Measuring the involvement of companies in prevention: Setting a conceptual framework

The European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) has shown that preventive action in the workplace is often perceived as a regulatory constraint. The economic and health benefits of prevention are poorly documented and leave the way open for a dominant negative perception of efforts to be devoted to health and well-being at work as leading to unproductive expenditure. The aim of this article is to characterize as best as possible the degree of involvement of enterprises in prevention. The methodology used is based both on a literature review of available tools and a qualitative study conducted in 2018 in France. This study was carried out through semi-directive telephone interviews with 5 occupational physicians, 5 human resources managers and 5 staff representatives. The results of the interviews made it possible to identify the main dimensions to be documented in a quantitative questionnaire which, in the long term, would serve as a basis for constructing a prevention involvement score. These dimensions cover compliance with legal obligations, the quality of social dialogue, the place of occupational health in the management of the company, and the existence of resources dedicated to prevention.