Managing Occupational Health and Safety in SMEs: An Evolutionary

Web-based Tool

Diego De Merich1, Maria Grazia Gnoni2*, Brunella Malorgio1, Guido J.L. Micheli3, Giusi Piga1
Guido Sala3, Fabiana Tornese2
1
Dipartimento Medicina Epidemiologia Igiene del Lavoro e Ambientale, INAIL, Roma, Italy
2
Department of Innovation Engineering, Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy
3
Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
(mariagrazia.gnoni@unisalento.it)

Abstract – Even though several guidelines have been
proposed by public organizations about how to design an
Occupational Health and Safety management system
(OHSMS) customized to Small- and Medium-size
Enterprises (SMEs), an approach integrating and OHSMS
with the risk assessment under a unified and shared logic
still misses. This paper presents an evolutionary OHS tool
for SMEs that combines the advantages of a simplified
procedure to develop a risk analysis and outline a set of risk
prevention and protection measures at workplace, such as
the one proposed by the Italian legislation, with the
advantages of a simplified OHS management model. It is
assumed that a software tool could be the preferential way to
allow a wide diffusion and an effective application of this
model. The online structure also enables distributing OHS-
related information directly from institutional databases.
This information, provided within the same software tool
used for risk assessment and OHS management, can
significantly support in particular SMEs with a poor
experience.
becoming a standard tool. Several factors could be
outlined that are contributing to these conditions: first, in
SMEs, the internal knowledge related to OHS is more
limited than LEs due to fewer resources and available
time to invest in safety and prevention. One consequence
is that SMEs often outsource risk assessments to external
providers [5]. On the other side, customized
methodologies and tools developed to support SMEs in
adopting OHS systems are still missing: existing tools for
OHS management and performance evaluation are
designed for LEs and badly fit SMEs needs [2] [6] [7].
OHS Management Systems (OHSMS) are – per se –
effective instruments; nonetheless, traditional and
systematic OHS management system (OHSMS), adopted
by LEs, are rarely adopted by SMEs which prefer
informal and custom-tailored ones [4] [8].
Furthermore, tools for developing risk analysis
designed for SMEs are not yet widespread [9].

Keywords – Management, OHS, OHSMS, risk At the European level, some instruments have been
assessment, software, SME, tool, web-based defined in the Strategic framework on health and safety at
work 2014-2020 for supporting effective prevention in
I. INTRODUCTION OHS management in SMEs. In Italy, specific procedures
for risk assessment have been provided by the current
Small- and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs, <250
legislation for Small and Micro Enterprises (i.e. with less
employees) are relevant in the European economy since
than 50 employees): a standardized and simplified
they employ 67% of the total workforce of the industrial
approach can be adopted to develop a risk analysis and
and service sectors [1]; this is confirmed also in the Italian
outline risk prevention and protection measures at
industrial sector, where the previous percentage increases.
workplace. This approach aims to offer SMEs an
Moreover, according to EUROSTAT (European
immediate and easy-to-implement tool to manage OHS
Statistical Office) statistics, 29.6% of the EU employees
problems.
work in micro-enterprises (<10 employees), while 20.6 %
In addition, several guidelines have been also defined
are employed in small firms (<50 employees), as in the
by public organizations about how to design an OHSMS
Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC published in
customized to SMEs. An approach integrating both
the Official Journal of the European Union L 124, p. 36 of
processes with a unified and shared logic is not yet
20 May 2003.
developed. The Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority
By comparing SMEs and Large Enterprises (LEs)
– INAIL – has supported a research project – named
current conditions from an occupational health and safety
SOLVO – aiming to develop a software tool integrating
point of view, several issues could be outlined. First of all,
risk analysis and OHS management to support SMEs in
both fatal and non-fatal accidents are more frequent in
an effective adoption. The aim of this paper is to describe
SMEs than in LEs [2], even though a severe under-
the final results obtained during the research project
reporting exists [3], and a problem of low occurrence due
focusing on the development of the software tool.
to the size of this kind of companies, which distorts their
The research team (composed of 7 researchers
perception of the actual risk and – as a consequence –
belonging to INAIL, Università del Salento, Politecnico di
their actions. Next, adopting an Occupational Health and
Milano, co-authors of this paper) developed and presented
Safety (OHS) management system is currently a critical
an evolutionary OHS tool for SMEs that combines the
issue compared to LEs [4], where OHS systems are

