Response to interpellation 2022/23:360 on fatal accidents in the workplace
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that no one should die because of their work 1 and that the government is investing in strengthening Arbetsmiljöverket with permanent funds for more inspections 1. L emphasizes that a safety culture is required 2, that one must ensure solid work environment work in public procurement 3 and that someone must be held accountable for deficiencies that lead to injuries or deaths 3. L wants to combat work-life crime 2 3 and argues that investments in prosecutors and police are necessary to prosecute actors who deliberately fail in safety work 4. V argues that current resources for Arbetsmiljöverket are not sufficient 5. V wants to strengthen the role of safety representatives 5 and considers that the pace at workplaces often causes safety rules to be bypassed 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Mr. Speaker! Ciczie Weidby has asked me what measures I intend to take to counteract fatal accidents in working life and achieve the zero vision that the government and the Riksdag have established, what measures I intend to take so that more employers will be held accountable for the fatal accidents that occur, what measures I intend to take to strengthen the justice system's work with occupational environment crimes, and what measures I intend to take to phase out all dangerous and risky solo work in order to prevent fatal accidents in working life.
No one should have to die as a result of their work. Every fatal accident is a tragedy for those involved and unacceptable for a modern working life. For the government, this is an important issue. Arbetsmiljöverket has received increased resources in recent years to hire more work environment inspectors and increase the number of inspections. During 2022, Arbetsmiljöverket received a permanent supplement of 85 million kronor to strengthen its supervisory work and carry out more work environment inspections. During 2023 and 2024, an additional 25 million kronor is added permanently per year. A reinforcement of Arbetsmiljöverket's inspection activities contributes to preventing fatal accidents in working life.
Safety representatives have an important role in creating safe and secure workplaces. Cooperation with safety representatives is important to reduce the risk of serious accidents.
Most employers and companies in Sweden follow the applicable work environment regulations. But there are also those who neglect them. This is, of course, completely unacceptable and requires resolute measures, ultimately by ensuring that those who commit work environment crimes are prosecuted. For such a crime, the individual who committed the crime can, on one hand, be sentenced to punishment, and on the other hand, the company can be ordered to pay a corporate fine. Work environment crimes are often complex and difficult to investigate. An important prerequisite for the police and prosecutors to be able to perform their duties in a good way is that each respective authority has sufficient resources.
Investigations into workplace environment crimes often require various areas of expertise. The Swedish Police Authority, the Swedish Prosecution Authority, and the Swedish Work Environment Authority have developed a close cooperation, which has improved the handling and increased the quality of the preliminary investigations. This cooperation has contributed to a reduction in the investigation time regarding accidents with a fatal outcome and an increase in the number of employers and companies prosecuted for workplace environment crimes in recent years.
The Government is carrying out ambitious work to strengthen and further develop police operations. The Police Authority shall grow with the goal that the police density shall at least correspond to the average in the European Union. The initiative to increase the number of employees by a total of 10,000 people by the end of 2024 compared to the beginning of 2016 continues as the basis for the strengthened and developed police operations. For 2023, the Police Authority's appropriation amounts to just over 37 billion kronor, an increase of almost 16 billion kronor since 2015.
To strengthen the prosecutors' ability to meet the increased influx of serious and difficult-to-investigate crimes, the government has also made investments in the Prosecution Authority. With the budget that the Riksdag has decided for 2022-2024, the appropriation for the Prosecution Authority increases by just over 900 million kronor up to and including 2025. The Prosecution Authority's appropriation is estimated to amount to just over 2.7 billion kronor from 2025, which can be compared with 1.8 billion kronor for 2021.
No one should have to die at their work, but no one should also have to die from their work. In the work environment strategy for 2021-2025, the zero vision against fatal accidents is expanded. It is about a zero vision against workplace accidents leading to death but also against work-related mortality due to, for example, long-term illness, cancer or suicide. Nothing other than a zero vision can apply for deaths as a result of work.
Ciczie Weidby (V)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much for the answer, Minister Paulina Brandberg!
I submitted an almost identical interpellation to the previous government's minister responsible for these issues, and it is quite interesting that the answers, upon comparison, are very similar. Both the previous responsible minister and the current minister emphasize that this is such an incredibly important issue for the government, but neither the previous minister nor the current one allocates more resources to specifically the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
If Arbetsmiljöverket is to be able to carry out more inspections, it obviously requires more inspectors. The UN's labor organization ILO argues that there should be at least one workplace inspector per 10,000 employees. This means that in Sweden we would have approximately 515 inspectors, but today we only have around 270. It is therefore needed to have quite a lot more.
Resources are absolutely being added, but it is still not enough, which one, if one were conspiratorially minded, could think points to the fact that it is not such an important activity to invest in. Can the Minister answer whether there is any plan or forecast for when Sweden could achieve the ILO's recommendation of exactly one inspector per 10,000 employees?
