Small is safer

Small workplaces that are a business’ only location are among the safest places to work, according to a RAND Corporation study.

The finding provides an important exception to research that workers in small workplaces are at greater risk of fatal accidents than those in larger workplaces, according to an examination of federal workplace fatality reports from 1992 to 2001.

Researchers found that fatal accidents were most common at small worksites with fewer than 20 workers that were operated by middle-sized businesses — defined as those with 20 to 999 employees. Fatality rates at these worksites were two to five times higher than similar worksites operated by either small or large businesses.

Researchers say the study’s findings are important because businesses with fewer than 100 employees employ more than half of all American workers.

The report says that small, single-site businesses may be safer because they could have an owner on the premises who watches over the safety of employees.

“At a small workplace, one person can make more of a difference, and it seems plausible that an on-site owner might feel more responsibility to try to avoid injuring workers than a hired manager would,” said John Mendeloff, the study’s lead author and a professor of public policy at the University of Pittsburgh.

The study found that the smallest worksites operated by a business with multiple worksites are likely to be the riskiest. For example, among manufacturing businesses with 1,000 or more workers, the fatality rate at worksites with fewer than 20 workers was three times higher than worksites with 20 to 49 workers and eight times higher than locations with 1,000 or more workers.