The Swedish Work Environment Authority has been examining the systematic work environment work and the preventive work against work-related strain injuries at 4,800 employers in various industries in Sweden for four years. In the study, the Swedish Work Environment Authority has placed a strong focus on the issue of strain injuries, as such injuries are behind a large part of the reported ill health in the workplace. On June 7, 2023, the Swedish Work Environment Authority released its report on the findings from the inspections and the conclusions drawn by the Swedish Work Environment Authority. In short, the Swedish Work Environment Authority found the following.
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:
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.
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.