Overview of Activities in the Field of Occupational Health and Safety during the COVID-19 Period Taken by Polish SMEs.

The safety of work, employees, and clients of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is important because it is significantly related to the proper functioning and development of the entity and determines the decision-making process. The purpose of this publication is to show what actions aimed at increasing the sense of occupational safety and health during the COVID-19 pandemic were undertaken by Polish SMEs from the central Pomeranian region. The analysis of the literature most often presents the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions of governments in the field of protecting the public but does not present analyses of activities strictly taken by entrepreneurs. A survey was addressed to 300 business entities, of which 195 took part, determining the effectiveness rate at the level of 65%. Unfortunately, research shows that as many as 56% of the surveyed entities were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations used a number of safeguards aimed at increasing the sense of occupational health and safety, e.g., by using gels or liquids for disinfecting hands and surfaces during working hours (77%); regular cleaning and disinfection of equipment and workstations (84%); and maintaining social distance (76%). The analysis of the collected data covering the year 2021 indicates that this study should be treated as a survey study. This provides an opportunity to expand the area and scope of research. The presented research results indicate that, depending on the type of activity, as well as legal epidemic restrictions, SMEs increased the safety of employees and customers in different ways and with different tools during the development of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Impact of Economic Indicators on the Evolution of Business Confidence during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

This publication focuses on issues related to the development of entrepreneurship. The aim of this publication is to demonstrate how fluctuations of economic indicators have been affecting business confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Business trust is important for entrepreneurs because it significantly determines the decision-making process and ensures stable development and functioning of an organization. Our study assessed the G7 and the E27 countries and Poland for comparison purposes for the years 2015–2021. Among other things, for the purposes of the study, the following were performed: literature analysis;formulation of the study research questions and a hypothesis: economic indicators negatively affecting business confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic period;data from the following databases which were used: EUROSTAT, GUS, OECD, TRADING ECONOMICS. The presented research results indicate that there is a relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of economic indicators and BCI. This is particularly noticeable during the development of the pandemic at the turn of the first and second quarters of 2020. The indicator shows negative values during this period. This study also showed that increasing COVID-19 infections in the pandemic's initial stage led to growing insecurity in developing business activities, which is proven by the calculated Pearson correlation coefficient scoring −0.3982.