Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to be the first practical guide for any small and medium sized enterprise (SME) owner or manager to establishing a safe and healthy work environment - indeed, an 'owner's manual'. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is an important notion which can function as a particular line of defence for both employees and employers. OSH is based on a number of directives and pieces of legislation that are partly grounded in studies and documents released by the International Labour Organization (ILO). SMEs need to comply with pertinent European Union (EU) legislation and small companies are often not aware of these. In essence, safety climate can provide another performance indicator for safety; a relationship has been found between measures for safety climate and, for instance, incidents and accidents.