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advantages of a simplified procedure for risk assessment
(i.e., in a few words, to develop risk analysis and outline
risk prevention and protection measures at workplace),
such as the one proposed by the Italian legislation, with
the advantages of a simplified OHS management model.
It is assumed that a software tool could be the preferential
way to allow a wide diffusion and an effective application
of this model. Thus, a preliminary study was conducted to
identify the features that a software tool should have to be
easily and effectively used by SMEs [10].
The paper is organized as follows: the main
functionalities provided by the software tool are described
in Section II; next, the logic integrating risk analysis and
OHSMS is detailed in Section III. The conclusion Section
reports some general comments and avenues for further
research.
II. METHODS
The development of the evolutionary web-based
software application stemmed from the identification of
barriers and drivers when it comes to the use of SW
applications for OHS in SMEs and the implementation of
OHSMS, again in SMEs, as described in Micheli et at.
[11].
The main software features were then developed by
the research team (composed of 7 researchers belonging
to INAIL, Università del Salento, Politecnico di Milano,
co-authors of this paper), through strong interaction (in
terms of document sharing, meetings, workshops) with
OHS experts from an Association of Employers (namely:
API Lecco), with a few Employers and Employees, with
OHS consultants, and with the Labour Inspectorate
(namely: SPISAL di Thiene).
III. MAIN SOFTWARE FEATURES
A web-based software application has been developed
to support SMEs not only in risk assessment but also in
OHS-related activities. The choice to create an online tool
offers several advantages: firstly, it allows to access the
system regardless of location, device and operating
system used. Secondly, it allows easy and effective
software updates and the dissemination of general or
sectoral OHS-related news. The online structure also
enables distributing sector data and information directly
from the institutional databases (e.g. Infor.MO and
MALPROF from INAIL, the Italian Workers’
Compensation Authority) [12] [13] [14]. These data,
provided within the same software tool used for risk
evaluation, can be an important support for risk
assessment even in SMEs with a poor experience.
The software tool integrates information regarding
risk factors, exposed workers, evaluation of risks
probability, with a dynamic OHS management module.
This section guides SME in entering not only all the
necessary information for risk assessment but also for
identifying the areas in which improvement measures are
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recommended, providing support in planning the
operations necessary for their effective implementation.
The software tool also manages occurred injuries and near
misses. A practical dashboard summarizes the main
performance and status indicators, as well as providing a
calendar with an indication of the planned actions and
their managers.
These features are intended to provide SMEs with a
comprehensive tool that encourages them to adopt a
management system (although informal) that can facilitate
the fulfilment of regulatory obligations, as well as the
growth of a corporate safety culture.
In the next paragraph, the software operating logic
will be presented.
IV. SOFTWARE LOGIC
Based on the previous professional experience of the
research team, two types of users have been defined (see
Figure 1) for the SOLVO web platform:
− The company employer (defined by the Italian
acronym ADDL): he/she is responsible for developing the
risk analysis at its workplace and to control risk level
during day-by-day operations. This user has the capability
of adding data to the SOLVO web platform by its own;
data introduced by each company registered to the web
platform could be only accessed by the specific company;
data sharing is not allowed between ADDL users;
− The safety consultant (defined by the acronym
CONS): he/she carries out the risk analysis for several
companies – under the authorization of each company
employer -; although the consultant is responsible about
data entry in the SOLVO web platform, the company
employer could also access to all functionalities of the
tool. The ADDL user could disable the CONS user in
every time. The CONS user has data visibility regarding
all information about the companies he has added, but no
data sharing with external users is allowed.
Fig. 1. Multi-user scheme
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The SOLVO software is basically based on two the list of potential hazards at the company site level;
main sections that interact sequentially and dynamically: confined space usually affects a whole job-shop area, so it
the first one is the risk assessment module, the latter is the belongs to the list of potential hazards that could be
organizational safety management module. The two outlined at job-shops levels. The hazard analysis will be
modules share a common basic logic for a simplified but developed based on these lists. Thus, hazard identification
integrated risk assessment and management process. activity will consist of evaluating only the presence of a
specific type of hazard from a predefined set; the hazard
The risk assessment module is composed of three sub- set varies depending on the analysed system. This is a
models, which have to be compiled sequentially, based on simplified hazard identification procedure as 1) it is based
a “simplified” risk analysis methodology introduced by on predefined lists of potential hazards and 2) the level of
the Italian law for small and medium enterprises. every hazard is not quantified.
Following, the detailed description of the sub-modules
included in the risk assessment module: 3) The risk analysis and measurement planning
module: the same logic has been applied for the following
1) The company characterization module: the aim is risk analysis process: for each hazard previously
to define the main characteristics of the workplace that identified at company, job-shop and working area levels,
could affect the generation of hazards for people and the a set of standardized prevention and/or protection
working environment. Three main sections have been measures are defined. The set consists of the following
defined: company organization, production process and main areas: employee training, PPE adoption, procedural
asset sections. Data to be introduced in the company or technical intervention, and periodic medical control.
organization section regards information about all Based on the types of hazard previously identified and the
company employees and the safety organization chart. specific duties introduced by the legislation, every single
The production process section is based on a hierarchical measure to be adopted by the company can be then
logical structure aiming to simplify the data acquisition detailed. Next, the plan for the implementation of each
process: the purpose is to characterize in a standard but intervention – e.g., date and responsibilities of the annual
flexible way the workplace in terms of standardized medical control – is also detailed aiming to provide
categories of risk sources. The workplace has been scheduling for each deadline.
divided into three elements characterized by an increased
level of detail: company site, job-shop and working area
levels. Plant site-level defines the overall building where
company activities are developed. As an example, if the
company has two different buildings – e.g. one for
warehouse one for manufacturing activities- two plant
sites must be added in the module. After introducing some
relevant data at the company site level, the workplace
could be defined in several job-shop areas (with a higher
level of abstraction) and/or, sequentially, in working areas
(with a lower level of abstraction). The level of details
about introduced could be evaluated by the company
based on their own requirement. Next, company
employees must be also allocated at each workplace level
previously introduced. The production asset section
requires the definition of equipment and substances used
at job-shops and/or working areas. Critical data for
equipment (e.g. installation date, maintenance frequency)
and for substances (e.g. chemical data classification,
protection equipment required) must be detailed. In
addition, tasks for each employee and the location where
this task is carried out must be detailed;
Fig. 2. Risk assessment module.
2) The hazard analysis module: a simplified and
guided method has been defined for hazard identification
The organizational safety management module is
based on a set of hazard categories defined for each
based on four sub-modules which are:
category of risk source, previously identified in the
characterization section, i.e. company sites, job-shop and
1) The calendar module: each deadline added for
working areas. For each of these three categories, a set of
scheduling on a temporal basis the procedure to be done
hazards usually characterizing the area have been
to prevent or manage risks outlined at the previous
outlined. As an example, microclimate hazard usually
module is visualized in this section;
affects all the company building, so it has been added in

