THE ECONOMICS OF WORK ABILITY IN SME´s

In Finland the small and medium size enterprices (SME) differ from larger enterprices from an occupational health and OHS perspective in that their disability pension fees are not based on their pension records. For companies with a personnel less than 50 persons disability pension fees are calculated as a branch specific percentage of paid salaries and wages. Therefor the economic incentives for SMEs to engage in OHS activities are limited. The same is valid for occupational accident insurance as well. Some case studies indicate, however, that OHS activities produce enough other types of benefits for the companies to motivate increased efforts in this area, even if the disability pension effects have to be omitted. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the magnitude of potential business economic benefits of OHS activity for SMEs in Finland and to empirically examine the correlation between OHS investments and SME profitability. The project is part of a larger research programme on work ability in SMEs conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.