Tightrope walking : external impact factors on workplace health management in small-scale enterprises

Small-scale enterprises (SSEs) are important for ensuring growth, innovation, job creation,and social integration in working life. Research shows that SSEs pay little attention to andhave insufficient competence in workplace health management. From the perspective ofmanagers, this study explores how external factors influence the development of thismanagement. The article refers to a case study among eight Norwegian and ten Swedishmanagers of SSEs in the middle part of Norway and Sweden. We used a stepwisequalitative approach to analyse data, using an interpretive indexing of main categories.Two main categories were found to have an influence on the development of workplacehealth management: (1) restricted leeway and (2) commitments. Concerning the first maincategory, areas that managers highlight as important comprise the legal framework andregulations; workforce and market situation, production, economy; and occupationalsafety and health issues. Areas related to the second main category were advice fromthe board, guidance from mentors, work-related networks, and family and friends asbuffers. One conclusion is that despite limited scope for developing workplace healthmanagement, managers find supportive guidance and inspiration from environments thatare committed to helping them and their enterprise