Response to interpellation 2024/25:141 on the work environment strategy
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that the government is working according to the work environment strategy through the work environment forum, work against crime in the workplace, and initiatives for joint agency work 1. L has decided on a mandate for Mynak 1, given directives for more unannounced inspections, and allocated funds for supervision in high-risk industries 2. L wants to facilitate for serious actors and combat crime in the workplace 1 2. L agrees that it should be costly for companies that do wrong 3 and argues that the government has stepped up the work by removing secrecy barriers 3. S argues that the government lacks concrete measures and that a safety culture is not enough 4. S wants a crisis commission 4 5, increased sanction fees 4, expanded access rights, and increased funding for regional safety representatives 5. S also wants to limit the chain of subcontractors and exclude companies that repeatedly cheat from public contracts and grants 5.
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! Johanna Haraldsson has asked me what initiatives the government has taken as a result of the government's work environment strategy for 2021-2025. Johanna Haraldsson has also asked me what measures I plan to take to strengthen preventive work environment work in Swedish workplaces.
I would like to begin by thanking you for the questions and underlining that I share Johanna Haraldsson's commitment to issues regarding the work environment.
The overall goal of the government's work environment strategy for 2021-2025, A good work environment for the future (skr. 2020/21:92), aligns with the goal of the labor market policy regarding good working conditions and opportunities for development in work for both women and men. The government's goal also includes the goal of a work environment that prevents ill health and accidents, which counters people being excluded from work, which takes into account people's different circumstances and which contributes to the development of both individuals and operations. The strategy also contains four sub-goals: a sustainable working life, a healthy working life, a safe working life, and a labor market without crime and fraud.
The Swedish Work Environment Authority and the Agency for Work Environment Knowledge annually develop action plans within their respective areas to implement the work environment strategy in cooperation with the parties in the labor market. The action plans are followed up, and reports are submitted to the government. In addition, the government has, among other things, continued the work with an ongoing work environment forum for dialogue with representatives of the parties in the labor market and relevant authorities.
The Government takes issues regarding the work environment very seriously. The Government has appointed an inquiry into a new work environment strategy (dir. 2024:56) for the period 2026-2030. The special investigator shall, among other things, analyze the impact of the current work environment strategy and assess whether the four sub-goals are appropriately designed with regard to, among other things, ongoing global changes that in different ways affect the conditions for the sub-goals' impact. This concerns, among other things, crime and employees' vulnerability to threats and pressure, increasing digitalization and the development of new technology, remote work, work-related stress, internationalization, the green transition, and the effects of climate change. The assignment shall be reported by June 11, 2025, at the latest.
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! The work environment problems are extensive in the Swedish labor market, and the statistics also tell us that they are growing. More and more people are becoming ill from stress. Workplace accidents are increasing, and the number of people who died at their workplace was the highest in ten years last year.
It is against that background that I today want to have an answer from Minister for Employment Paulina Brandberg regarding which initiatives she and the government have taken based on the current occupational health and safety strategy. I have also asked what measures she plans to take to strengthen preventive occupational health and safety work in Swedish workplaces.
When Försäkringskassan analyzes the growing number of sick leaves linked to stress, they state that it is well-documented within research that it is primarily a poor work environment that causes stress-related absenteeism. An important explanation for high absenteeism within healthcare, school, and care is an imbalance between demands and resources. High demands, low support, and lack of resources at work simply make people sick.
It is the women in welfare, at the social services office, in home care, in healthcare, and at schools and preschools who experience that there is not enough time or that they do not have sufficient support to perform their work in the best way. A poor work environment is the cause of the increased sick leaves due to stress.
When the Swedish Work Environment Authority comments on the many fatal accidents, they mean that most could have been prevented if the employers had done what they are obligated to do: work systematically with the work environment, constantly follow up, perform risk analyses, and rectify the work environment problems they have.
Under the Social Democratic government, a work environment strategy was adopted in February 2021, A good work environment for the future. Paulina Brandberg argues that even this government is working according to this. It is important that we have a strategy, but also that the government linked to it produces measures that can improve the situation on the labor market.
