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Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India
BACKGROUND: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often the main pillar of an economy. Minor accidents, ergonomics problems, old and outdated machinery, and lack of awareness have created a need for implementation of safety practices in SMEs. Implementation of healthy working conditions creates po...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4371889/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25830070 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2014.10.006 |
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author | Unnikrishnan, Seema Iqbal, Rauf Singh, Anju Nimkar, Indrayani M. |
author_facet | Unnikrishnan, Seema Iqbal, Rauf Singh, Anju Nimkar, Indrayani M. |
author_sort | Unnikrishnan, Seema |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often the main pillar of an economy. Minor accidents, ergonomics problems, old and outdated machinery, and lack of awareness have created a need for implementation of safety practices in SMEs. Implementation of healthy working conditions creates positive impacts on economic and social development. METHODS: In this study, a questionnaire was developed and administered to 30 randomly chosen SMEs in and around Mumbai, Maharashtra, and other states in India to evaluate safety practices implemented in their facilities. The study also looked into the barriers and drivers for technology innovation and suggestions were also received from the respondent SMEs for best practices on safety issues. RESULTS: In some SMEs, risks associated with safety issues were increased whereas risks were decreased in others. Safety management practices are inadequate in most SMEs. Market competitiveness, better efficiency, less risk, and stringent laws were found to be most significant drivers; and financial constraints, lack of awareness, resistance to change, and lack of training for employees were found to be main barriers. CONCLUSION: Competition between SMEs was found to be major reason for implementation of safety practices in the SMEs. The major contribution of the study has been awareness building on safety issues in the SMEs that participated in the project. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4371889 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-43718892015-03-31 Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India Unnikrishnan, Seema Iqbal, Rauf Singh, Anju Nimkar, Indrayani M. Saf Health Work Original Article BACKGROUND: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are often the main pillar of an economy. Minor accidents, ergonomics problems, old and outdated machinery, and lack of awareness have created a need for implementation of safety practices in SMEs. Implementation of healthy working conditions creates positive impacts on economic and social development. METHODS: In this study, a questionnaire was developed and administered to 30 randomly chosen SMEs in and around Mumbai, Maharashtra, and other states in India to evaluate safety practices implemented in their facilities. The study also looked into the barriers and drivers for technology innovation and suggestions were also received from the respondent SMEs for best practices on safety issues. RESULTS: In some SMEs, risks associated with safety issues were increased whereas risks were decreased in others. Safety management practices are inadequate in most SMEs. Market competitiveness, better efficiency, less risk, and stringent laws were found to be most significant drivers; and financial constraints, lack of awareness, resistance to change, and lack of training for employees were found to be main barriers. CONCLUSION: Competition between SMEs was found to be major reason for implementation of safety practices in the SMEs. The major contribution of the study has been awareness building on safety issues in the SMEs that participated in the project. 2014-11-04 2015-03 /pmc/articles/PMC4371889/ /pubmed/25830070 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2014.10.006 Text en © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
spellingShingle | Original Article Unnikrishnan, Seema Iqbal, Rauf Singh, Anju Nimkar, Indrayani M. Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India |
title | Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India |
title_full | Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India |
title_fullStr | Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India |
title_full_unstemmed | Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India |
title_short | Safety Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in India |
title_sort | safety management practices in small and medium enterprises in india |
topic | Original Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4371889/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25830070 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2014.10.006 |
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