Published: Just now
Four out of five employers in risky industries do not meet the requirements for a safe working environment, shows a survey by the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
– These are really terrible numbers, says Erna Zelmin, director general.
After inspections of around 5,000 employers over four years, the authority found plenty of shortcomings when it comes to fulfilling the Work Environment Act’s requirements to systematically and regularly investigate, assess risks and remedy risks in the employees’ work environment.
The result is “disappointing”, believes the Swedish Work Environment Agency, and 82 percent of the inspected workplaces have been required to remedy deficiencies.
Bad routines
– The most common thing is that you don’t have proper routines to regularly review, together with the protection organization and workers, what risks do we have at our job? And above all, what do we do to prevent anything from happening?, says Erna Zelmin, director general at the Swedish Work Environment Agency.
Risky work mainly occurs in construction, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing and transport and warehousing.
– It can be about working at a high height without safety lines on a construction site, running over people or things with vehicles and trucks or injuring your hands on tools in the manufacturing industry, says general manager Erna Zelmin.
– In the end, it leads to people being injured or even dying at work in accidents, she continues.
“Horrible numbers”
During these four years, the Swedish Work Environment Agency has made around 60 decisions on immediate bans and issued close to 340 penalty charges against companies in industries with risky work.
– If you are in a risky industry, awareness must be present every day. These are really terrible numbers, says Erna Zelmin.
Facts
Inspections in industries with risky work
The accident statistics show that risky work is mainly found in construction, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing and transport and storage.
In total, over 7,700 inspections, including 2,350 follow-ups, have been carried out and 4,934 workplaces have been inspected by the Swedish Work Environment Agency.
Out of 4,934 inspected workplaces, 4,068 were required to remedy deficiencies in work environment work.
The Swedish Work Environment Authority has made around 60 decisions on immediate bans and issued close to 340 penalty fees.
Source: Swedish Work Environment Authority
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