Response to interpellation 2025/26:6 on the government's handling of the asbestos issue
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 government's handling of the asbestos issue. L argues that the government takes cheating and lack of training seriously 1, that the employer has the primary responsibility for a safe working environment 1 and that the authority has taken measures after dialogue with relevant actors 2. L emphasizes that the zero vision for work-related mortality applies 1 2, that the government is following the issue closely 3 and has allocated resources for more inspections 3 as well as that Arbetsmiljöverket is working on incorporating changes into the asbestos directive 4. S criticizes the government for passivity and lack of long-term perspective 5. S argues that the government has not acted on Arbetsmiljöverket's proposals 5 6 and that today's system lacks control 7. S wants to introduce independent examinations 6 and demands an action plan 8 9. S offers to cooperate if the government presents proposals 10.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! Ardalan Shekarabi has asked me what measures I intend to take to strengthen the control of asbestos management and how I intend to ensure that workers who may be exposed to asbestos receive the correct training and protective equipment.
I would like to start by thanking Ardalan Shekarabi for pertinent questions on a subject that, if handled incorrectly, can be life-threatening. The Government takes the reports of suspected fraud and crime in work with asbestos, and the reports of lack of training, very seriously.
In accordance with the government's proposal in the budget bill for 2025, the Riksdag decided to allocate 50 million to Arbetsmiljöverket in 2025 to tighten and streamline the control of the working environment so that fatal accidents and other serious work environment risks are prevented. The supplement is subsequently estimated to amount to 75 million in 2026 and 100 million per year from 2027 onwards.
An important part of the current work environment strategy (skr. 2020/21:92) is the expanded zero vision. Beyond workplace accidents, it 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 mandate regarding asbestos, which was submitted at the beginning of 2023 (A2022/00995), 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.
I would finally like to point out that 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.
The National Audit Office has announced that they intend to initiate an audit of the Swedish Work Environment Authority's work with asbestos. Such an audit gives the government reason to return to the Riksdag on the issue in the form of a communication. I will follow this issue closely going forward.
Ardalan Shekarabi (S)
Madam Speaker! I would very much like to say thank you to the honorable Minister, but I do not quite know what I should thank the Minister for.
I asked a very simple question: What measures does the Minister intend to take to strengthen the control of asbestos management? The Minister received another opportunity to elaborate on the government's measures with a second question: How does the Minister intend to ensure that workers who may be exposed to asbestos receive the correct training and protective equipment?
The Minister accounted for some processes ongoing at some authority and possibly also the National Audit Office's review. But it is the government that governs the realm, Madam Speaker!
The current honorable Minister is the third Minister in a year with responsibility for these issues. There has been chaos at the Ministry of Employment with changes of the responsible Minister twice during a one-year period. There is a total lack of long-term perspective in the labor market policy and the work life policy. That means that at the end of this mandate period, we are in a situation where nothing has happened in these areas.
In a previous interpellation debate, we heard that the Committee on Employment does not receive any cases to handle. Nothing is happening at the Ministry of Employment due to all the changes of ministers. There is also a passivity in this response now.
Why am I disappointed then, Madam Speaker? Yes, because this literally concerns life and death. It concerns the health and lives of Swedish construction workers.
In the election campaign, there was at least one party on the government side that spoke about workers and construction workers. It was the government's coalition partner, Sverigedemokraterna – sometimes called the government's mandate-giver.
Now that the election has been held and we are in the fourth year of the mandate period, we see however that this government is conducting a policy that directly harms construction workers through higher unemployment and lower wages. Now we also have the asbestos issue which concerns life and health.
Madam Speaker! These questions are not secret for the Minister. It has been reported in several instances on Sveriges Radio regarding serious deficiencies in the handling of asbestos control at Arbetsmiljöverket.
It is absolutely no secret to the Minister that the Swedish Work Environment Authority two years ago highlighted proposals that trainers should need to be approved to provide training and that everyone who is to demolish asbestos should need to take a test with an independent party – roughly like a driving test. This has still not become a reality.
I hope that the Minister has at least had time to be informed that such proposals exist. But nothing is happening. No proposals are coming to the Riksdag. No decisions are being made by the government in this area.
Those who pay the price are Swedish construction workers. The result will be noticed in 30 years – for that is how asbestos works, as the Minister knows.
There is, therefore, reason to seriously direct criticism at the Minister. There is now one year left of the mandate period. Use this year to do something to benefit Swedish construction workers and their lives and health!
