Defining a workplace is the task of the employer, and it lays the foundation for the organisation of cooperation in occupational safety and health.

In the context of cooperation in occupational safety and health, a workplace is an entity consisting of one or more locations or operating units owned by the same employer. Several cooperation workplaces can be defined for the company. When defining a cooperation workplace things taken into account include the nature and extent of the activities, the number of employees in each location or operating unit, and the risks and hazards of the work. The parties to the cooperation, i.e. the employer and employees, must have a real opportunity to communicate with each other and carry out their duties.

The implementation of cooperation in occupational safety and health is monitored regularly, and proposals for developing the organisation are made if necessary.

Real opportunities mean, for example

• the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the workplace’s working environment and matters related to the state of the work community that affect the safety and health of employees
• the opportunity to get training for the occupational safety and health task
• sufficient time use
• the possibility to communicate with the persons the representative represents
• shared information management and communication opportunities.

Legislation does not specify precisely how large or small a workplace can be defined as. Problems have been observed in occupational safety and health enforcement in the appropriate implementation of cooperation in occupational safety and health when the operating area of one occupational safety and health representative is so large that they cannot perform their duties appropriately. In this case, the occupational safety and health representative does not have enough time to familiarise themself with all the company’s activities, to participate in occupational safety and health inspections at different locations or to represent individual employees. If it is determined during cooperation that the cooperation workplace has been defined as too extensive, the matter must be reassessed.

A workplace can be defined in different ways

Occupational safety and health enforcement often reveals that the definition of a workplace is unclear. In particular, problems arise if the cooperation workplace consists of several locations, is located in a geographically extensive area, or the workplace is defined as an entity of locations operating under different business IDs within the Group.