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2) The injury and precursor module: information
collected about occurred injuries and/or accident
precursors (i.e. near miss, unsafe act and condition) are
added in this section. Main data regards a brief
description of the event, its location at the workplace, the
type of hazard (belonging from standardized sets) and the
date of occurrence, people and/or equipment and/or
substances involved;
3) The control and audits module: all information –
starting from the company safety policy, from the safety
penalty system to audit procedures- are managed in this
section.
4) The procurement and contracting module: it
manages all documents and information regarding safety
analysis and measures adopted for providing safe external
contracting activities.
V. CONCLUSION
In a context where – for a number of reasons – SMEs
suffer from a lack of appropriate management of OHS
issues, even though several guidelines have been
proposed by public organizations about how to design an
OHS management system customized to SMEs, an
approach integrating and OHSMS with the risk
assessment under a unified and shared logic still misses.
This paper reports an attempt to fill this gap, by setting
the features and the logic to be used to design an OHS
tool for SMEs; SOLVO is currently in its way to being
actually implemented, together with its main modules.
These features and logic have been identified by the 7
researchers of the Project Team, through a significant
involvement of Employers, Employees, Consultants,
Experts from Associations, Labour Inspectors. This
involvement should ensure that this evolutionary tool will
match the real needs of SMEs, and it will eventually help
them to improve their OHS performance levels. Also, the
opportunity for companies to exploit specific information
from institutional databases is one of the future keys to
help SMEs to anticipate events and trends in accidents,
illnesses and fatalities. Nonetheless, further research and
practical experience (e.g., pilot projects) are needed and
welcome to understand how to efficiently and effectively
make out of these advancements the most for SMEs.
Last, some specific research should be carried out so
as to investigate on the OHSMS, specifically within
SMEs, in order to better address the effort of any new
OHS software application to be developed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper presents a portion of the results of the project
SOLVO, BRIC ID 29 planned and developed by
Politecnico di Milano, Università del Salento and the
Department of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene of INAIL (the
Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority), and granted
by INAIL itself.
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