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employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to
health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare
at work”. (HASAW, 1974:1)
However, it may be argued that the definition of health and safety is fluid,
and that health and safety has different connotations. It is therefore important
to explore the meaning of health and safety among the target population of
SMEs. It is interesting to note that whilst authors readily approach the
problem of defining the SME, (Walters, 2001) health and safety as a concept is
rarely explicitly introduced and operationalised. Health and safety is often
referred to in terms of negative outcomes, for example work related death,
injures and ill-health. An example of health and safety in an SME may be the
process of checking for physical hazards in the work place by carrying out a
risk assessment. Alternatively, it may involve carrying out a stress audit to
assess the degree to which employees may be at risk of work related stress.
An example of an objective measure of health and safety performance may be
considered to be data on work-related injuries or work related ill health,
however these measures may only provide a limited assessment of the overall
standards. Furthermore, there may be difficulty in discriminating what is
essentially work-related and from other influences, such as home or social
factors (Walters, 2001).
Occupational health and safety refers to a wide range of concerns, these
extend from hazards to physical health, to risks posed to mental health. The
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