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provision of the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) or specific regulations,
e.g., manual handling (HSE, 2000). However, it would not always be feasible
to do this. Although supply chain influences can be positive in terms of on
health and safety practice, in the experience of a number of micro-enterprises,
the supply chain may have a negative effect if demands for health and safety
requirements are coupled with customer demand for low prices (Vickers et
al., 2003).
The supply chain and enabling certification could be utilised to encourage
health and safety activity. Specification in tender documents of health and
safety certification is currently sometimes undertaken by organisations as a
means to determine compliance. BS 5750 was the forerunner of ISO 9000
and was one of the first industrial quality assurance systems specifications.
Customers have been reported to operate a ‘no BS 5750, no contract, policy’
(Redmann et al., 1995 as cited in Luise Vassie et al., 2000). However, there
may be disadvantages as this approach may unintentionally exclude some
organisations as a result of the administration resources involved (Luise
Vassie et al., 2000). A lack of formal health and safety documents does not
necessarily indicate poor standards. SMEs typically operate more ‘relaxed’
management systems (Storey & Westhead 1994, as cited in Luise Vassie et al.,
2000). Evidence indicates however, that both performance and competence
are improved when more formal quality management systems are
introduced. Psychological processes which may be salient are the beliefs
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