Response to interpellation 2023/24:166 on the conditions for regional safety representatives
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L shares the commitment that safety representatives play an important role for a well-functioning work environment 1. L welcomes the evaluation of the regional safety representatives' activities but believes that criticism regarding the investigation's method and objectivity must be weighed in during future considerations 1. S wants to give the regional safety representatives access to more workplaces in order to strengthen safety work at small workplaces 2. S argues that the investigation shows that the operations function well and contribute to a better work environment 2. S believes that the government should now take the issue of expanded access rights further because the evaluation has cleared up the questions regarding the operations' effectiveness 2.
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! Johanna Haraldsson has asked me what conclusions I draw from the evaluation of the regional safety representatives' activities presented in the investigation *The regional safety representatives' role in occupational health and safety work - The value of preventive work and everyone's right to a good working environment (SOU 2022:47)*, whether I and the government intend to take the proposal for expanded access rights for regional safety representatives further and, if so, in what way, as well as what other initiatives I have taken or plan to take to improve the working environment at small workplaces.
I want to start by saying that I share Johanna Haraldsson's commitment to the issue. Safety representatives play a very important role for a well-functioning work environment effort for safe and secure workplaces.
In the consideration that Johanna Haraldsson asks whether the inquiry has evaluated the activities of the regional safety representatives, which I welcome. The inquiry concluded that the activities achieve their purpose in a purposeful manner where they have access and that the regional safety representatives have a central role in the work environment work at small workplaces. However, some referral bodies have questioned the evaluation's method and objectivity. The inquiry's proposals are being prepared in the Government Offices, and I believe it is important to also weigh in the criticism that has been directed at the proposals when considerations are made on how we should proceed in this matter.
Regarding the working environment in small companies, Arbetsmiljöverket has noted in its work that small companies often can have limited resources, both financially and personally, and that the work on the working environment can become more sensitive because it becomes more person-dependent. Small companies may also have a need for external expert assistance.
It should be added that according to the ordinance with instructions for Arbetsmiljöverket, the authority has a task to produce and provide needs-adapted, easily accessible, and qualified information within its area of responsibility, where the needs of small and medium-sized companies shall be particularly considered. I also want to mention that Arbetsmiljöverket is currently conducting an inspection effort aimed precisely at newly started small companies with up to 49 employees.
The Swedish work environment legislation is based on the employer cooperating with the employees in order to achieve a good work environment. It is the employers, the employees and their representatives who together carry out the daily work environment work at the individual workplaces. It is and will continue to be the systematic and preventive work environment work that is the basis for a good work environment. This must be a natural part of the operations for all employers, both large and small.
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Mr. Speaker! It is locally in the cooperation between employers and employees and their safety representatives that the work environment work at the workplaces takes place. Regional safety representatives support both employees and employers in the work with and for a better work environment. They play a major role for the work environment work, especially at smaller workplaces.
Just as the Minister notes in his answer, small companies often have limited resources and a need for support in their work environment efforts. The more than 1,500 regional safety representatives collectively possess a breadth of competence and experience in safety work that would be impossible to replace. The regional safety representatives have, on average, held their mandate for eight years. They have experience in safety work at similar workplaces and knowledge of specific risks in the industries where they operate. They are appointed by the unions, which means they have good support and training for the assignment.
We Social Democrats want to give the regional safety representatives access to more workplaces than today in order to strengthen safety work at more small workplaces. In a time when more workplaces are small and employment is increasingly insecure, these safety representatives play an ever more important role. In the current situation, one has the right to visit workplaces where the union has members but where there is no safety committee.
In the spring of 2020, the Social Democratic government presented the proposal that the regional safety representatives should be granted access to more workplaces. Had the proposal become a reality, they would have been granted the right to enter workplaces where the trade union has collective agreements even if they did not have members there. This was voted down by the right in the Swedish Riksdag on the pretext that they wanted to evaluate the activity before expanding it. They wanted to know if the activity actually had the intended effect.
The Riksdag therefore rejected our proposal for an amendment to the Work Environment Act which would have granted extended access rights. Instead, the Riksdag decided that the activities of the regional safety representatives should be evaluated.
The then Social Democratic government met the Riksdag's demands and appointed an inquiry tasked with evaluating the activities of the regional safety representatives. It was also tasked with looking at how better conditions could be provided for safety representatives.
When the investigation submitted its report, it was stated that the operation functions well and at a reasonable cost. The investigator argues that the regional safety representatives' activities contribute to a better working environment. In times when both the number of local safety representatives is decreasing and the trade union organizations are finding it harder to recruit members, the regional safety representatives function as a good support in the local work environment work. This is the investigation's conclusion.
The parties who argued that the activity had to be evaluated before a position could be taken on the proposal have now received their evaluation, an evaluation which concludes that it is a good, cost-effective activity that contributes to a better working environment, especially in smaller workplaces.
The investigation also suggests, similar to previous investigations, that the regional safety representatives should be given the opportunity to operate at more workplaces.
I did not feel that I received an answer to my question, so I ask it again: What conclusions does the Minister draw from the evaluation of the regional safety representatives' activities presented in the investigation?
Now that all questions should have been clarified and it is no longer uncertain whether the operation is effective, will the government or will the government not take the issue of the regional safety representatives' right of access further?
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.