I could not help but note that the Minister emphasizes the safety representative's very important role. The Left Party has also put this forward in the Riksdag for a very long time, and we have submitted numerous proposals that could strengthen the safety representatives. We want, for example, to expand the regional safety representatives' right of access. One could also investigate the occurrence of the fake safety committees that exist, strengthen the safety representatives' right to training, and ensure that their role is strengthened towards employers who do not allow them to carry out their inspections and their work.
If the Minister now thinks that safety representatives have such an important role, I think the Minister and the Government can start by presenting some proposals that actually strengthen safety representatives and perhaps even strengthen the right of access for regional safety representatives.
There are many things I would like to bring up, including the fact that the Minister states that repression cannot stop various fatal accidents, but that it is a matter of preventive work. This was not included in the answer today, but it was in Sveriges Radios documentary series Sista dagen på jobbet. There, the Minister emphasizes that it is not repression that is the answer when it comes to preventing fatal accidents, but that it is a matter of preventive work. Then I become a bit curious about what type of preventive work the Minister sees that can put a stop to the fatal accidents.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Mr. Speaker! When one looks at the investigations regarding fatal accidents at work, one sees a recurring pattern, and that pattern is that there are regularly deviations from or a lack of safety routines that could have prevented these accidents from occurring.
From this, one can conclude that if we are to get this right, we need to have a safety culture where everyone in all workplaces in Sweden are both aware of the risks that exist, and have both the knowledge and the will to reduce these accidents.
Then one has to work in many different ways. Member Weidby mentions Arbetsmiljöverket, and that is of course a very important piece of the puzzle in the work. If we are to talk about resources for Arbetsmiljöverket, they received a permanent supplement of 85 million kronor during 2022 to strengthen their supervisory work and carry out more workplace environment inspections. During 2023 and 2024, an additional 25 million kronor is added permanently per year, this is to strengthen the very important supervisory work where deficiencies can be detected and rectified.
I want to be clear, however, that that type of problem cannot be supervised away. Even if we significantly increase the number of inspectors, we cannot supervise away the deficiencies. It is not the entire solution to the problem, but we must work on more levels.
The government works according to the zero vision found in the current occupational environment strategy, but the work must, of course, also be carried out with many other involved actors. We must work together with relevant authorities, representatives for the labor market parties, and other organizations in the industries that are worst affected by fatal accidents.
The local work environment work between employers and local or regional safety representatives is also a key factor in improving safety in the workplace.
As I have said before, both knowledge and awareness are required to address the problems, but there must also be a will. One must want to have solid safety work in the workplaces.
In our labor market today, there is widespread labor crime. There is a shadow society in the Swedish labor market where, in many cases, foreign labor is imported to Sweden and works under deplorable conditions. In my previous role as a prosecutor, I have handled human trafficking cases where I have seen this concretely. This means, on the one hand, a danger for the workers in the companies, and on the other hand, skewed competition in our labor market. The serious companies that want a solid safety operation cannot manage to compete with the unserious companies that do not.
If we are to address the problems, we must work broadly with all the measures that I have mentioned; not least, we must make major investments in combating crime in the workplace. Better cooperation between authorities is needed, and I look forward to the secrecy relaxations which hopefully will make cooperation easier, so that we can truly combat things that affect people's lives in Sweden.
Ciczie Weidby (V)
Mr. Speaker! Now there are many threads to pick up here, and there are several things where I really agree with Paulina Brandberg. This concerns, for example, that the labor market is really skewed and vile with a labor life criminality that exploits people. It is something that Vänsterpartiet wants, and has always wanted, that there should truly be fair conditions on the labor market, that there should be clarity in who employs, who is employed and what work is to be performed. There should be no shady deals.
The Left Party often says that it would be reasonable not to have, for example, as many subcontractors as one wants. The more subcontractors that are allowed on different construction sites, the more difficult it becomes to know who is performing different types of work. It also becomes harder to know who it is that has responsibility. It is often said that one does not really know who has the ultimate work environment responsibility at, for example, a construction site or in the forest where many dangerous jobs are performed.
I might raise a specific interpellation regarding crime in the workplace, so that we can debate the issue. I want to return to the question of the knowledge and the will to conduct good safety work so that no one should die at work. But I would also say that the work is being done. I have worked for many years at workplaces where I have been both union chairman and safety representative. In a sound and good workplace, the safety committees work very well. There is a good dialogue in the safety committee between occupational health care and the employer, and there, they have investigated the dangerous aspects of a job. What things are not allowed to be done? Which safety rules apply, and so on?
