Skip to content

Occupational health and safety 

The employer is responsible for occupational safety activities, which include ensuring workplace safety and health as well as covering the costs of improving the work environment. Employees also have a duty to ensure their own safety and the safety of their fellow workers. 

The purpose of occupational safety cooperation is to ensure interaction between the employer and employees regarding workplace safety and health. The parties involved in joint cooperation are the employer and the employees under their employment. This way, employees can participate and influence discussions regarding workplace safety and health matters. 

A workplace must have an occupational health and safety representative, who is a representative chosen by the employees to participate in joint cooperation. an occupational health and safety representative must be present at workplaces with at least 10 employees. 

Joint cooperation is based on agreements between labor market organizations, the Act on the Monitoring of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. 

Emotional and social wellbeing at the workplace

  • Harmful psychosocial burdens can arise in any workplace and have a negative impact on any employee. Psychosocial stress factors are related to work contents, arrangements, and the social functioning within the work community. 

    What to do if you suspect experiencing harmful stress at work: 

    • Contact your employer as early as possible, typically your immediate supervisor, and explain that you find your workload to be excessively stressful. Do not wait for the situation to resolve itself. Your supervisor’s task is to identify the factors contributing to the situation with you and find solutions. 
    • Seek assistance from the occupational health and safety representative or union representative if you find it challenging to bring the issue to your supervisor’s attention. If the matter concerns the entire work community, you can ask the occupational health and safety representative to address it as the employees’ representative with the employer.
    • Sometimes it may be unclear whether the stress is due to work or external factors. It may also be unclear which factors in your work environment are causing harmful stress. In such cases, you can seek help from occupational health services. 

  • Employer is primarily responsible under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to ensure that there is no harassment or other inappropriate behaviour that could harm or pose a danger to an employee. Furthermore, employees also have a responsibility to avoid any forms of harassment or inappropriate behavior towards other employees. Both parties have their own responsibilities regarding the workplace environment. 

    The concept of harassment or inappropriate behaviour is not precisely defined in the law. Harassment can include, among others: 

    • Pressuring an individual 
    • Insults 
    • Exclusion from group 
    • Name-calling 
    • Sexual harassment 

    Harassment can also manifest itself physically. In extreme cases, criminal offenses under the Criminal Code, such as assault, sexual offenses, defamation, or discrimination in the workplace, come into question. Harassment in the workplace can target an employee or someone in a managerial position. 

    In contrast, inappropriate treatment does not include situations where a supervisor, within their directive rights, makes decisions or gives work-related instructions. Disputes or disagreements related to work interpretations are generally not regarded as the type of harassment defined by the law. 

    The employer is obligated to address harassment

    The employer has a legal duty to monitor the workplace atmosphere and make observations. Upon noticing harassment, the employer must take immediate action to prevent it. For instance, if a colleague behaves inappropriately, the employee should first clearly communicate to the harasser that they do not accept their behavior. If the situation does not improve through personal actions, it should be reported to the immediate supervisor. 

    In practice, the employer refers to the closest supervisor in the particular work environment. The victim can also report the situation to Human Resources, the occupational health and safety representative, or the union representative. The employer may become aware of the situation through the occupational health services. However, it is always the employer’s responsibility to take action. The matter and its progress must be investigated impartially, followed by considering corrective actions. It is advisable to document the investigation and meetings with written minutes. The supervisor should always remember to treat employees fairly. Having well-known rules and procedures in place regarding harassment situations in the workplace helps clarify the situation and facilitates intervention. 

    The employer is obliged to ensure that the harassment or inappropriate treatment genuinely ceases. After addressing the issue, it is beneficial to have a follow-up discussion with the supervisor and the union representative or safety delegate to review the situation, check if there has been an improvement, whether the agreed-upon practices were followed, and assess the working conditions. 

Questions about workplace safety?

You can contact Loimu’s advocacy team via OmaLoimu or in urgent matters you can call Lakiluuri Tue-Thur 10-12.