational safety and health: A practical guide

This Guide on Economic Incentives Schemes is intended to serve as a practical and user-friendly guide to help incentive providers to create or optimise their own economic incentive schemes. Incentives schemes should not only reward past results of good OSH management (such as low accident numbers), but should also reward specific prevention efforts that aim to reduce future accidents and ill-health. Therefore the expert group suggested the development of compilations of innovative and evidence-based preventive solutions, starting with the three sectors construction, health care and HORECA.

Economic incentives to improve occupational safety and health: a review from the European perspective

The European Union strategy 2007-12 on occupational safety and health (OSH) recognises that there is a need to use economic incentives to motivate enterprises to apply good practice in their prevention work. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) contributes to meeting this need by providing information on the types of economic incentives that are most likely to succeed. Research has shown that external economic incentives can motivate further investments in prevention in all organisations and thus lead to lower accident rates. The primary target audience are organisations that can provide economic incentives to improve OSH, such as insurance companies, social partners or governmental institutions. These organisations are regarded as important intermediaries to stimulate further efforts in OSH in their cooperating enterprises, e.g. as clients of insurances. Therefore a network of such organisations has been established in form of an expert group, which supports the project with advice and helps to promote the results.