Barriers to OSH interventions in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: An overview of the situation and an exploratory study

The debate concerning OSH interventions has recently focused on the need of improving the evaluation of interventions, and in particular on the need of providing information about why the intervention worked or not, under what circumstances, and in which context. Key concepts in the analysis of the context are the barriers, i.e. those factors hindering the proper design, implementation and evaluation of OSH interventions. However, there is little consensus on how barriers should be understood, how important they are in different contexts, and how they can hinder OSH interventions. This exploratory study based on interviews with the owner-managers and the safety officers of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) gives an overview of the most characteristic barriers to OSH Interventions. The results will be used to make an initial evaluation of SMEs needs, and will help orient interventions and future research.