Response to interpellation 2024/25:207 on deficiencies in the handling of asbestos

Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! Johanna Haraldsson has asked me what measures I and the government intend to take to ensure that the rules for the handling of asbestos are complied with. She has also asked me what initiatives are planned to ensure that workers who may be exposed to asbestos receive the correct training and protective equipment, and what regulatory tightenings I and the government plan in connection with the implementation of the new asbestos directive.

I would like to begin by thanking the interpellor for pressing questions on a subject that, if handled incorrectly, can be life-threatening. The Government takes the reports of suspected fraud and crime in work involving asbestos, and that people are being exploited on the Swedish labor market, very seriously.

An important part of the current work environment strategy (skr. 2020/21:92) is the expanded zero vision, which, in addition to workplace accidents, concerns work-related mortality due to, for example, long-term illness, cancer, and suicide. The results from the Swedish Work Environment Authority's report on a government assignment regarding asbestos (A2022/00995), which was submitted in early 2023, are taken into account in the work with the zero vision. The Swedish Work Environment Authority produces an annual action plan to implement the work environment strategy in cooperation with the parties in the labor market. Asbestos is included in the work that the Swedish Work Environment Authority has in its action plan.

It is always the employer who has the primary responsibility to ensure that the employees have a safe and healthy working environment according to the Work Environment Act (1977:1160) and the Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations. This includes ensuring that the employees have the required training and the necessary personal protective equipment.

According to the EU directive on asbestos adopted during the Swedish EU Presidency in 2023, the limit value for asbestos has been significantly lowered - see Directive (EU) 2023/2668 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 November 2023 amending Directive 2009/148/EC on the protection of workers from the risks = arising from exposure to asbestos in work. Currently, the Swedish Work Environment Authority is working on implementing the asbestos directive through amendments to the authority's regulations.

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Johanna Haraldsson (S)

Madam Speaker! Inhaling asbestos dust can cause serious damage to the lungs and lead to life-threatening diseases such as cancer. Therefore, the use of asbestos has been prohibited in Sweden since 1982.

Despite this, workers risk being exposed to the life-threatening dust when older buildings are demolished or renovated. Every year, 270 people die because they have been exposed to asbestos dust during their working lives. Precisely because this mineral is so dangerous, we have strict rules for how it should be handled, in order to protect people from the health risks that arise when asbestos fibers are released.

Sveriges Radios Ekot has reported on serious deficiencies at workplaces where asbestos is present. According to their reporting, Arbetsmiljöverket criticized over 200 asbestos operations during the past year because the companies did not follow applicable rules and did not protect the workers sufficiently. Several companies have had such great problems fulfilling the requirements that they have even had their permits revoked.

Despite the fact that the companies have such major deficiencies, 21 of the 28 entrepreneurs whose companies have been stopped have nevertheless been allowed to continue exposing their workers to life-threatening danger, Ekots' review shows. This is done by, for example, moving operations to other companies or quickly applying for new permits. A large majority of the companies that received new permits after the prohibitions also continued to behave improperly. The review also shows that Arbetsmiljöverket has granted permits to companies that are actually the same as a company for which a permit has been withdrawn. It is a company with the same staff and the same routines, owners and work equipment - just under a different name.

So the same companies that have exposed workers to serious health risks can therefore continue, with the authorities' permission. To me, that sounds completely insane. What is the Minister doing to stop this unreasonable conduct from the authority's side?

In a report from the Swedish Work Environment Authority that the government received in 2023, it appears that there are also major deficiencies in the quality of the training required for workers to have sufficient knowledge to protect themselves and others and, above all, to handle asbestos. There is no control over the quality of the training. The Swedish Work Environment Authority states that workers, despite being able to present training certificates, still lack relevant—sometimes purely basic—knowledge about handling asbestos and what protective equipment is needed.

That is why the report from Arbetsmiljöverket highlighted the need for a system for quality assurance of the training and that only approved companies should be allowed to provide the training. They also highlighted that an external actor should be given responsibility for knowledge tests, examinations, and training certificates – somewhat like Trafikverket's responsibility for driving tests.

A specific investigation was also requested to establish a register of approved trainers and those who have actually completed such training with a passing result. When will the government appoint that investigation and do anything at all to bring order and clarity to the vital asbestos trainings?

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Sofia Amloh (S)

Madam Speaker! As we heard from Member Haraldsson, this has been a problem for many decades. In the 60s and 70s, knowledge was very low. One did not really know what one was facing or what one was handling, and one especially did not know the consequences.

