Flexibility
Many
Small & Medium Entreprises are successful because they
are dynamic and flexible and because the owners and workers
have welded their aspirations into a common approach. They
find more flexibility enables better response to changing
circumstances. HESSME can provide the support they need on
the road to deal with the changing conditions in health and
the environment.
Small
enterprises are more dangerous in relation to serious injury
than their larger counterparts, but less dangerous when based
on all types of reported injury. Small companies often find
it more difficult than larger companies to provide any extra
facilities. Larger companies are less flexible in overcoming
the barriers that may have built up between health, environment
and safety and quality departments. Nature knows none of the
same boundaries, contaminants easily moving between work and
the world, between land, water and air.
HESSME will not bog you down with piles of paper and procedures.
It concentrates on the key elements of making risk assessments
in order to set targets for action on health and the environment.
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HESSME
takes lessons from larger organisations and puts them in the
context of a small company. This leads to savings in a number
of areas, that previously you would have paid for without
realising the connections and that they can be controlled
in one process. A system that measures and monitors well-being
can detect losses in the system not previously accounted for.
There may be hidden costs of sickness, or the true costs of
waste may be 10 times higher than previously realised.
Support
Small
companies are often in a good position to receive funds and
support from outside organisations.
Here
are some places to go for funds
ILO
Seed Programme helps small companies improve job quality
and business prospects in small enterprises.
SALTSA
Programme for Working Life
EU
Funding
EU Network
for Workplace Health Promotion
European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development
European Agency
for Safety and Health at Work in Bilbao
©World Health Organisation 2002
Authors: Dr Charlie Clutterbuck & Dr Bogdan Baranski
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