About a year ago, I submitted an almost exactly identical interpellation to the one we are debating today. At that time, the minister had been responsible for occupational health and safety issues for about a year. Now, the minister has been in charge for an additional year, and I hoped that I would receive slightly better answers. I hoped that more would have happened and that the government would have something to answer me with when I ask what initiatives have been taken in light of the strategy and what measures are being planned.
None of what the minister highlights are concrete measures that this government has taken. Nor does the minister want to describe any of the measures that is planned to be implemented.
I would really appreciate it if the Minister could nevertheless try to answer my questions in his upcoming remarks. Otherwise, it is easy to conclude that the government has neither taken any initiatives linked to the strategy nor is planning any measures to strengthen the work environment efforts in the workplaces, and I actually doubt that is the case.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! Well, the government has taken the initiative. Among other things, we have commissioned an inquiry to develop a new strategy where we also evaluate how the previous strategy has functioned.
I think it is positive that the previous government produced this strategy. We need to work towards a zero vision when it comes to the number of people who die, are injured, or become ill at work but also because of work. This is completely central, not least from an equality perspective.
The government works based on the strategy. Among other things, we hold work environment forums several times a year, and we have also continued the work that the previous government began by establishing centers against crimes against working life. It is something that I see as extremely important and valuable for strengthening the joint work across authorities.
The government has subsequently further stepped up the joint agency work regarding specifically work-life crime by investing more money - most recently 100 million kronor as a reinforcement of the joint agency work against work-life crime - while we have removed many of the secrecy barriers that have previously constituted obstacles in the work.
Just as the interpellor says, research shows that most accidents at work can actually be prevented. They could be prevented if one had a systematic work environment effort and followed the rules and regulations that exist. In this work, we need to both work with the actors who try to do the right thing – they need to be helped to do the right thing – and tackle the crime in the working life and the actors who deliberately cheat and thereby compete out the serious actors.
When it comes to facilitating for those who want to do the right thing, the government has very recently, about two weeks ago, decided to task Mynak with producing and disseminating knowledge about safety culture in the construction industry, which can contribute to preventing accidents. This is a mandate that must be reported by December 31 next year at the latest. The reason for this mandate is that we see that precisely the construction industry is one of the industries where the most accidents occur at work and where it is incredibly important to have a solid safety culture. I look forward to receiving that report during next year.
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! It is very good that the government continues to work in the same way as the previous government did regarding occupational health and safety issues – that one has a strategy to adhere to and that one also starts from in the political work with new initiatives and in driving the work on occupational health and safety forward.
It is an important task, but it does not absolve the government of the responsibility to take measures here and now. Swedish wage earners cannot wait for a new strategy to be in place. We already have a strategy, and it highlights a number of different measures that can be taken – measures that we also investigated during our time in government.
I first and foremost intended to address some of what Paulina Brandberg said when she did answer me, for which I am very grateful. It is clear that we shall ensure that those who want to do the right thing can do the right thing. We need to review how we can better support these employers, especially perhaps the smaller employers who do not have the financial resources and the knowledge of how to do the right thing. This we are in complete agreement on.
The mission regarding safety culture within the construction industry is an important measure that the government has initiated. But it only addresses a small, tiny part of the gigantic problems we see with the working environment and work-life crime in the construction industry. The problems in that industry are extensive. It is about short construction times, long chains of subcontractors, unclear knowledge requirements for employers and work environment coordinators, insufficient authority control, and procurement that prioritizes the lowest price. All of this is a cocktail that obviously makes construction sites much more dangerous than other workplaces. Add to that, just as the minister has obviously also noted, a widespread work-life crime.
It is quite obviously necessary to take far-reaching measures to get the working environment in the construction industry in order. Therefore, we Social Democrats demanded already last year that a crisis commission should be appointed for the construction industry, something that the government parties opposed. I find it very difficult to understand how one can oppose something like that, because a total review of the construction industry is obviously needed.
It is very good that the government is doing something linked to the construction industry, but I think it is somewhat problematic to focus solely on safety culture, which I also believe takes some of the responsibility away from the employer and places more of it on the employees. But, as said: It is very important that we have a good safety culture in our workplaces.