In 2024, we know very well how dangerous this is and how it should be handled, but despite that, we see these deficiencies. Above all, in the review that Ekot has conducted, which was reported here, it emerged what serious and extensive deficiencies exist in the workplaces regarding remediation.

When these deficiencies emerged and one gained this knowledge - when one saw how serious this was and what diseases it has led to - one became more aware. However, it is nothing we can take for granted. We see deficiencies in the training. As a concrete example of this, a plumber who has been in the industry for about a year testifies, among others, that the person did not receive that knowledge at all in school. This is, therefore, today, 2024.

The objections that emerge are serious. It is serious that people do not have the knowledge and only suspect that it is construction dust when it can be as serious as it can be with asbestos.

In the Minister's response, we could hear that Arbetsmiljöverket has been tasked with implementing the asbestos directive. That is good, but I still lack ambitions from the government when it comes to implementing the directive and that it should be introduced according to the authorities' regulations. Why has the government not sent any ambitions – and a direction for what is wanted – to Arbetsmiljöverket? There are extensive deficiencies, and there need to be at least equally extensive ambitions from the government's side in order to get this right.

We Social Democrats question whether this is sufficient, especially since the Swedish Work Environment Authority itself has received very harsh criticism in Ekot's review. What do the government and the Minister intend to do about it?

The Minister has said that no measures are ruled out. That is good, but what are the measures? Where are the extensive initiatives from the government that are in proportion to the extensive deficiencies that have emerged, not least during the last week?

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Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! I really want to thank the interpellator and the member for raising this important issue. What has emerged in Ekots review is horrific. Just as the interpellator stated, we have a very strict regulatory framework when it comes to asbestos remediation, and we have that for a reason. This is a very harmful substance that causes severe illness and death.

Ekots review shows that there is an extensive bypassing of the regulatory framework we have, which aims to protect workers from exposure to asbestos. On the occasion of the review, I had a meeting this morning with the Director General of the Swedish Work Environment Authority to dive deep into this issue. I can begin by stating that the Director General and I were in complete agreement that it is very positive that this review has been conducted and that this has come to light. We were also in complete agreement that it should not proceed in this way, with an extensive bypassing of the regulatory framework.

Of course, a physical person who has a company that has had its permit revoked due to deficiencies in handling will not become more suitable to handle asbestos simply by starting a new company or moving the operations to another existing company. We obviously need to address this.

In my meeting with Lars Lööw, I pointed out the importance of taking measures promptly to rectify this and close the loopholes. Every day that passes with these loopholes in the regulatory framework poses a real risk to people's lives and health.

The Director General spoke about the agency's work and that a process has been initiated with measures. Some are such that they can be implemented in the short term, for example, a review of IT systems to obtain better routines.

We spoke about the training and what needs to be done for this to function in a better way. We also spoke about the implementation of the asbestos directive - work is currently ongoing at Arbetsmiljöverket.

We also, of course, spoke about the fact that the permit processes need to be reviewed so that something like this cannot happen. The management of the Swedish Work Environment Authority has said that they will conduct a deep dive into this to see if there is something lacking in what they themselves can control or if measures are required from the government's side to close this gap.

I will, of course, have close contact with the management of the Swedish Work Environment Authority to see to what extent the government needs to act. As I said earlier, this is something that is truly urgent.

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Johanna Haraldsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. It is very pleasing that she has taken this so seriously and had talks with the Director General.

I am still worried that we are not doing enough and that the government is not taking sufficient responsibility for this. Now that the authority is working on implementing new rules and limit values, there is a golden opportunity to rectify things that do not work today. In that case, the authority needs to be given a mandate from the government to make changes beyond the minimum directive. That mandate, as I said, must come from the government.

Are there ambitions from the side of the Minister and the Government to give this assignment to the authority, and if so, what is it? The Minister says that we must get this right. The question is: How? What measures does one intend to initiate?

That the authority allows companies that expose employees to life-threatening danger to continue removing asbestos is nothing other than a major betrayal and completely horrific, just as the Minister says. The deficiencies in the handling of asbestos at Swedish workplaces are extensive. It is clear that neither the companies nor the authority have previously taken these risks seriously enough.

Paulina Brandberg is the responsible minister. To have responsibility means that one needs to take responsibility and act when something within one's area of responsibility has truly failed, which I mean the handling of asbestos has done. For this to become more precise, I would like the Minister to say what she will do to address the obvious shortcomings in the handling of asbestos. Does she see that it is time to act now?

