Response to interpellation 2023/24:404 on work environment inspectors in Norrbotten
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the Swedish Work Environment Authority's capacity and working environment conditions in Norrbotten. L argues that the government prioritizes the industry's green transition and that the Swedish Work Environment Authority has received permanent additions to strengthen supervision 1. L emphasizes that the authority plans its own operations and that systematic work environment management at workplaces is the basis for preventing accidents 2. L also wants to counter crime in the working life and manage risks of ill health in an economic crisis 2 3. S argues that the supervision capacity in Norrbotten is insufficient and that workers are being exploited 4. S believes that the government is reducing support to municipalities and regions, which hinders preventive work 5. S wants to strengthen the role of safety representatives and invest in a crisis commission within the construction industry 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)
Madam Speaker! I have been asked how I will ensure that Arbetsmiljöverket is given sufficient capacity for its supervisory activities to be able to meet the development that Norrbotten County is undergoing.
I would like to start by thanking you for the question and saying that I share the commitment. A priority for the government is to promote the industry's green transition. This naturally includes a parallel effort aimed at creating conditions for a good working environment for the employees.
A completely central starting point for the government's work environment policy is that no one should be harmed or lose their life as a result of their work. This involves providing the authorities with the best possible conditions to carry out their mandate in a good way. For several years, Arbetsmiljöverket has received permanent additions to strengthen its supervisory work and carry out more work environment inspections. Arbetsmiljöverket's administrative grant is higher for 2024 than it was for 2023, and this grant may be used for, among other things, work environment inspections.
The fundamental purpose of the Swedish Work Environment Authority's supervision is to ensure that employers comply with the work environment legislation. According to the Swedish Work Environment Authority's instructions, supervision should primarily be planned based on analyses of work environment risk and the risk that actors deliberately violate the regulatory framework. How this work is carried out, which categories of employees and what number of employees shall perform the supervision, is however something that the Swedish Work Environment Authority itself has to plan and decide on. I assume that the Swedish Work Environment Authority fulfills its tasks in an efficient, well-balanced, and purposeful manner, not least in the area of supervision.
In addition to its regular inspection activities, Arbetsmiljöverket also coordinates inter-agency cooperation against crime in the workplace. Eight additional agencies participate in the cooperation with both personnel and analytical capacity. From the crime in the workplace center in Umeå, inspections of workplaces in Västerbotten and Norrbotten are planned, and personnel from the other agencies also participate in these inspections. The joint inspections provide added value compared to if the agencies were to only conduct the work against crime in the workplace within their own organizations.
Regarding crime in the working life, the government gave an extended mandate to the cooperating authorities in December 2023 to continue their previous mandate during 2024. The government intends to return with a renewed mandate no later than during the third quarter of 2024. The delegation against crime in the working life shall, in accordance with its directives, report a follow-up and analysis of the authorities' cooperation no later than 23 February 2024. The renewed mandate shall take into account the proposals in the partial report and involve a more effective implementation of the government's priorities. Among other things, the work shall strike harder against the criminal economy, organized crime in a corporate environment and human exploitation through work.
The question of Arbetsmiljöverket's supervisory capacity is important, and I will, of course, continue to actively follow the issue.
Zara Leghissa (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. Paulina Brandberg's commitment to this so important issue pleases me.
In Norrbotten, investments in the multi-billion range are currently taking place due to the new industrialization that the Social Democratic government initiated in 2014. It has led to the industry's green transition, which has made Sweden a world leader.
Where large industrial establishments and societal transformations occur, there is also a downside: workers are exploited, wages are dumped, we see violations of the Working Hours Act and the Work Environment Act, as well as unworthy housing at extortionate prices. The risk of labor-related crime and that women are subjected to violence, human trafficking, and prostitution is high. With the growth in the number of jobs and the heavy industry that characterizes a county like Norrbotten, it would be reasonable for the government to also match the supervisory capacity of the Swedish Work Environment Authority to ensure safe workplaces.
What conditions and resources does Arbetsmiljöverket have in Norrbotten today? In Norrbotten, which covers a quarter of Sweden's area, there is a single building inspector. In total, Arbetsmiljöverket has 6.8 man-years of labor in Norrbotten working with inspection, as well as two employees who are managed from the occupational crime center in Umeå, which is located in Västerbotten.
Madam Speaker! There are also good examples where the parties in the labor market cooperate and where the foundation is collective agreements. For example, the Construction Workers' Union in Norrbotten reached an agreement with the company H2 Green Steel last week on a number of measures to ensure good working conditions and counteract crime in the workplace at the enormous steel plant construction. They are taking their responsibility.
However, it is not enough by a long shot, and more must be done. The year 2023 was a very gloomy year for workers: 65 people lost their lives at work in Sweden. In January of this year, the death toll was up to 6 people. This must come to an end. Does the Minister of the Interior think the government's initiatives for a safe and secure working environment are sufficient?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Of course we should have a good working environment and a functioning work [force] to maintain a good working environment throughout the country. This is a matter of course.
As I have previously mentioned, the government has tasked Arbetsmiljöverket with carrying out more physical and unannounced inspections. This is one of the government's measures to address the negative development we are seeing. Regarding how this is actually carried out, the government has allocated resources to Arbetsmiljöverket, which has confirmed that it will increase the number of inspections. However, it is Arbetsmiljöverket that decides how Arbetsmiljöverket distributes its supervisory activities and how they are carried out. The government, of course, follows the issue closely, but the government cannot step in and direct the operations in that manner.
