Barriers and Challenges to Human Factors/Ergonomics Knowledge Transfer to Small Business Enterprises in an Industrially Developing Country

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and organizational characteristics of participants in individual interviews and the focus-group discussion session.

Participants	Number of participants		Age (year)	Job tenure (year)
	Individual interviews	FGD	Mean	Mean
Employers and workers of SBEs	18	9	40	14.9
Iranian guild room officials (at the national level) and trade unions heads and officials	8	3	44.75	20.25
Ergonomics and occupational health experts of the Ministry of Health and Healthcare Service Centers	8	4	38.15	13.1
Officials of other related organizations, including the officials of the Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization, the ‘Industry, Mining and Trade Organization, and the ‘Cooperatives Labor and Social Welfare Office	4	1	47.5	20

Table 2. Classification of participants from SBEs and trade unions in individual interviews and the focus-group discussion by enterprise type.

Participants	Enterprise type n (%)
	Metalworking (Pressing, molding, casting, welding)	Shoes production	Garment and clothing	Car repair and mechanical service	Stonework	Chemical production	Cabinet making	Carpentry and sofa making
SBE employers and workers and related heads and officials of the trade unions	11 (42.3)	5 (19.2)	3 (11.5)	3 (11.5)	1 (3.9)	1 (3.9)	1 (3.9)	1 (3.9)

Table 3. Results from individual interviews and the focus-group discussion with the related HFE principles (see text) proposed by the ILO and IEA (2021).