Based on the previous interpellation debate, I urge the Minister to not turn the question to the opposition but actually answer what measures the Minister and the Government intend to take so that this issue shall be resolved.
Leif Nysmed (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. Is it "Minister" one must say nowadays?
I had not intended to speak in this debate, but then I read the written response from the minister. He writes at the end that he wants to emphasize that it is always the employer who has the primary responsibility. Yes, that is true. The problem is all the subcontractors and their variants in the construction industry today, which complicates it. I have two cases with me where it complicates it very much regarding who is responsible and who has caused the danger that has arisen.
In one case, it is a company that has a remediation permit to remediate asbestos. They hire Company 2, which is to perform this. The staff have training – or "training", I suppose I should say, because they apparently have not quite understood it – but Company 2 actually does not have a permit to perform the work. The Work Environment Authority notices this, and a number of deficiencies are also noticed – especially in the personal protective equipment. Where does the responsibility lie?
Company 1 and Company 2 also actually have the same owners. It is a way to mess with personnel and responsibility, and in response to the Work Environment Authority's questions, one bounces the responsibility between the two different companies – which are, in fact, owned by the same people. One simply dribbles with the legislation itself in order to mislead and personally avoid taking responsibility.
In another notable case, there was a riding hall in Alvesta with a fiber cement roof that was to be washed. The company that had received the assignment had permission to do this. But they subcontracted the work to a company that did not have it and which did it in a way that meant asbestos was spread throughout the entire riding hall. It exposed people in the premises to this danger. It takes only one exposure for you to be able to get asbestos when you get older.
I am a former construction worker myself and have worked with these issues for many years, and to put it diplomatically – I was about to swear, and I am not allowed to do that in this context – I am very upset that in 2025 we do not have a better order on Swedish construction sites and that one does not address these issues despite even Arbetsmiljöverket putting forward proposals on how one can do so.
We must also get the Swedish labor market in order for there to be order and clarity in this. We have this subcontracting issue that actually must be combated. Norway manages to take steps in the right direction, and Sweden should also be able to do that so that we get order and clarity.
Earlier in the debate, the Minister highlighted a strict asylum migration to Sweden. I would like to highlight a strict labor migration within certain industries in Sweden. Labor migration, in fact, knocks the legs out from under serious companies that actually perform these jobs. A cleanup was needed in Swedish labor market policy. We need to return to an order where we have a labor market assessment that ensures people are not tricked into life-threatening jobs and perform the work with fake qualifications behind them.
In conclusion, I just want to inform the Minister for Employment that the unemployment benefit is not a subsidy but an insurance. I have taken out an insurance with the Swedish Construction Workers' Unemployment Fund; I have not signed up for a subsidy. It is an insurance. Call it what it is!
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Asbestos is one of the most dangerous substances we have in Swedish workplaces. Despite having been banned for decades, hundreds of people die every year from the consequences of asbestos exposure.
To protect workers, their relatives, and others, it is required that those who handle asbestos receive the correct training where they learn to protect themselves against exposure. But we know that the training does not always meet the standard. Sveriges Radio has shown examples where training certificates have been issued without the participants having received sufficient knowledge, and this is also confirmed by the Arbetsmiljöverket report that was submitted to the government in January 2023.
The authority then noted that the quality of the training programs varies greatly. Only 3 of the 20 reviewed training providers require a knowledge test to obtain a certificate. There is also a lack of both systematic quality assurance and a register of both approved trainers and those who have been trained and are supposed to have knowledge of asbestos removal. There is therefore no control of the quality of the training programs. Workers can, despite having a certificate in hand, completely lack basic knowledge about protective equipment and how to protect themselves.
That someone has a certificate actually says nothing in practice – not about what the person can do and not even about whether the person has undergone a training. An inspector said in Ekots review that it is frightening how many remediators he meets who completely lack knowledge about the risks, despite having certificates of completed training. In the same review, Stefan was interviewed, who took a two-day training online. He received his certificate even though he had not undergone the practical training he was promised. The course leader issued the certificate completely before Stefan had performed those parts of the training.
Madam Speaker! The Swedish Work Environment Authority proposes a number of measures in its report in January 2023, such as an independent examination of those who have completed the training, better control of the training providers and a national register. This is proposed to ensure that the certificates issued testify that you actually have the knowledge required to be able to work safely.
We Social Democrats read the report, which I assume the Minister has also done, and after that, we have every year submitted proposals in our motions that it is precisely what should be done: introduce examination and a tightened control of the asbestos training. My question is why the government has not acted on the Work Environment Authority's proposal. And is the Minister prepared to introduce independent examination and a tightened control of the asbestos training?