The training that is supposed to give workers enough knowledge to protect themselves and others has major deficiencies. This is not a new issue for the Minister. I wonder why the Minister has not acted earlier when she has had the report from the Work Environment Authority on her desk for two years.

One can imagine what it would be like if it worked the same way with driving license training as it does with asbestos training, and anyone could issue driving licenses without either a driving test or a practical driving test. When will the government and the minister proceed with ensuring that we get order and clarity in the training phase when it comes to asbestos handling?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sofia Amloh (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer, even though it was minimal given Ekot's review of the extensive deficiencies. There is an investigation with a number of proposals, and as we have described during the debate, asbestos has been an occupational health and safety problem for a long time. It should therefore not be anything new for either the Swedish Work Environment Authority or the Minister. A conversation with the Director General of the relevant authority is perhaps the least one can expect, but what initiatives is the government taking beyond that? What assignments are given? What decisions need to be made to get the extensive measures required on site?

Madam Speaker! The construction industry is under severe pressure. It is subjected to occupational crime, and only a few years ago we stood here in the chamber and discussed the fatal accidents in this industry. The government's initiatives were then so meager that the Social Democrats, along with several other parties, submitted a committee initiative to get sufficient measures in place. But nothing has been done. Can we expect the same when it comes to asbestos? It also leads to death – it just takes longer. What does the government intend to do? What decisions should be made? Do you intend to do something about these trainings? If the government does nothing, the Social Democrats will need to help take the initiative.

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Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! The meeting I had with the Director General of the Swedish Work Environment Authority aimed to provide answers to many of the questions being asked in this debate: What is it that is going wrong, and how can we ensure that it does not go wrong in this way? We must, of course, also ensure that there is a consensus that it is unacceptable for the rules to be bypassed.

I wish that I had, here and now, ready answers on exactly which measures need to be taken to close the gaps. I do not have those answers today, but there is an urgent work underway to figure out which measures need to be taken so that we do not have this situation in Sweden. The Government will, of course, need to take the measures required so that people are not exposed to asbestos and thus suffer from illness and death.

Just as was pointed out, an implementation of the asbestos directive is underway. During the Swedish EU Presidency, I personally pushed for us to obtain a general orientation in the EU Council of Ministers so that this directive could be adopted within the EU. We succeeded in this as well, which was one of the major gains during the Swedish presidency. Now, this extremely important directive is, as stated, being implemented, and in this process we naturally need to ensure that all issues concerning workers' exposure to asbestos are handled.

Something I also spoke with the Director General of the Swedish Work Environment Authority about is that the issue concerns more than just asbestos. Ekots' review revealed that there are instances of bypassing the regulatory framework for permits for asbestos handling, and then one asks whether other rules for permit processes intended to protect workers' lives and health are also being bypassed. We also need to take this with us in our work. Asbestos is very serious, but there is also other things that are serious and that we need to handle in our continued work.

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Johanna Haraldsson (S)

Madam Speaker! In connection with the implementation of the asbestos directive, there will be some new requirements that more people should receive training and that they should also have certificates. But the problem remains. There is no control of the training providers, and even in the future, we will not know if the person whose name is on the certificate has undergone the training or has the vital knowledge required to work with asbestos in a safe manner.

The government must act and ensure that companies that do not care about workers' safety are not allowed to continue. It is not reasonable that companies that endanger their employees' lives and health are allowed to continue operating businesses and exposing their employees to risk. It is the government and the responsible minister who can ensure that the authority changes its way of working and puts Swedish workers' health and safety ahead of the companies' interests. It is the government that must take the initiative to clean up in the educational sector.

If the government does not act to clean up the industry, the Riksdag must take the initiative. We Social Democrats are prepared to act to strengthen safety in Swedish workplaces - and of course not only when it concerns asbestos.

(Applause)

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Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)

Madam Speaker! I want to be very clear on behalf of the government. Those actors who are not suitable to handle asbestos should also not handle asbestos. That is the starting point we need to have and work from. It is also what will be guiding in the government's work moving forward in this issue.

I will continue to have a close dialogue with the Swedish Work Environment Authority in all matters concerning asbestos, such as training, licensing, supervision, and the regulatory framework that the Swedish Work Environment Authority follows.

I hope that we can find measures to solve the problems in the short term and that we can, of course, also address the underlying problems that emerge in Ekots review.

Thank you for the debate!

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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