Better understanding the small business construct to advance research on delivering workplace health and safety

Abstract

A critical step toward advancing research for achieving greater impact on occupational safety and health in small businesses is to have a better understanding of what is meant by the term ‘small business’. The term needs to reflect not only the number of people employed and the financial resources of an enterprise, but also the psychosocial experience of the people that are represented in small businesses. In this article we discuss the role of several dimensions in differentially defining the small business construct, including: number of employees, business age, structure, workforce, manager centricity, and culture. As greater consensus on the small business label is reached, more focused frameworks for small business occupational safety and health research, policy and practice may be developed.