Funding Scheme 2001-2002

Many of Europe’s SMEs need help with communication and information. Due to limited financial and organisational resources, SMEs may have very restricted occupational health and safety knowledge and capacity. That is why so many of the Agency’s co-funded projects deal with information provision and dissemination. Targeting information flows to the people who need them and ensuring that these people in turn pass the information on to others is a key objective in raising OSH standards in SMEs.

Who organised this project?

The Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs organised a targeted information campaign promoting proper OSH standards, aimed at those people in SMEs in charge of accident protection and prevention.

Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Type of organisation

Public institution / non-profit organisation

Sector

All sectors

Activity

Information and communication
Good practice provision

Outputs

Publications
Website

Total budget: € 95,500

Agency support: € 55,000

What is it called?

Information concerning accident prevention.

What was the project about?

Main objectives:

raise employer and employee awareness of OSH risks in SMEs across a broad range of sectors
promote effective OSH good practice implementation in the workplace
stimulate the communication of practical solutions and guidelines to prevent work-related accidents in SMEs.

What was the target group?

The project was aimed at employers and employees who carried out duties related to accident prevention and health protection in SMEs – these in turn ensured the widespread dissemination of information on occupational risks and good practice examples at SME workplace level.

It was particularly aimed at people who, following a comprehensive training period, would take initiatives and carry out activities related to the protection and prevention of occupation risks. This was the case for a considerable number of lowrisk enterprises with less than 50 employees, for which the Greek legislation provided that the employer could undertake such duties.

What did they do?

First of all, they produced a manual and distributed some 13,000 copies of it. It was packed with good practice examples and aimed at implementing current OSH measures and improving working conditions in the workplaces of SMEs.

The information on good practice covered several topics, for example, workplace organisation and work station organisation. It examined the importance of training in equipment usage and the protective measures required in the use of specific machinery.

They complemented this with a CD-ROM (16,000 copies) comprising a full set of documentation of the national legislation concerning occupational safety and health, as well as a list of the EU directives and their transposed Greek legislation equivalents. In addition, the CD contained an electronic presentation of existing publications, brochures and leaflets, for example, on OSH issues produced by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and a list of contact addresses for the services responsible for this area within the Ministry. The information was catalogued in a variety of ways and access could be gained through search and sorting commands whether on a thematic or a chronological basis.

Furthermore, the information was published on the internet, in dedicated web pages of the Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, improving networking possibilities and increasing the number of end users.

What else can we learn from these activities?

People can never have enough information and we should not underestimate the effectiveness of simple and basic measures to ensure that those who need it have access to that information.
The quality of information required and provided can be enhanced by the involvement of several partners. Find out what the expressed needs are from the main parties, in this case employees and employers in SMEs, and then focus on getting them the right type of information.
SMEs cover a great variety of activities and sectors – and this of course gives rise to a wide variety of occupational risks and hazards. Even though one booklet cannot address all of the sectors, it is a necessary step in highlighting the main risks.
Direct contact is recommended - SMEs are encouraged to use the pool of knowledge and experience held by occupational safety and health experts (individuals, organisations and public agencies).

What was produced?

Manual

13,000 copies of a manual which includes a set of good practices were produced. Six sectors of good practices are referred to in this manual:

workplace organisation
workstation organization
work equipment
special activities
personal protective equipment
employees of special category.

CD-ROM

They also produced 16,000 CDs which include:

national legislation on health and safety issues (full texts)
index of legislation (according to date, subject)
list of European directives on health and safety
list of Ministry of Labour publications on health and safety
full text of several information leaflets and booklets
list of Ministry of Labour services responsible for health and safety.

Website

The website of the Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs published the information emanating from this project. All the products are free of charge at www.osh.gr new window .