Preventive activity in the greenhouse-construction industry of south-eastern Spain

Preventive action in companies is one of the bases of ergonomic intervention. Therefore, in the present work, the preventive activity of greenhouse-construction companies in south-eastern Spain is characterized. A sample was taken by means of a questionnaire structured in four groups of variables: general characteristics of the company, characteristics of safety and health in the construction procedures, characteristics of prevention and management in safety and health, and characteristics of the coordination during the execution of the work. The results indicate that the prevention is very poor, not adopting any preventive-management model for internationally recognized work hazards so that the information and training in preventive matters of companies and workers is insufficient. In addition, the companies have been classified into three clusters, correlating the company size and prevention management of labour hazards, revealing that the companies with higher gross income and number of workers showed better prevention management.

Research highlights
► The greenhouse-construction activity is markedly seasonal.
► The greenhouse-construction activity is not usual to build from a technical plan.
► The risk-prevention management is very poor in all companies.
► The companies do not adopt internationally recognized model of accident-prevention management.