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! I just want to ensure that we get the right perspective here. It is stated that several hundred die every year from asbestos-related injuries. A single death is one too many, I want to start by saying, but at the same time, it is the case that those who today have asbestos-related injuries were exposed 20–40 years ago, before asbestos was banned in 1982. Then there is asbestos remaining in many buildings, not least those that were built before 1980 or something similar.
I just want us to have it clear so that we do not believe that hundreds of people today are exposed to asbestos and then die from this. But as said: A single death is one death too many.
Due to the information in the media, we have during the spring had a close dialogue with the relevant actors, including Arbetsmiljöverket. They have in turn reviewed their routines and taken measures. What we hear is very serious. The information we receive about suspected cheating and crime in work with asbestos is very serious, as is that which is raised regarding training with lacking quality. We will not accept a bypassing of the rules that exist.
At the same time, we of course assume that Arbetsmiljöverket examines every individual case very carefully and that they weigh in all the collective knowledge available within the authority in the granting of permits. No one should risk life or health because of their job. Everyone has the right to a safe and secure working environment. Nothing other than a zero vision can apply for deaths resulting from work. We are following this issue very closely.
Ardalan Shekarabi (S)
Madam Speaker! I do not know if it is because I am about to turn 47, but I simply cannot thank you for the answer that the issue is being followed closely. It is a mockery of those who are affected. If we do not act here and now – and it is the government that governs the realm and governs the Work Environment Authority – then in 20–30 years, debates will be held in this chamber about deaths due to asbestos that was not handled correctly in 2025 in Sweden.
Madam Speaker! This is a very topical issue, considering that for structural reasons, very many municipal buildings were constructed in Sweden during the 1970s. In connection with municipal mergers, swimming pools and sports facilities were built. One took the opportunity before the municipality was merged with another municipality. At that time, asbestos was used. Then we have had tough economic times to and fro in Sweden, which has resulted in many swimming pools, sports facilities, and other public facilities not being renovated particularly much. Now they can no longer really be used, which means we face a wave of renovations and demolitions of public buildings built in 1970–1980, when asbestos was used.
This is, therefore, a very urgent issue that the Minister for Employment should be stressed about. He should present an action plan for what the government intends to do. He should perhaps even have anticipated this interpellation and come to the committee to report which measures are on the government's list during the coming year, which is the last year the government has at its disposal.
It has not happened, however. The answer we receive today is that the issue is being closely monitored, but we do not want the issue to be closely monitored. There are concrete proposals from Arbetsmiljöverket, Madam Speaker. Arbetsmiljöverket has clearly stated that the regulations make it impossible to solve these problems. We need to change the regulations in order to be able to solve the problems.
The reason there are so many emotions in the chamber today is that this concerns life and health. It concerns life and health for those who do not wear a suit at work – for those who build our country and carry the social construction on their shoulders. They stand out there when it is minus 20 degrees and build public buildings, demolish old buildings, and build housing. Now, it is currently at a standstill due to the government's housing policy, but other things are being done. Those people deserve the same security and the same respect for life and health that we here inside deserve.
We in this chamber have the task of ensuring that the government does its job. If the government comes with the answer that the question is being followed, it is our duty – and my duty as a member – to give the minister the chance to answer this: Does the government intend to, during this year, which is the last that the government has at its disposal, take measures in accordance with the proposals that Arbetsmiljöverket has put on the table?
Leif Nysmed (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister!
I will try to maintain a somewhat calmer tone in this speech. It touches on very much. I have colleagues who have been affected by asbestos. We must remember that it is not only the people at the workplace who are affected by this, but also that many relatives are affected. It is enough to go home in your work clothes one day and carry it with you. The boy or daughter hugs their father when he comes home in his work clothes and then ingests asbestos, which can lead to asbestos. This is something that we will have to live with for a long time to come, given that it takes so much time to develop asbestos.
The lack of housing policy and with a housing construction that is the lowest since the 90s – it is a crisis – we are investing a lot in renovations. Many of the houses that are being renovated were built in the 60s or 70s. It concerns both multi-family houses as well as villas and terraced houses. There is a great lack of knowledge, not only among those who are to receive the training but also among other colleagues of mine, who do not demolish asbestos, regarding where asbestos is found.
