Safety and health in the workplace
Cooperation in occupational safety and health matters
Cooperation in occupational safety and health refers to cooperation between the employer and employees that promotes the health and safety of work.
General information on topic
The parties to occupational safety and health cooperation are the employer and their employees. The employer is represented by the occupational safety and health manager, and the employees elect occupational safety and health representatives.
From the perspective of cooperation in occupational safety and health, it is important to define a so-called occupational safety and health cooperation workplace. In the context of cooperation in occupational safety and health a workplace refers to an appropriate entity of one or more workplaces owned by the same employer. The parties to the cooperation must have a genuine opportunity to carry out their duties.
The employer and employees must together maintain and improve occupational safety. The Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces defines the persons involved in occupational safety and health cooperation, the matters to be discussed and decided on by them, and the organisation of cooperation at the workplace. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Occupational Health Care Act contain provisions on matters that must be handled in cooperation.
The organisation of cooperation in occupational safety and health may also be agreed on in other ways. The Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces defines the matters that can be agreed on in national labour market organisation agreements or locally.
Employer initiates cooperation in occupational safety and health
It is the employer’s duty to initiate cooperation in occupational safety and health matters. The employer is also responsible for setting up the occupational safety and health organisation, choosing its procedures and ensuring its capacity to act.
Cooperation in occupational safety and health must address matters that may have an impact on the employee’s safety, health, or work ability. Employees must have a genuine opportunity to influence occupational safety at their workplace. Cooperation in occupational safety and health also includes monitoring the implementation and impacts of the issues discussed.
Occupational safety and health cooperation at a shared workplace
A shared workplace refers to a workplace where one employer exercises main authority, and where employees of several employers or independent contractors work simultaneously or consecutively. A shared workplace is formed if the work is also such that the work can affect the safety or health of other employees. In addition to the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces, provisions on cooperation in occupational safety and health at a shared workplace are also laid down in the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Instructions for employee
Employees can elect an occupational safety and health representative and two deputy occupational safety and health representatives as their representatives for cooperation in occupational safety and health. If at least ten employees work at the workplace, the election of an occupational safety and health representative is required by law and the employer must provide information to employees of their right to elect an occupational safety and health representative. You can also stand as a candidate in the occupational safety and health representative election. The collective agreement applicable to your work may contain more detailed provisions on the organisation of cooperation in occupational safety and health.
Find out who the occupational safety and health representative is at your workplace. You can contact the occupational safety and health representative in all matters concerning the health and safety of work, whether it relates to physical or psychosocial (mental) working conditions. It is the duty of the occupational safety and health representative to provide advice and guidance to you and, if necessary, to bring the deficiencies to the attention of the employer in order to find solutions and ensure safety. However, without your consent, the occupational safety and health representative may not share any information concerning your financial status, state of health or other personal matters.
The employer is responsible for occupational safety and health activities at the workplace. As an employee, you must do your part to ensure that the objectives of cooperation in occupational safety and health are achieved. For example, you have an obligation to notify the employer of any deficiencies you have observed and participate in investigating situations that involve you at the workplace.
As an employee, you have the right to enter proposals on safety and health at your workplace to the employer and receive a response to these. In other words, tell your supervisor and occupational safety and health representative if you are concerned about your own occupational safety or that of other employees.
There are procedures in place at the workplace that you must follow to ensure safety. These include instructions on how to work safely, the use of protective equipment and the monitoring of safety, and the use of reporting forms. You must also avoid inappropriate behaviour and activities that may cause harm or danger to other employees.
Instructions for employer
The employer always appoints an occupational safety and health manager if they do not work in this task themselves. The employees are represented by an occupational safety and health representative, and the employees can elect these representatives from among themselves. If the workplace has at least 10 employees, the employer must provide:
- information on the employees’ right to elect an occupational safety and health representative
- information on organising elections
- a list of employees in the workplace and, if necessary, a separate list of office personnel
- the facilities for elections.
Although the law states that an occupational safety and health representative must be elected for the workplace, no one can be forced to become an occupational safety and health representative, and the employer cannot appoint anyone as an occupational safety and health representative. On the other hand, even if employees would like to elect a representative from among themselves for a workplace with fewer than 10 employees, the employer cannot prevent this.
An occupational safety and health committee is elected for workplaces with at least 20 employees. The members of the committee are representatives of the employer, employees and office workers. The committee is tasked with promoting the health and safety of work. Occupational safety and health representatives have the right to attend committee meetings and speak at these. If necessary, the committee submits proposals to the employer that aim to improve working conditions, develop occupational health care or organise occupational safety and health training and work guidance. In addition, the committee will participate in the organisation of activities to help maintain work ability.
The employer is responsible for organising cooperation in occupational safety and health and ensuring its operating prerequisites
The employer must ensure that the occupational safety and health personnel have the prerequisites for performing their tasks, such as the needed training and the time for performing these tasks.
The employer must also provide information on any factors that affect safety and health in the workplace and other circumstances that have an effect on the working conditions as well as on any assessments and other analyses and plans concerning them to the employees in a timely manner. It must also be ensured that these matters are dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner with employees or their representative.
Occupational safety personnel must be entered in the Occupational Safety Personnel Register
The Occupational Safety Personnel Register is a register maintained by the Centre for Occupational Safety, in which information is stored on persons at the workplace who are involved in cooperation in occupational safety and health. The information in the register can be requested for purposes that promote occupational safety and health, such as communicating information about occupational safety and health and occupational safety training to the occupational safety personnel at workplaces.
