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procedures, or a lack <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> health and safety <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> employees, or<br />

not enough time to spend on address<strong>in</strong>g issues <strong>of</strong> health and safety when<br />

faced with o<strong>the</strong>r more immediate challenges.<br />

2.2.8 Stress and o<strong>the</strong>r work-related psychological issues<br />

There are a limited number <strong>of</strong> stress <strong>in</strong>terventions among SMEs documented<br />

<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> literature. A systematic search <strong>for</strong> <strong>in</strong>terventions <strong>for</strong> stress among <strong>the</strong><br />

SME elicited a paucity <strong>of</strong> studies. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, few workplace <strong>in</strong>terventions,<br />

whe<strong>the</strong>r with large enterprises or SMEs, have been exam<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

effectiveness. This is perhaps due to <strong>the</strong> practical and methodological<br />

difficulties <strong>in</strong>volved. Two difficulties cited were : <strong>the</strong> problem <strong>of</strong> obta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />

consent from all relevant staff and randomisation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sample. By contrast,<br />

one study claimed that <strong>the</strong>se issues were less problematic when <strong>in</strong>vestigat<strong>in</strong>g<br />

stress <strong>in</strong>terventions among <strong>the</strong> self-employed (Blonk, Brenn<strong>in</strong>kmeijer, &<br />

Lagerveld, 2006) as only <strong>the</strong> consent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sole trader was required.<br />

Comparison between cognitive behavioural <strong>the</strong>rapy (CBT) and a comb<strong>in</strong>ed<br />

<strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>of</strong> workplace and <strong>in</strong>dividual approach <strong>for</strong> work- related<br />

psychological compla<strong>in</strong>ts among self employed <strong>in</strong>dividuals revealed<br />

significant effects <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> comb<strong>in</strong>ed technique (Blonk et al., 2006) <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong><br />

length <strong>of</strong> time to return to work. However, <strong>the</strong>re were no significant<br />

improvements <strong>in</strong> comparison to <strong>the</strong> non- <strong>in</strong>tervention control group <strong>in</strong><br />

reduction <strong>of</strong> psychological compla<strong>in</strong>ts. It is <strong>the</strong>re<strong>for</strong>e not possible to assume<br />

on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> this study, that CBT is an effective option to reduce workplace<br />

25

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