Swedish Work Environment Authority

Municipalities and regions received requirements for improvements

In one of the inspection activities, the Swedish Work Environment Authority inspected all 21 regions and 286 out of 290 municipalities in Sweden. Nine out of ten workplaces that were inspected received requirements for improvement measures. Many employers had deficiencies in their annual follow-ups of the systematic work environment work.

The most common deficiencies:

• The organizations had not conducted any annual follow-up of the systematic work environment work.
• The routines for the systematic work environment work also had deficiencies in how the annual follow-up should be carried out.

In a joint European effort, it was revealed that very few employers within the mentioned sectors investigate and assess the risks of musculoskeletal disorders. Among hairdressers, only 28 percent used a risk assessment that identified risks of musculoskeletal disorders. The corresponding figure for food companies was 40 percent.

Improvements after inspection

One of the Swedish Work Environment Authority's supervisory activities was to investigate whether inspected companies have developed their work environment work after previously being inspected by the Swedish Work Environment Authority. In the assessment, the systematic work environment work from five years ago was compared to the current situation. In particular, it was assessed whether the systematic work environment work has now been integrated into the companies' processes. Although almost six out of ten companies still received requirements for improvement measures despite the work undertaken in response to the deficiencies identified five years ago, 70 percent of the companies stated that they have continued to develop their systematic work environment work since the Swedish Work Environment Authority's first visit.

Read more about the Swedish Work Environment Authority's report here.

Read the national report on the SLIC campaign 2022 here.

In summary

• Be familiar with the process: An employment agreement establishes the working relationship between the employer and the employee, and it is important to understand how and when this agreement is entered into.
• Ensure annual follow-ups of the systematic work environment efforts.
• Develop routines for annual follow-up of the work environment efforts to ensure compliance.
• Conduct risk assessments for strain injuries, especially in industries such as the hairdressing industry and the food industry.
• Continue to develop and integrate the systematic work environment efforts into the company's processes, even after inspections and requirements for improvement measures from the Swedish Work Environment Authority.