I want to emphasize in this context that inspection activity is important, but that we will never be able to inspect away this development, that is to say the work-related accidents and fatal accidents we see. Even if we increase the inspection by a large percentage, we will not be able to inspect away all the deficiencies in our workplaces.
The reason lies instead in the systematic work environment work that takes place at our workplaces. The Government must ensure that there are good conditions for conducting the work environment work in an effective way, as all research shows that through effective and systematic work environment work at the workplaces, many of the accidents that occur can actually be prevented.
The Government has given a mandate to the Swedish Work Environment Authority to see how we can get more people to want to engage as safety representatives, which is a measure that we see as important. Next week, I will also meet representatives for the labor market parties to listen to what measures they see as necessary in order to be able to achieve safer workplaces, especially in the construction industry.
In addition to this, it is important to proceed with an offensive against crime in the working life. We must push out those actors who take shortcuts in safety work and save money at the expense of the workers' lives and health. Besides harming individual workers, they risk competing out serious employers in the labor market.
The Government will continue to develop the work and excludes no measures to achieve safer workplaces throughout the country.
Zara Leghissa (S)
Madam Speaker! In addition to those who die at work, approximately 3,000 people die prematurely each year from diseases or injuries caused by unhealthy work environments. More than 700 people die from work-related stress every year, and new research shows that every twentieth suicide is linked to work-related bullying and sexual harassment. These deaths occur in the shadows and do not receive much attention. It is about people who lose their lives far too early from causes that could have been prevented. It is about high workload, work-related stress, and shift work, to mention a few causes. The Swedish Work Environment Authority assesses that deaths due to specifically work-related stress are increasing.
Other factors that, according to research, have a significant impact on employees' health in a negative sense are work through staffing agencies, fixed-term employment, part-time employment, multiple employers simultaneously, work at a workplace without a collective agreement, self-employment, work with insufficient income, low job security, and a lack of rights and protection.
Madam Speaker! A majority of those exposed to these risk factors are women working in welfare, trade, and hotel and restaurant. Ensuring a safe and secure working environment in these sectors is a central equality issue. But the SD-led government is significantly reducing the support to municipalities and regions, a support they so much need to be able to work with the preventive, systematic, and organizational work environment work - as the Minister himself mentioned. People are also expected to work at an ever-increasing age. But now the colleagues are fewer, and the workload and stress are increasing. The much-needed recovery is missing, and the worry about not having food for the day and a roof over one's head is increasing. These factors affect whether one dies a premature death or not.
What does the Minister intend to do to prevent deaths due to work-related illnesses and injuries?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Let me begin by correcting an inaccuracy in the member's speech. The government is not led by SD in the same way that the Liberals and the Centre Party led the S-MP government under the January Agreement. It might be good to clear that up.
I am glad that the member is raising the issue of those who become ill, are injured, and die from work. I am not only the Deputy Minister for Employment but also the Minister for Equality, and this is a very important issue. These illnesses, injuries, and deaths risk becoming more invisible. They do not get as many headlines in our newspapers, and they occur more in the shadows than the fatal accidents at workplaces do. But obviously, we must deal with the fact that people die both at and from work.
The Government continues to work according to the zero vision contained in the occupational environment strategy that runs until 2025. The Government has begun the work of seeing how we proceed after this strategy expires. There have been major changes in the labor market, partly due to the pandemic. Remote work has increased, which can cause the boundary between working hours and time with family to become blurred. For women, this can mean a greater burden regarding unpaid household work. It is important that we follow this closely and ensure that we get an occupational environment strategy that is adapted to the new reality in the Swedish labor market.
Another challenge is that we are in an economic crisis. It is also a risk factor because there is a risk that more and more shortcuts are taken in the safety work at our workplaces and that employees are pressured to work more and faster to keep costs down. We must take these risks seriously and mitigate the negative effects so that we do not get increased ill health at our workplaces due to the economic crisis Sweden is now going through.
The Government will, in its continued work, take measures to counteract both fatal accidents at work and deaths from work. We rule out no measures moving forward, as we see that this requires urgent solutions.
Zara Leghissa (S)
Madam Speaker! It is not about a risk that people's workload and stress will increase. It is already a reality.
I thank the Minister for the debate. Work environment work is important, makes a difference and saves lives. Resources must be given to preventive work, to planned and acute interventions, and to learning in work environment work. This must the government ensure. The Swedish Work Environment Authority's presence at workplaces must be prioritized, otherwise the employees are left to their fate.
We Social Democrats have made decisions that strengthen the work against crime in the workplace and for better worker protection. We say yes to a zero vision for work-related deaths and stick to it, we say yes to a crisis commission within the construction industry, we say yes to more support for municipalities and regions and we say yes to strengthening the role of safety representatives.
Madam Speaker! All employees shall have a safe and secure working environment, and all employers shall have the conditions to succeed with their occupational environment responsibility. Safe jobs and workplaces provide safe people, which strengthens democracy, prolongs life and guarantees a high quality and continuity in operations. It welcomes young people into working life and also creates a safe and healthy retirement. It creates growth and lifts Sweden forward.
But what does the SD-led government want? One claims to stand on the side of the employees and the employers, but the policy goes in the opposite direction.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I do not intend to use my concluding remarks to repeat the measures that I have now, in three debates, raised for how we should improve the working environment and reduce deaths both at and away from work. Let me instead thank the member for the debate.
Work environment issues are about public health, equality and economic growth and are important to focus on, and there is a need to step up the work on these issues.
I thank the member again for the commitment and the debate and wish a continued pleasant Friday and a good weekend.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.