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Table 2. 2 Standardised <strong>in</strong>cidence rate <strong>of</strong> accidents at work by economic<br />

activity, size <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local unit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> enterprise and severity from Eurostat<br />

(2002)<br />

Employees<br />

Total 0** 1 – 9 10 – 49 50 – 249 250+<br />

More than three days absence<br />

N<strong>in</strong>e NACE branches* 4090 2309 3886 5218 4085 3254<br />

Agriculture 7039 - - - - -<br />

Manufactur<strong>in</strong>g 4502 6669 7848 5485 3716 3342<br />

Electricity gas water supply 1517 1087 4658 4067 2001 1019<br />

Construction 7801 4907 8990 9496 6400 5125<br />

Wholesale and retail repairs 2483 937 2247 3434 3116 2315<br />

Hotels and restaurants 3688 768 3272 5359 5237 3195<br />

Transport, storage and communication 5689 4514 5046 7464 7138 4583<br />

F<strong>in</strong>ancial <strong>in</strong>termediation: real estate and rent<strong>in</strong>g 1782 469 769 1841 3003 2839<br />

Fatal accidents<br />

N<strong>in</strong>e NACE branches* 4.7 3.6 6.4 6.1 3.1 2.4<br />

Agriculture 13.3 - - - - -<br />

Manufactur<strong>in</strong>g 3.3 6.4 8.5 4.6 2.1 1.9<br />

Electricity gas water supply 3.2 - 8.1 1.4 1.4 3.7<br />

Construction 11.6 7.8 14.8 12.7 7.8 10.7<br />

Wholesale and retail repairs 2.3 1.3 3.1 2.7 2.5 0.7<br />

Hotels and restaurants 1.4 0.5 1.8 1.7 1.3 0.4<br />

Transport, storage and communication 11.2 10.4 22.0 18.0 6.4 3.4<br />

F<strong>in</strong>ancial <strong>in</strong>termediation: real estate and rent<strong>in</strong>g 1.6 0.7 1.1 2.3 2.0 1.8<br />

* = N<strong>in</strong>e NACE branches: Agriculture, Manufactur<strong>in</strong>g, Electricity gas water supply, Construction, Wholesale and<br />

retail repairs, Hotels and restaurants, Transport and communication, F<strong>in</strong>ancial.<br />

** = 0: Self employed without employees<br />

As organisations, caution should be exercised <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpretation <strong>of</strong> research<br />

data elicited from SMEs. The SME population is typically reluctant to<br />

participate <strong>in</strong> surveys and questionnaires. Response rates <strong>of</strong> 10-15% are <strong>the</strong><br />

norm <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> SME research literature ( Vassie & Cox, 1998; Vassie et al., 2000).<br />

Evidently <strong>the</strong>se organisations need to concentrate on ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a pr<strong>of</strong>itable<br />

bus<strong>in</strong>ess and such ‘distractions’ are viewed as a low priority by staff.<br />

2.2 New Challenges <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> SME<br />

Cultural change <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> successful management <strong>of</strong> health and safety at work <strong>in</strong><br />

recent years has highlighted new challenges <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> SME. In particular,<br />

European legislation embrac<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> preventative risk assessment ethos has<br />

had a dramatic effect on European health and safety <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustry. Cultural<br />

11

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