In connection with the work environment strategy 2021-2025, a number of investigations were initiated on various issues, including how to get more employers to actually follow the rules we have. We have very good rules, but there are very many rules that are not followed, for example the rules that are linked to the social and organizational work environment. Also, when it comes to the systematic and most fundamental work that one as an employer must do, we can see that many do not follow it. It does not have the same weight because there are no consequences if one does not perform the task, unlike when one does not check and follow up on the physical work environment at the workplaces. Therefore, we investigated this and wanted to see increased sanction fees on the Swedish labor market.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! The assignment we gave regarding safety culture in the construction industry is not the entire solution, of course, but I see it as an important measure. It is also a measure that the government has decided on after, among others, I myself have participated in several meetings with the labor market parties where there have been many testimonies about major deficiencies in the safety culture in precisely the construction industry.
The issue can have several roots. One of the things that is raised when I meet representatives for the labor market parties is that there are many posted workers in the construction industry who may come from countries where there is a different view on safety culture than what we have in Sweden. I see that as an important reason why we actually delve extra deep into that issue.
But this is not the only thing the government is doing. I mentioned some examples in my previous speech, but I can add that the government has also issued directives for more unannounced inspections at our workplaces. From the government's side, we believe that one gets a better picture of safety deficiencies at a workplace if an inspection is carried out without calling and announcing the visit first. We also believe it is important that physical inspections are the rule rather than digital inspections, which we saw an increase of in connection with the pandemic.
The government has also allocated funds in the budget so that Arbetsmiljöverket can sharpen its focus regarding which industries require extra much supervision, where the risks are greatest.
In addition to this, the government decided in February this year on supplementary directives to the Delegation against crime in the labor market. This is a delegation that has previously submitted a partial report. They are currently looking at the issue of agency cooperation and how important it is to tackle crime in the labor market.
The government has in the supplementary instructions to the delegation now given directives to focus on certain industries, including the construction industry, where the government sees that there is a particular need to find concrete measures that can solve the problems.
When it comes to crime in the working life, it is, just as I said in my previous speech, of course important that we do not have actors who earn money at the expense of other people's lives and health. This is money that not infrequently feeds the criminal economy. But I also hear more and more testimonies that it is difficult for serious companies to survive in the industries where crime in the working life spreads. It is very difficult to win tenders, because one has difficulty competing on price with those who take shortcuts in safety work. That is precisely why it is so important that this work is carried out on two fronts: Those who want to do right shall find it easier to do right, and those who do not want to do right have no place on the Swedish labor market. We must be careful that it is also enforced in reality.
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! If we want there to be no room for companies that cheat and if we want to push them out in time, we need to do more. We need to review the legislation. We need to see if there are new measures we can take, not just increase the controls. We must also ensure that breaking the rules has consequences in several areas.
In this debate, I intended to raise – I suppose I shall do so now – that we want to ensure that we clarify that the person who has authority over the workplace is also the one who is to take action. It is problematic, especially within the construction industry, that there are long chains of contractors. Responsibility seems to disappear in these long links. We need to limit the subcontracting chain. We need to exclude companies that repeatedly cheat on the working environment from public contracts and grants. We want to expand the right of access and increase the grants for the regional safety representatives. We want to appoint a crisis commission for the hard-hit construction industry.
In connection with the work environment strategy, proposals for concrete measures have been developed that could strengthen work environment efforts, clarify responsibility, and provide greater focus on preventive work. The proposals exist, but the government has not taken a position on them yet. Paulina Brandberg has been responsible for these issues for two years. For just as long, the proposals have been lying on her desk. I think it is time for the minister to act.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! The interpellator points out, which I absolutely agree with, that it is also important that it becomes costly for those companies that have no place in the Swedish labor market to do wrong.
There is legislation. There are many authorities that have toolboxes and the possibility to intervene against these companies. That is exactly why the joint work between authorities is so important. The authorities involved in that work include, among others, Skatteverket, Arbetsmiljöverket, Migrationsverket, and law enforcement agencies. Each of these authorities sits with different toolboxes. If we are truly to get to the dirty fish on the Swedish labor market, we need to ensure that we use many of these toolboxes simultaneously, in order to achieve maximum effect.
That is why I am very pleased that the government has stepped up this work and that we have also done what should have been done a very long time ago: We are removing the secrecy barriers, so that these authorities can exchange information with each other and get the opportunity to cooperate in an effective way.
With this, I would like to thank you for the debate and for the member's commitment to issues regarding the working environment.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.