The possibility of agreeing to exceptions from the duty to have a safety representative will be limited to businesses with fewer than five employees, and the safety representative will be given expanded responsibilities. In this article, we will present the new changes so that your business can make the necessary adjustments.
Date 17.11.2023
Changes to the Safety Representative Regulations in the Working Environment Act
Safety representative arrangements are a crucial part of companies’ efforts to ensure the safety, health, and welfare of employees. Chapter 6 of the Working Environment Act contains a duty to appoint safety representatives, and currently, exceptions to this duty are only permitted in busi-nesses with fewer than ten employees. From January 1, 2024, the scope of the safety representa-tive arrangement will be expanded.
The safety representative is the employees’ representative in the company’s working environment work, and represents all employees in the enterprise.
The safety representative shall work for the implementation of the objectives of the Working Environment Act.
The safety representative has the right to use the time necessary to perform the duties of the safety representative in a proper manner.
In enterprises that do not have working environment committees, the safety representative has additional tasks.
Duty to appoint safety representatives
As a general rule, every business is required to appoint safety representatives. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that one or more safety representatives are chosen so that the provisions of the Working Environment Act are met. In return, employees have a duty to participate in the company’s safety and environmental work. The safety representative arrangement gives employees a role in implementing the law’s safety requirements and should be seen in conjunction with the work of the working environment committee.
The number of safety representatives to be chosen is determined based on the size of the business, the nature of the work, and other working conditions. For businesses with more than 10 employees, several safety representatives may be chosen, and if so, one main safety representative should be selected. If the business is divided into several departments or the work is carried out in shifts, a safety representative should generally be chosen for each department or shift team, for a clear demarcation of the safety area and to ensure the safety representative has a complete overview.
Tasks of the safety representative
The safety representative must look after all employees’ interests in matters concerning the working environment, including ensuring that work is carried out in a manner that safeguards the employees’ safety, health, and welfare. This includes ensuring that employees are not exposed to hazards related to machinery, technical devices, chemical substances, and work processes. Furthermore, the safety representative must ensure the availability of adequate safety equipment in proper condition, that employees receive necessary training, and that the work is otherwise organized for a health and safety-compliant execution. In case of an accident, the safety representative must ensure that it is reported in accordance with the requirements of the Working Environment Act.
Changes to the safety representative's areas of responsibility and tasks
From January 1, 2024, the safety representative’s duty to safeguard employees’ interests, that the business is arranged and maintained, and that work is carried out in a way that ensures the employees’ safety, health, and welfare in line with the Working Environment Act, also applies to hired employees and independent contractors performing work closely related to the business. This constitutes an expansion of the safety representative arrangement.
Additionally, a legislative change effective from January 1, 2024, will clarify that the tasks of the safety representative also involve matters related to employees’ psychosocial work environment. The change emphasizes that psychosocial work environment issues are an important part of the safety representative’s task and have received increased focus.
Restriction on the ability to make exceptions
The other change effective from January 1, 2024, is for businesses that are fewer than five employees can reserve the right to not appoint a safety representative. This restriction means that the rules regarding the duty to appoint safety representatives will more closely resemble the legal situation before 1985, when exceptions could be agreed upon in businesses with fewer than five employees. The reason for expanding the possibility of exceptions at that time was to make the arrangement more flexible regarding adjustments to the businesses’ economy.
Even if the parties have reached an agreement not to have a safety representative in accordance with the rules of the Working Environment Act, an alternative arrangement must be agreed upon. This means that the various safety issues that may arise in a business must be adequately addressed.
An agreement on an exception from the safety representative arrangement must be made in writing. Such an agreement will, unless otherwise specified, only be valid for a period of two years from the date of signing.
It is important to note that the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority has the authority to decide whether a business must have a safety representative, even if such a written agreement has been made.
