Prevention of Occupational Diseases in Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises in Quebec (CANADA)-Portrayal of Elements Influencing OHS Performance

Unlike workplace accidents, occupational diseases are often underestimated and underreported since their effects appear gradually over time. They are even on the increase in the province of Quebec (Canada), especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), where they are less likely to receive medical attention. The aim of this four-stage study is therefore to describe how prevention of occupational disease is practiced in this type of business and identify a way forward to improve the protection of worker health and well-being in Quebec. The present article focuses on the first two stages, namely reviewing the literature to catalog the elements of prevention and identifying the most relevant elements. Stages 3 and 4, in which gathered field data on the application of these elements and analyzed their relative effectiveness using descriptive statistics, are reported in Part 2 [1]. Despite the limitations of this research method, we portray in detail the elements that appear to have the most influence on occupational disease prevention in small to medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, and thus identify the strengths and weaknesses of occupational health and safety performance in this setting.