Work Environment Act

Purpose of the Work Environment Act

The current Work Environment Act was adopted in 2019. The law is a framework law and is supplemented and interpreted through Orders, AT-Guidance, and AT-Announcements. An important prerequisite in the Work Environment Act is that it is the responsibility of the company to know the Work Environment Act. Employers, managers, and employees must follow the Work Environment Act and the orders. It is punishable not to follow the Work Environment Act and the orders, and violations can lead to fines or imprisonment. All workplaces must comply with the work environment legislation. The law itself is called:

The Ministry of Employment’s Act Consolidation No. 2062 of November 16, 2021, on working environment with later amendments – unauthorized compilation.

It has been adopted by the Danish Parliament and contains constraints under criminal liability for citizens, employers, and employees.

The purpose provision in the law states that it must be both safe and healthy to go to work, and that work must be organized to follow the social and technical development in society. Problems with the working environment must be solved by the company with guidance and control from the Danish Working Environment Authority.

Structure of The Work Environment Act

Work environment legislation (including the Act on the working environment) contains work environment rules that must be complied with in companies.

The Work Environment Act is a framework law

The Work Environment Act is a framework law that contains requirements for the working environment, which must be complied with in all Danish workplaces. The purpose provision in the Work Environment Act states that the goal is to ensure a safe and healthy working environment that is at all times in accordance with the technical and social development in society. The interpretation and assessment of the working environment depend on societal and social development. The law is also continuously supplemented with regulations that more specifically describe how the goals of the law can be fulfilled in various areas of the working environment.

Main regulations

A more detailed description of the requirements for the working environment is found in the regulations. The main regulations are already specified in chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Work Environment Act.

These include regulations on the execution of work, regulations on workplace layout, regulations on substances and materials, and regulations on technical aids. Under these regulations, there are a number of more specific regulations such as the asbestos regulation, the regulation on the work of children and young people, the noise regulation, the regulation on the use of technical aids, and the regulation on the use of personal protective equipment.

AT-Guidelines

AT-Guidelines are prepared by the Danish Working Environment Authority. They provide guidelines on how the rules in the Work Environment Act and regulations should be understood and what companies need to do in practice to comply with the requirements of the work environment legislation. The guidelines provide orientation and recommendations but are not binding for companies. By following the guidelines, companies are well covered, although they may choose another method that is equally reliable.

EU Directives

A very large part of Danish work environment regulations stem from the EU. A wide range of directives on working hours, work of children and young people, risk assessment, pregnant and breastfeeding women, etc., have been adopted in the EU. These directives are implemented – incorporated – into Danish legislation. The framework directive is the foundation of European work environment legislation and covers a wide range of areas.

Who is responsible for the working environment?

The employer is responsible for the working environment. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the working conditions in the company are fully safe and healthy. This means that it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that employees work under safe and healthy conditions. This is also called the employer’s objective liability, which means that the employer can be punished for the actions of the employees, even if the employer is not aware of the conditions. The employer has a duty to instruct its employees on safe and healthy behavior and to follow up on the instruction.

If the employee knowingly disregards the employer’s instruction or acts recklessly on their own, the employee can also be punished. Typical examples include employees who do not use personal protective equipment, such as helmets or safety shoes, or employees who remove a safety device from a machine or a railing from scaffolding.

Collaboration on the working environment in the working environment organization

The working environment organization is the company’s most important tool for creating a safe and healthy working environment. In the working environment organization, the employer meets with the working environment representative and the supervisor. The working environment organization should support and help the employer solve strategic and operational work environment problems.

Work on the working environment in each company must be carried out through collaboration between the employer, the supervisors, and the employees. In companies with ten or more employees, collaboration must take place in a working environment organization, which is composed of representatives of the employees (working environment representatives) and management (supervisor).

The Danish Working Environment Authority and the parties

The Danish Working Environment Authority, whose task is to ensure compliance with the Work Environment Act, is of particular importance. The Danish Working Environment Authority has an important role in helping and guiding the company on how to comply with the law. The joint industrial health and safety organizations (BFA) help companies address some of the industry’s serious and widespread problems by providing guidance, conferences, and education.

The five Joint Industrial Health and Safety Organizations (BFA) consist of representatives of the labor market parties. The Work Environment Act also covers research on the working environment. The law describes the tasks and financing of the National Research Center for Working Environment.

The Minister for Employment has the authority to continuously expand the law with regulations. Major reforms are adopted by the Danish Parliament. This last happened in 2019, when there were extensive changes to the Work Environment Act.

The work environment rules are further described in the guidelines published by the Danish Working Environment Authority and the sector guidelines published by the sector working environment councils. Companies can use the guidelines to prevent and solve specific work environment problems. The guidelines are not binding, but if followed, companies can be reasonably sure that they comply with the requirements of the legislation.

Who is covered by the Work Environment Act?

The entire law covers work for an employer. Parts of the law also cover work that is not performed for an employer, but where there is an obvious risk of accidents or health risks. This includes, for example, work with machinery or work with hazardous chemicals. Students and school pupils are covered by this part of the law. Ordinary citizens who have access to risky workplaces are also covered by the safety rules of the Work Environment Act. The Work Environment Act covers work on land and offshore – not aviation and maritime – only when it comes to loading and unloading. Aviation and maritime are regulated by other authorities.

Five requirements for companies to comply with the Work Environment Act?

It is the company’s responsibility to choose what needs to be done and implemented to comply with the work environment legislation. The Danish Working Environment Authority has described five requirements for the efforts of companies.

The five requirements are called the company’s own efforts:

1. Collaboration on safety and health with emphasis on the efforts the working environment organization can make
2. Preparation of Risk Assessments
3. Training and instruction of employees
4. Chemical Risk Assessment of hazardous chemical products and materials
5. Implementation of mandatory inspections

New Work Environment Act from 2019

At the end of 2019, the Danish Parliament adopted a new Work Environment Act, which came into force on 27.12.2019. The law is a consequence of the broad political agreement from April 2019 on a new and improved work environment effort, where DKK 460 million has been allocated for the period 2020-22 for a better working environment.

With the agreement, there will also be increased focus on the psychological working environment, which for the first time has received its own regulation. The regulation consolidates many of the rules that were previously scattered in various guidelines and provides a better overview of the requirements, including those set by the Danish Working Environment Authority, for the psychological working environment.

Other old rules and guidelines within the entire work environment area will also be cleaned up, making it easier for individual companies to strengthen the working environment.

The bill has resulted in changes to the Work Environment Act in the following areas:

• Concrete targets have been set for the work environment effort at the industry level.
• Opportunities have been given for agreements on improving the working environment.
• Consultation orders have been changed to competence orders, taking into account the various needs of companies for competence building.
• The Minister has been authorized to introduce fees for intensified supervision.
• Fines for serious breaches of the Work Environment Act have been increased.
• The base fine for material breaches of the Work Environment Act is increased.

The new changes to the law can be found on the Retsinformation website (In danish).