I do not think there is a lack of will, at least not from the side of the safety representatives and the workers. To be honest, I do not think there are any employers who disregard the issues, but what is it that always governs? The pace at many workplaces makes people willing to cut corners on various safety rules.
I have listened to the documentary that has been broadcast on Sveriges Radio: Sista dagen på jobbet (The last day at work). Paulina Brandberg was in the last episode and commented. It is terrible to hear the different stories. People die at work when they absolutely did not have to die. Arbetsmiljöverket often concludes that there were deficiencies, either in that there was too much of a hurry to perform certain work tasks or in that people had worked alone where they should not have worked alone. Safety regulations have sometimes not been clear.
There is a rigidity in the fact that Arbetsmiljöverket has seen where something went wrong somewhere, the police have then not seen the same thing, and the prosecutor has not brought the right people to justice. I do not mean, however, that anything would automatically become better because someone is held accountable, but for those people who have lost a relative, it is reasonable that they get to know why a son, father, or daughter has died at work. How are we going to ensure that no one else does it again?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Mr. Speaker! The Member and I share many views on the issue. We also share the problem picture, that is to say that these are extensive problems that we really must work hard and purposefully with.
The Leader of the Opposition says that the knowledge and the will exist in our workplaces in Sweden. I largely share that view. I was myself on a study visit this week at Byggbranschens Säkerhetspark outside Arlandastad, and I was impressed by the solid safety work and safety thinking there. I am convinced that that type of systematic work environment work is exactly what we need to lower the statistics.
The problem I raised in my previous speech is what we do when the companies that have knowledge and will cannot compete with the companies that do not have knowledge and will. The work costs money for the companies. That requires the solid commitment to combat crime in the workplace. I am pleased that we are expanding A-krim centers in Sweden and that we are finally reviewing the confidentiality rules so that we can work inter-agency. This requires a commitment between the police, prosecutors, Arbetsmiljöverket, and Skatteverket. All relevant agencies that may have pieces of the puzzle in the work must be given the conditions to work together so that we can combat the problems. Then the healthy companies can flourish and grow in Sweden.
Another issue of responsibility that we must look at, which the member also touched upon, concerns subcontractors. We must, of course, ensure that the work environment work takes place in all links. Here we have an important task in public procurement, and there it is important that we ensure that the sound work environment work and safety work are present in all links. It is another piece of the puzzle where the state and municipalities can act so that the healthy companies get the conditions to live and thrive in Sweden.
Then there was the question of accountability. It is also important that in the event of deviations, in instances of failures in security work where people are seriously injured, become ill, or even lose their lives, someone must be held accountable. This government has no other view. What I expressed in the interview is that it does not help the one who is already in the grave that someone is held accountable. That is not to say that this cannot be an important part. For the relatives of the deceased or for the one who has been injured or become ill, it is of course an important part of the process of processing what happened. But unfortunately, it does not undo the accident.
Ciczie Weidby (V)
Mr. Speaker! I am pleased to hear that. I also assume that Minister Paulina Brandberg knows how committed I am to issues regarding public procurement and how much the Vänsterpartiet has spoken about the introduction of Akrim and how we can facilitate so that one can truly get at the white-collar crime that exists.
I really look forward to this government taking very tough action against this and ensuring that we have a decent and good labor market. We obviously will not have a labor market where people can be hidden away. We have, so to speak, left that behind. That was something people did a hundred years ago, and we no longer do that. It feels very good that we agree on this.
I shall see how I am to manage my last minute of speaking time.
One must, of course, be able to hold someone accountable. If no one is held accountable for someone having died, or if it only—and understand me when I say "only"—becomes a corporate fine, the impression is that companies can quite easily and smoothly buy their way out of a certain responsibility. I really do not think that is good. This must be reviewed so that more people can be held accountable for these crimes—even though I, of course, also do not believe that it improves anything, as the Minister said. But this applies in other parts of the government's work, where it is said that it is only punishment that prevents crime.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Mr. Speaker! I pick up where the member finished. This government does not and has never claimed that only punishment can prevent crime, neither regarding other types of crimes nor regarding workplace crimes and fatal accidents at work.
However, it is of course important that there are consequences, especially for those actors who deliberately fail in their security work. It is something that this government will continue to ensure. We have, among other things, made major investments in prosecutors and police so that these very resource-intensive investigations can maintain high quality and so that the evidence that can be obtained can be produced so that those who can be prosecuted can be prosecuted.
I am pleased that we have this debate here today. I am also pleased that the member and I share a great deal of common ground on these issues. I hope that this means there are good conditions to find broad majorities in the Riksdag for the measures that need to be taken so that the work on this can be driven forward and so that we can achieve a trend break in the statistics, which unfortunately have looked very poor for an incredibly many years, and truly reduce the number of people who die at work and who die from work in Sweden.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.