Costs and benefits of the European Safety and Health Standards implementation in the SME sector (1999)
The research aims to explore, through a cost-benefit analysis, the effects and scenarios related to the implementation of the European legislation on workers’ health and safety in small and medium-sized enterprises. The quantitative analysis, as well as using a structured questionnaire administered to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, was also carried out about the examination of the press review on occupational accidents in the last decade, using a selected sample of twenty newspapers to examine the messages reported in the press. Finally, the secondary qualitative phase of the study focused on exploring the “state of the art” on the application of the legislation, cross-referenced with an examination of the primary economic policy documents drawn up by the Government. As a result, it was possible to draw a comprehensive picture of the social and economic context in which the phenomenon of health and safety enforcement is inserted, with particular reference to the structure of work organisation in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Index
Contents
Introduction
The problem
Research methodology
Structure of the survey
Legislation: regulatory and applicative aspects related to the reality of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises
Legislation on safety in the workplace
Constitution: articles 32, 38 and 41
Civil Code: article 2087
Legislative decrees and other regulations
The need for a Consolidated Text
Legislative Decree 629/94
The question of training
Some of the open questions
Overall considerations and operational proposals
Security as a matter for trade union negotiations
Foreword
Costs and benefits of applying Legislative Decree 626/94 from a trade union perspective
Undeclared work
The current contractual orientation of trade union organisations
Limits of trade union bargaining based on safety protection
Privileged witnesses
Historical evolution of the legislation
Prevention
The entrepreneurial mentality
The infrastructural preparation of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises
Adaptation period
Compliance
Undeclared work
The purpose of the law
The role of Italy
Overall remarks
The Press and Workplace Accidents in the 1990s
Analysis of the press review on work-related accidents
Moments of greatest interest and the newspapers most concerned with occupational accidents
Before and during the 626 era
An in-depth analysis of the safety problem
Analysis of structural variables
The reference sample
Adoption of ISO 9000 certification
Adaptation to Legislative Decree 626/94
Verification of accidents after the application of Legislative Decree 626/94
Entrepreneurs and bureaucracy
Comparing desks
Perception of the bureaucratic system
Entrepreneurs’ attitudes and opinions
But what does it cost me
I could but I don’t want to
Inadequate or inadequate?
Dura lex, sed lex
Cost-benefit analysis
An overview of cost-benefit analysis
Cost-benefit analysis and Law 626/94
Accidents
Costs in general
Costs
Material costs
Consultancy costs
Organisation costs
Training costs
Information costs
Costs for assistance
Adaptation costs
Benefits
Economic-productive benefits
Health benefits
Organisational benefits
Ecological-environmental benefits
Cross-analysis
Health benefits and costs
Economic-environmental benefits and costs
Economic benefits and costs
Organisational benefits and costs
The law’s symbols
Metaphorical analysis
The utilitarian car
The ambulance
The bicycle
The ship
The train
Fire engine
Aeroplane
Police car
The bus
The wasted Ferrari
The Metaphor in figures
Conclusions
Annexe I
The questionnaire