Themes	Subthemes	Participants comments	Summary of participants’ perceptions	Related ILO & IEA HFE principles
Lack of competence	Insufficient skill in providing practical and low-cost solutions	“I didn’t know that if we opened the screws of the sewing machine tables, its height would be adjustable; we were unaware of this option. Many people do not know how to solve their problems in workplace with a series of simple ways.” (Worker)	This issue focuses on insufficiency of SBEs’ skills in presenting and implementing simple and practical solutions to improve their working conditions, which can be due to the lack of HFE knowledge transfer.	Second and fifth
	Poor management skills	“Many employers don’t have managerial literacy. For example, somebody with 10 or 15 years of experience working as a mechanic has no managerial skills and have never attended management courses. So, they can only be a traditional manager.” (Employer)	The participants stated that many employers who are self-employed are more skilled in the technical issues of their field of work. However, they were not skilled enough in other fields such as marketing, improved working conditions, human resource management, organizational behavior, proper communication, and organizational development.
	Low education	“In our work, many people are not scientifically educated and work without sufficient knowledge about their working conditions. For example, the air in the workplace is polluted, and they don’t know that this can cause respiratory problems.” (Employer)	This barrier is one of the reasons for their insufficient qualifications and skills in improving SBEs working conditions.
Resistance to change	–	“Once and for the sake of improving efficiency, we decided to change the way our workers worked to get rid of the single-person complete production of shoes and make the workers produce the shoes in a chain. However, there was a lot of resistance from the workers. They said that you want to reduce our wages in this way.” (Employer)	The participants emphasized a resistance does exist against new changes in workplace due to traditional work methods and fear of change.	Second, fourth, and fifth
Technological infrastructure problems	Absence of infrastructures and facilities	“The area of our workshop is around 60 m2. This space is very small for all the equipment and machinery.” (Employer)	From the participants’ point of view, inadequate working space and rented workshops, absence of safety and health units, absence of training units in SBEs, and interactive offices between SBEs and universities and other responsible organizations have led to improper transfer and application of HFE knowledge in these enterprises.	First and third
	Limitations on the development and utilization of appropriate technology and machinery	“Our welding machine is old and has a lot of radiation and … this is bad for my health, and I cannot change it because of economic problems….” (Employer) “… When I do not have the modern technology, the products will not be of good quality… The responsible organizations do not support us in this regard.” (Employer)	The factors raised in this regard include the following: limitation in the development and use of new technologies and appropriate machinery for different reasons such as unawareness, economic and problematic political problems, and the lack of support on behalf of associated organizations, especially trade unions.
Lack of involvement and interaction	Low motivation and distrust	“Most of us as manufacturers are afraid of copying each other’s product models as competitors. So, we trust less and share less of our experiences.” (Employer) “Most of them (i.e., SBEs personnel) are less motivated to participate and exchange information with the inspectors of government organizations, because many inspectors do not have positive attitudes; therefore, the SBEs personnel believe that they have come to make problems instead of helping them to solve the problems.” (OHE)	The participants emphasized the lack of interaction between the enterprises (either between themselves or with responsible organizations), which leads to less motivation and trust.	Fifth
	Poor interaction and cooperation	“There is very little interaction between the enterprises, even the neighboring enterprises, with each other. If we interact with each other, we can work together to solve problems.” (Employer) “We don’t share our experiences with other enterprises, while we can share these experiences, at least in cyberspace.” (Employer)	The participants stated a poor interaction between SBEs and even inadequate communication between employers and workers within each enterprise. This factor makes the enterprises unaware of the positive experiences and unable to help each other in improving working conditions.
Using an inappropriate mode of knowledge	–	“The health services center should evaluate the jobs here (i.e., in SBEs) as specialized. We should read scientific papers and prepare brochures for each job. There is no practical research in these enterprises.” (Employer)	Weakness in conducting practical research about the problems of these enterprises is another perceived barrier posed by the participants.	Fifth
The lack of culture-building about HFE	Unsafe and unsanitary working conditions	“Over 40 to 50 percent of my coworkers have lung problems. In the cabinet making and stonework workshops, because of the unsafe working conditions and high workload, they usually have a problem in their back and hands.” (Employer) “In some enterprises, workers use gasoline to clean the hands. The skin on their hands is completely dry and cracked.” (A head of trade union)	The participants believed that there are improper working conditions in most SBEs, which can cause occupational accidents and diseases.	First and third
	Lack of institutionalization of HFE	“In SBEs, the culture of occupational health has not been rooted yet. The problem is that in many cases some people say what does the health services center have to do with us? Our big problem is that this culture has not been settled.” (OHE)	Participants emphasized that HFE principles are not applied through the localization of positive workplace. They considered the role of trade unions to be important in supporting its implementation.
Inefficient training and learning approaches	Lack of codified and comprehensive training programs	“Most of our work is just inspection and less training (i.e., to promote HFE).” (OHE) “Guild room and trade unions now hold some training classes to obtain business licenses. They can also consider safety and health education.” (Employer) “The trainings offered in the guild room have low quality because it is mostly theory-based and not efficient enough to learn.” (FGD)	The participants stated that the relevant organizations such as the trade unions and health services centers do not prioritize HFE training programs for SBEs. The trade unions have not designed a training course in HFE for SBEs and have provided most of the trainings on business administration rules. Of course, the officials of the Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization stated that they hold free short-term training classes in the health and safety field for SBEs in Industrial Parks, which include a limited number of enterprises. Some of the provided trainings by guild rooms and trade unions are non-practical. So, the SBEs fail to apply them and improve their working conditions.	Second
	Lack of appropriate tools and training materials	“So far, I have not seen any brochures in these fields (i.e., HFE) and no one has given them to us. It is better to prepare a brochure in this field and make it available to the enterprises or be provided through cyberspace.” (Employer)	Participants emphasized the lack of appropriate training tools and materials, such as pamphlets, brochures, videos, and photos.
