Structures and Organization
Parties to occupational safety and health cooperation
The parties involved in the cooperation are the employer and the employees. The employer appoints an occupational safety manager, unless the employer themselves performs the duties in question. The occupational safety manager represents the employer in occupational safety and health cooperation.
The employees select an occupational safety and health representative to represent them in occupational safety and health cooperation. The selection of a representative is required at workplaces with at least 10 employees. At workplaces with fewer than 10 employees, occupational safety and health cooperation is carried out in interaction between the employer and the employees.
An occupational health and safety committee or similar cooperation body must be established at workplaces where at least 20 employees work regularly.
In addition, labour market organisations’ agreements contain provisions on occupational safety ombudsmen.
Occupational safety and health cooperation term
The occupational health and safety cooperation term at the workplace is determined on the basis of calendar years. In the public sector, the term is two years. In the private sector, the term is two years, unless a longer term has been agreed upon at the workplace. The period may not exceed four calendar years.
The term for which the persons taking care of the occupational safety and health cooperation are selected is the same as the occupational safety and health cooperation term. An exception to this is the occupational safety manager representing the employer, who is appointed to their duties until further notice.
Occupational safety and health elections
Employees select their representatives for the occupational safety and health cooperation through an election. The election of the occupational safety and health representative and the deputy representatives is organised by the employees. All employees at the workplace must have the opportunity to both stand as candidates and vote in the election. The election may not cause unnecessary inconvenience to the operations of the workplace, and the employer may not complicate the organisation of the election.
Workplace
It is essential to occupational health and safety cooperation to define a so-called cooperation workplace. The cooperation workplace means an entity that comprises one or more places of business or operational units and is regionally and functionally appropriate with regard to cooperation activities, taking account of the nature and extent of the activities of the workplace as well as the number of employees in the individual places of business or operational units.
Several cooperation workplaces may be defined within a company. A cooperation workplace can also consist of the places of business of several employers.
Cooperation parties at a common workplace
A common workplace is a workplace where employees of several different employers or self-employed persons work simultaneously or successively. In addition to the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement, provisions on occupational safety and health cooperation at a common workplace are laid down in the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The parties to the cooperation at a common workplace are the employer exercising the main authority or the employer’s representative, and the occupational safety and health representative employed by the employer exercising the main authority. Other cooperation matters relating to occupational safety and health are dealt with between the employer in question and the occupational safety and health representative employed by this employer.
If the common workplace is a construction site, the employees working for the different employers there have the right to select a joint occupational safety and health representative and two deputy representatives for the construction site to represent the employees in occupational safety and health cooperation with all employers and self-employed persons of the construction site, as well as in relation to occupational safety and health authorities.