The employer must enter the details of the following persons in the register:
- occupational safety and health cooperation personnel referred to in the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces
- occupational safety and health representatives
- deputy occupational safety representatives
- occupational safety and health manager
- members of the occupational safety and health committee or similar
- Occupational safety and health cooperation personnel referred to in agreements on cooperation in occupational safety and health concluded under the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces
- for example, occupational safety and health ombudsmen
- ”certain other occupational safety and health cooperation personnel"
- e.g. occupational health personnel employed by the employer.
If a workplace formed for cooperation in occupational safety and health meets three conditions, the employer is obligated to submit information to the register on the key personnel involved in cooperation in occupational safety and health at the workplace. In addition, the employer subject to the obligation to disclose information may voluntarily submit information to the register on other occupational safety personnel at the workplace if the employer has received consent from these persons to submit the information.
Even if a workplace formed for cooperation in occupational safety and health does not meet the three conditions for the obligation to disclose information, the employer may also voluntarily submit information to the register from such a workplace. This is often a small workplace. Overall, the Act on the Occupational Safety Personnel Register allows voluntary reporting in different situations. The purpose of voluntary reporting is to collect information from numerous workplaces, including small workplaces, in the register. In this case, information on several occupational safety and health cooperation persons could be disclosed from the register for the purpose of promoting occupational safety.
The employer is subject to the obligation to disclose information when the following conditions are met:
- An occupational safety and health representative has been appointed at the workplace.
- The employer employs people at the workplace on more than 50 calendar days.
- In other words, there is no obligation to disclose information on short-term workplaces. However, this condition is also met in situations where less than 10 people work for more than 50 calendar days.
- This is not for a specific calendar period (e.g. 1 January–31 March). The calendar days are calculated separately. A shift that takes place during two different 24-hour days constitutes two calendar days.
- Each calendar day when at least one of the employees at the workplace works at the workplace for at least a short period of time is taken into account in the calculation of calendar days.
- The workplace employs at least 10 persons.
- The form of employment is irrelevant regarding this requirement. Personnel at the workplace include those who are in an employment relationship or public-service employment relationship. The requirement is met when there are 10 people in an employment relationship at the same time. For example, a person only working part-time and working under a so-called zero-hour contract is an employee in the workplace.
The notification is submitted electronically.
Example 1
An event organisation (employer) has employed three employees continuously for a period of six months. During the event, the number of employees in an employment relationship increases to 50 for a period of five days. The employer wonders whether they are subject to the obligation to disclose information to the register and when the conditions for the obligation are met.
The employer must define an occupational safety and health cooperation workplace already at the time they hire their first employee into an employment relationship. In this example, the workplace is defined as all employees being in a single employee group. It is assumed that the 47 new employees employed during the event will also belong to the same workplace.
- Employees have the right to elect an occupational safety and health representative from among themselves at all workplaces, including small ones.
- The employer has employed employees in employment relationships at the workplace for more than 50 calendar days, so this condition is met.
- The number of employees at the workplace during the event is at least ten, so the condition concerning the number of employees is also met at the beginning of the event.
With regard to the obligation to disclose, the decisive factor is whether the employees have elected an occupational safety and health representative from among themselves. If an occupational safety and health representative has been elected, the information must be submitted to the register at the beginning of the event. If no occupational safety and health representative has been elected, the employer is not obligated to submit any information to the register. However, the employer may voluntarily submit a notification to the register to promote occupational safety and health.
Example 2
The background association for a summer theatre is otherwise run on a volunteer basis, but it will establish a café at the summer theatre venue for the period 1 May–31 August. The background association will employ a total of 15 part-time employees in the café. The café is only open on Saturdays and Sundays, which is why the total number of working days is approximately 30. The employer wonders whether they are subject to the obligation to disclose information to the register and when the conditions for the obligation are met.
It is assumed that the background association does not have employees prior to this and that the first employee in the employment relationship will be hired specifically for the summer theatre’s café. The employer must define the workplace for cooperation in occupational safety and health at this point in time. In this example, the employer defines the workplace as a café as its own location, and it is assumed that all employees employed in the cafe are in the same workplace.
- Employees have the right to elect an occupational safety and health representative from among themselves at all workplaces, including small ones.
- The employer only employs persons in employment relationships at the workplace on approximately 30 calendar days, so the condition of more than 50 calendar days is not met. At the end of the summer, the employer will close the workplace formed for occupational safety and health cooperation.
- The number of employees in the workplace during the summer is 15, so the condition concerning at least ten people is met.
The employer is not obligated to disclose information even if the employees elect an occupational safety and health representative from among themselves because the condition regarding work on more than 50 calendar days is not met. However, the employer may voluntarily submit a notification to the register to promote occupational safety and health. The voluntary disclosure of information may be considered, for example, on the basis of whether there are likely to be people who will need to use the register’s data during the summer. The data in the register will expire at the end of the summer when the workplace ceases to exist.
Legislation
- Part II – Cooperation on occupational safety and health
Occupational Safety and Health Act (738/2002)
- Section 17 – Cooperation between employers and employees
Occupational Health Care Act (1383/2001)
- Section 8 – Cooperation
- Section 13 – Duty of employee to attend a medical examination
- Section 15 – Duty of employer to provide information
- Section 16 – Duty of employee to provide information
- Section 17 – Duty of occupational health care service provider to provide advice and information
- Section 18 – Disclosing confidential information
Act on the Register of Occupational Safety Personnel (215/2025, in Finnish)
Frequently asked questions
Glossary
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