The aim of the study was to evaluate which training method was more useful for employers of small enterprises concerning occupational health and safety.
Therefore, we decided to involve the dry-cleaner employers' associations of our town in a project of educational meetings with the employers, before making repressive inspections.
In 1989,43 dry-cleaners were then inspected and the data obtained about occupational risks were discussed in these meetings, in order to explain to the employers meaning and necessity of adopting the correct preventive measures provided for by the law. A second inspection was carried out some months later, in 1990, to check the effectiveness of the meetings. In 19 out of 43 dry-cleaners (44%) the lack in risk prevention, discovered in 1989, was not, or only in part, eliminated. Therefore, we thought to act towards the remaining dry-cleaner employers in a different way: (a) on the basis of the previous inspections, we produced a handbook easy to understand and rich in information about occupational risks in dry-cleaning and how to avoid them; (b) in 1992 our educational staff executed training inspections in 67 other dry-cleaners, together with employers and workers. They distributed the handbooks and, at the same time, gave some practical example of solution for safety problems. In 1993, in 25 (randomly selected) out of the 67 dry-cleaners, a inspection was carded out to check on: adoption of correct environmental prevention measures, correct utilization of personal protective equipment, execution of correct medical surveillance. Law violations were proportionally much lower (e.g., omitted or inadequate forced air drawing= 36%) than those found in the first inspection of 1989 (e.g., omitted or inadequate forced air drawing = 86%).
Although other causes could interfere, it is possible that this result is connected to the last training method, that is more time-consuming but awakens the employers of small enterprises to the risks for health and safety and to act accordingly.