The Implementation of Preventive Health Measures in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises—A Combined Quantitative/Qualitative Study of Its Determinants from the Perspective of Enterprise Representatives

Friederike E. Benning, Sandra H. van Oostrom, Femke van Nassau, Rosanne Schaap, Johannes R. Anema and Karin I. Proper
Additional contact information
Friederike E. Benning: Center for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Sandra H. van Oostrom: Center for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Femke van Nassau: Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rosanne Schaap: Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Johannes R. Anema: Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Karin I. Proper: Center for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: The workplace is an ideal environment for promoting workers’ health. Nevertheless, preventive health measures are insufficiently implemented, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with up to 250 employees. The aim of this study was to investigate determinants for the implementation of measures to prevent musculoskeletal and mental health disorders from the perspective of enterprise representatives in Dutch SMEs. An online survey was completed by 79 SME representatives (e.g., owners, HR professionals and occupational health and safety officers) in the cleaning, care, construction and transport sectors. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 enterprise representatives. The interview transcripts were analyzed using an inductive approach. Survey data showed that the focus of prevention efforts by SMEs is on improving working conditions and complying with legally required occupational health requirements, while lifestyle measures are rarely implemented. The determinants of implementation according to enterprise representatives were associated with 10 distinct themes. These were (1) available resources (both finances and staff), (2) complexity of implementation of measures, (3) awareness, (4) knowledge and expertise, (5) availability of time, (6) employer and worker commitment, (7) workers’ openness for measures, (8) communication, (9) workers’ trust and autonomy and (10) integration in organizational policy. These findings can serve as a support for developing strategies for implementing preventive health measures in SMEs.

Keywords: implementation; determinants; preventive health measures; small and medium-sized enterprise; exploratory study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/3904/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/3904/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:3904-:d:779259

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().