Perhaps there is also a need for pressure to inform. A knowledge boost is needed in this issue, because the level of knowledge has dropped. Especially the foreign workforce that comes to Sweden and works, who do not have the occupational environment mindset that we have built up in this country over many years, are very affected by this. We know that asbestos is not only found in pipe elbows, insulation, and asbestos-cement sheets. It is also in the glue in our plastic mats. It is in the tile adhesive in the tiles on the walls in buildings from the 60s or 70s. It is also in some wallpapers and in window putty. It is in very many different places.
If we want to reduce the number of people who die in 40 years, we must address it now, with the knowledge we have. I wish that we take this issue more seriously.
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister says that we cannot accept that it looks like this. Then the government needs to act. It is not enough to follow the question.
The report from Arbetsmiljöverket was an appeal to the government to act. Without control over the training, the number of deaths will not decrease. Arbetsmiljöverket's report was very clear: Today's system is not sufficient. There is no control that meets the requirements we can expect to be set. Many training programs lack crucial components and knowledge tests. This means that today we have workers who are daily exposed to great risks without having the knowledge required to protect themselves, their relatives, and their colleagues against the deadly dust that asbestos actually is.
We would never accept that driving licenses were issued in the same way as asbestos work certificates or educational certificates, without either a theory test or a driving test. However, this is precisely what happens when it comes to the asbestos training. One receives a certificate without having to perform or demonstrate that one has learned anything from the training.
The problems with the asbestos training are known. Arbetsmiljöverket has pointed out solutions. The Social Democrats have submitted proposals. The report has been on the minister's desk – or rather, on the previous minister's desk – for over two years without the government taking action. As long as the government does not get the asbestos training in order, people will continue to be exposed to unnecessary and deadly risks, and workers will continue to die from asbestos-related diseases.
To let companies expose workers to life-threatening danger in this way is nothing other than a betrayal of Swedish workers. As the responsible minister, Johan Britz has the task of ensuring that the rules work in reality. When does the government intend to implement the necessary reforms to bring order and clarity to these trainings?
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank the interpellator and the members for the discussion.
This is a very serious issue. We share the starting point that no human being should have to die because of their work or at their workplace.
It is important that all actors are reminded of the clear regulatory framework that exists in the working environment legislation. This is, among other things, why the government has allocated resources to more inspections, which the Swedish Work Environment Authority performs. This ensures that we detect things that are not right.
We have a continuous dialogue with the authorities. Arbetsmiljöverket has reviewed its routines and taken measures. Two of these measures are to review how routines, guidelines, and e-tools function as well as to improve the training for, among others, permit handlers.
The situation described here, and which has been described in the media, involves a bypassing of rules that cannot be accepted. When I say that we are following this issue closely, I mean exactly what I say. We are following this issue very closely. The starting point is that no one should have to be affected by being exposed to asbestos in Sweden.
Ardalan Shekarabi (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to urge the Minister to stop following this question closely and instead lead the work to implement asbestos controls that save lives. We do not need more ministers who follow questions closely. What we need is someone who solves the problems. According to our Instrument of Government, it is the Government that governs the realm and the Government that governs the Work Environment Authority. It is also the Government that has the responsibility to act if the authority points out deficiencies in the legislation, which the relevant authority has done in this case.
I would like to give a promise to Johan Britz, Madam Speaker. If it is the case that the government comes forward with proposals in accordance with the Work Environment Authority's analysis, we are prepared to cooperate and do what we can to promptly make decisions on legislative changes if so needed. It is our duty. We will do what we can. But it is the government that governs the realm. It is the government that needs to present legislative proposals. It is the government that needs to act.
I would finally like to urge the Minister to use the eleven months he has at his disposal. There is still room for reforms. It does not have to be the case that the Minister for Employment has some kind of vacation post in the government with an empty list of propositions. It could be that during this final year, proposals will be submitted to the Riksdag that solve at least some of the problems that exist in the Swedish labor market.
We have different starting points in the question of whether one should accept unemployment or not – okay. But we should be able to agree on this, shouldn't we? It is about saving the lives of Swedish construction workers. Let us cooperate on this! We truly welcome it if the government comes forward with proposals if legislative changes are needed. We will support it, and we will act promptly if so required.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! I note once again that we are in complete agreement regarding the ambition concerning the Swedish working environment in this case. No one should die at their job or because of their job.
A piece of information is that work is ongoing at the Swedish Work Environment Authority to incorporate the changes in the asbestos directive from the autumn of 2023 into the Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations. That work is to be completed in December this year, so it is ongoing. Furthermore, the Swedish National Audit Office has announced that they will initiate an audit of the Swedish Work Environment Authority's work with the asbestos issue. Such an audit also gives us reason to return.
I thank you for the debate on this very important issue.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.