	Low awareness and knowledge of HFE	“Few years ago, I got a back pain. I did not know what it was for. I found out later that it was from my chair because it wasn’t standard.” (Worker)	Participants emphasized a poor level of awareness, low HFE knowledge, and inefficient ways to utilize them among employers and workers of SBEs.
Lack of scientific management	Lack of a proper humanistic approach	“Here, there is no health and safety; and it is not clear whether they pay workers’ wages according to the labor law or not. They are not supported in any way.” (Employer)	Most SBEs are simply production-centered and enough attention is not paid to the workers’ salaries and welfare. Due to the insufficient knowledge of employers on the importance of humanism and their traditional and experimental work system, practical applications such as HFE knowledge do not exist in these enterprises.	First to fifth
	Not employing the required specialists	“In this metalworking complex, there is no safety and health professional to tell us that safety must be observed for these reasons. For example, there is no one to evaluate our working condition and tell us that these problems might happen.” (Employer)	The employers do not employ experts in different fields to give consultations on improving working system. This fact is highly true in the field of HFE. Most employers emphasized that they do not know who can help them to improve their business. In most cases, they do most of the management, accounting, marketing, and sales works themselves. However, they do not have enough experience and skills in these fields, and they are not necessarily qualified.
	Lack of teamwork	“… No one is looking forward to another development. Do you expect them to do teamwork? Teamwork in these industries is very weak.” (One of the officials of guild room)	The participants asserted that there is a lack of teamwork in SBEs, which causes many problems. This could be solved by cooperation inside any enterprise and associated enterprises.
	Focus on traditional management	“They (i.e., employers) just produce goods and do not think about other aspects of production such as safety and health. But it’s important to keep producing, the issue that they never think about. Most of the employers have short-term thinking.” (One of the officials of Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization)	The participants stated more focus on traditional management in SBEs. This focus has different aspects, including focus on technical and materialistic approach, improper production management system, loose futurism, and management to improve work conditions.
	Improper plan and planning	“Most small enterprises focus on short-term planning and profits, and very little attention is paid to long-term plans; it makes them not develop properly.” (FGD)	The participants emphasized that SBEs usually have inefficient planning almost in all tasks, and especially in improving working conditions based on HFE principles.
	Absence of an appropriate organizational behavior	“Here, most people such as my dad and my uncle have hearing loss. Nonetheless, my father, who is too careless, conveys this carelessness to me. If I want to do something, they say take it easy and suppress it. For example, several times, I decided to put a glass guard or metal guard in front of the circular saw so that metal chips are not thrown at our faces and eyes, but I was told to ignore it.” (Worker)	The absence of appropriate organizational behaviors in SBEs is another perceived barrier because it makes people pay less attention to doing work in a scientific way.
	Recruitment and incessant employment problems	“Our work is seasonal and not permanent, and in most workplaces, they are not in good order. And when the worker sees that it is not a permanent job, he becomes less interested in working in these enterprises.” (Employer)	Participants stated that low job security, low income, poor working conditions, and absence of skilled working force in these enterprises are different reasons behind this barrier.
Extra-organizational problems	Insufficient support from responsible organizations	“Nowadays, governments and banks around the world are supporting SBEs; but there is little support in our country. Banks give loans for one or two years. It will take about ten years for the profits of expensive machines to return.” (A head of trade union)	This insufficient support has two levels, namely at the trade unions and guild room and other organizations, including health services centers, insurance organizations, banks, and other supporting organizations. Most employers expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of support from government organizations in improving their working conditions. However, the Ministry of Health officials stated that some programs to improve the HFE of SBEs are being implemented by that institution. This includes the programs to improve working conditions of carpet weaving workshops, deployment of trained personnel in the field of occupational health and safety in workshops with 20 to 49 people, and periodic inspections of SBEs by occupational health inspectors (also see, Environmental Health and Work Center, 2018). However, the occupational health inspectors stated that their focus is only on conducting inspections rather than properly transferring relevant knowledge to SBEs.	Fifth
	Weak public information system	“I have never seen a TV program showing that a disease is caused by a particular job. We have many cases of back pain and neck pain. Training and providing information do not happen in a proper way.” (OHE)	The participants emphasized the weakness of the public information system for HFE culturalization, which can be performed in the SBEs by supporting organizations in person or through public media (such as television, radio, etc.).
	Financial problems	“When the employer or a worker is not financially secure, he doesn’t even think about a mask and a hearing protector. The cost of personal protective equipment, such as a high-quality mask, is very high.” (Employer)	Participants stated that economic problems in SBEs, most of which are due to extra-organizational conditions, are a key barrier to the transfer and application of HFE knowledge in these enterprises.
	Absence of proper supporting laws	“To start a business, the trade union tells the employer that before he can get a business license, he should go the Technical and Vocational Training Organization and get approved or trained. There are no such laws for safety and health issues.” (Employer)	Some participants emphasized the absence of adequate supporting laws in improving the working conditions of SBEs.

Figure 1. The three-zone lens used to categorize the feasibility of overcoming perceived barriers for practical HFE knowledge transfer to SBEs.

Table 4. Prioritization of the importance of extracted barriers in the HFE knowledge transfer to SBEs by participants in the focus-group discussion.

Theme	Individual score (Mean)	Group score (Mean)
Inefficient training and learning approaches	6.43	8.25
Lack of scientific management	5.86	7.75
The lack of culture-building about HFE	6.93	7
Resistance to change	4.43	7
Lack of involvement and interaction	6.29	6.5
Using an inappropriate mode of knowledge	5	4.75
Lack of competence	5.57	3.5
Technological infrastructure problems	5.36	3
Extra-organizational problems	3.57	1.25

Environmental Health and Work Center. (2018). A guide to enterprises rating based on the risk of harmful factors in a targeted occupational health inspection program. Ministry of Health of Iran. http://markazsalamat.behdasht.gov.ir/

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