“…There are various barriers to effective implementation of health and safety initiatives in SMEs: social (informal relations between employees and employer and between colleagues) (De Troyer and Le Lay, 2007), regulatory (limited implementation or absence of control methods) (Gardner et al, 1999), professional (limited health and safety knowledge and competencies) (Antonsson, 1997) and labour organizational (weak unionization and lack of representation) (De Troyer and Le Lay, 2007). In the latter context, SME employees are often reluctant to become union representatives, thus making representation of collective interests difficult (De Troyer and Le Lay, 2007).…”