Help with conflict situations
Employees and supervisors have access to specialists to rely on in conflict situations. The occupational safety and health coordinator, the employee representative and the HR staff help to address and deal with the situation if necessary.
Experts outside the workplace can also be used, especially the company’s own occupational health care. You can also seek advice from employee and employer organisations. Coaches or work instructors are particularly useful if you want to look at ways to improve the work in different areas. In addition, workplace mediators can be used to deal with conflicts, who can also be trained to be used internally at the workplace.
Role of the health and safety representative
The health and safety representative represents employees in matters relating to occupational safety and wellbeing at work. They are familiar with the working environment, the state of the working community and the occupational health and safety regulations. The duties of the health and safety officer also include paying attention to the safety and health of employees at work and helping and guiding them in, for example, raising concerns.
In the event of disruptions to the smooth running of work and the functioning of the working community, the task of the health and safety officer is in particular to
- identify themselves and help supervisors and employees to identify disturbance factors in work arrangements and working conditions
- help the supervisor and employees to understand and structure the cause-effect relationships associated with the disturbance, e.g., difficulties in cooperation are often due to ambiguities in the role descriptions and work processes; the health and safety representative can help to reflect on what the disturbance that has emerged to the surface may be related to
- help to find choices and solutions that can be made in the work community
- provide advice on workplace operating models and practices and guide them, where necessary
- propose measures to eliminate or reduce the impact of the detected disturbance on the work
- propose the introduction of workplace mediation, if necessary
- monitor and assess the effectiveness, adequacy and appropriateness of the selected measures; in order to make this possible, it is important that the person who contacted the health and safety representative in the event of a work disruption also informs the authorised person of which actions have been taken to resolve the situation and if the solution has had an effect
- make suggestions for the development of workplace operating models and practices
- if necessary, remind everyone of their duty to inform the employer and the health and safety representative of any deficiencies and problems in their work and working conditions
- participate as a support person at the employee’s request, e.g., in an assessment meeting.
The health and safety representative is bound by a duty of confidentiality. If necessary, the health and safety representative should point out that, for example, the possibilities of investigating and resolving inappropriate treatment are substantially limited if the employer does not know who has been treated inappropriately and who is perceived to have acted inappropriately.
Support from occupational health care in conflict situations
Occupational health care can help to clarify a conflict or inappropriate treatment, for example, by interviewing or conducting a survey or a targeted workplace assessment.
A discussion with an occupational health psychologist can help to handle the situation. An occupational health psychologist can help the employee to describe what has happened and their own feelings, identify the factors that have influenced the situation and look at the events from different perspectives. The conversation can also help to identify own typical reactions and make them less stressful and to distance oneself from what has happened.
If necessary, an assessment of work ability can be carried out by occupational health care. The related practices are usually more specifically agreed on in the early support model of the workplace. The employee can request an assessment of their work ability for a justified reason. The employer also has the right to send the employee for an assessment of work ability if the employer has reasonable grounds to assume that the situation reduces the employee’s work ability. This may include problems with sleep or concentration resulting from experiences of inappropriate treatment, which are reflected in the work. Musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the neck, shoulders and back, can also be associated with experiences of inappropriate treatment or severe conflicts at work.
The employer, the occupational safety and health committee of the workplace and the occupational safety and health representative have the right to receive information from occupational health care that is relevant for the improvement of the health of employees and the healthiness of the workplace conditions. An example of such a factor is inappropriate treatment in the work community that is brought to the attention of occupational health care. Occupational health care is bound by a duty of confidentiality, so information may only be disclosed at a general level.
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