Work environment is everything that affects us in the workplace
Work environment is everything that we are affected by in the workplace. All employees have the right to a good work environment. This means that every employee should feel safe and secure at work.
The right to a good work environment for all employees is regulated by the Work Environment Act and the regulations produced by the Swedish Work Environment Authority. The Work Environment Act is a general law that is supplemented by the Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations. Since the Work Environment Act is a general framework law, the Authority’s regulations explain the work environment rules that employers must follow in more detail. In 2025, the Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations were given a new regulatory structure in order to make it easier to find and understand how these rules are to be applied and to clarify how the various regulations are connected.
The employer has the main responsibility in the shared work to create a healthy workplace where no one is injured or becomes ill because of their work. This work is called systematic work environment management and is a task that all employers/managers must work with actively. Managers cannot create a good work environment by themselves; it is the result of everyone in the workplace working together on work environment issues. Therefore, employers/managers must allow all employees to participate in work environment management. It is important to remember that all employees, including managers, make up and contribute to each other's work environment.
SULF sees the issue of a good working environment as central to our members' ability to achieve both their own professional goals and the goals of the organisation.
Different roles in work environment management:
The different groups that work together to create a good working environment are the employer/managers, health and safety/work environment committees, employees, health and safety/work environment representatives and, in many cases, the local Saco-S association.
As an employee, you have an obligation to follow instructions and tell your employer if you see or feel that your work or the work of others involves danger or risk to life and health. You should also have a continuous dialogue with your immediate manager about your work situation.
Every year, you must also have an appraisal/development dialogue with your manager to discuss your work situation over the past year and what needs to be done in the coming year. Your work task plan is a good tool to support this review.
Make a habit of talking to your manager whenever you have questions or if there is anything you want or need in order to be able to do your work.
Prepare thoroughly for your annual appraisal/development dialogue with your manager. Be clear about any needs you have or knowledge and skills you need to acquire or improve.
As a manager, you work with many different types of issue, including work environment. In order for you to fulfil your work environment responsibilities, knowledge is essential. Poor work environment management is associated with ill health, high costs for the employer and ultimately liability for damages. As a manager, you have the right to demand that your employer provide training in how to prevent and manage unhealthy workloads and victimisation in the workplace. Training can be provided by your employer’s occupational health services provider or other resources with expertise in the field.
As a manager, you need to have a continuous dialogue with the employees you are responsible for in order to ensure that they have a good work environment. This task also requires you to have knowledge of how the organisational and social work environment functions and is perceived to function in the workplace.
The organisational work environment is the result of how work is organised, managed and communicated and how decisions are made. The social work environment is how we interact with and are affected by the behaviour and people around us. The work environment is also about employees’ perceptions of their work when it comes to variation, social contact, personal and professional development, decision making and professional responsibility. The provisions on planning and organising work environment management (AFS 2023:2) (opens in a separate window) include concrete suggestions on how managers can act preventively to avoid excessive workloads for employees by adapting resources to the requirements of the work. The provisions are also accompanied by a set of guidelines.
It is important that you in your role as manager create clarity in your organisation by ensuring that there are rules, procedures, guidelines and policies that employees can follow. This will reduce the risk of ill health among the people who report to you. Support in these matters is available from the HR department. It is also a good idea to raise and discuss these types of issue at staff/workplace meetings or similar gatherings.
Remember that any problems/difficulties in the organisation are to be reported to the local/central health and safety committee.
Health and safety/work environment representatives are the people whose role it is to follow and monitor work on the work environment in the workplace. Health and safety representatives are also sometimes called work environment representatives. For simplicity, we have chosen here to use the term health and safety representative.
Health and safety representatives work to keep alive interest in and commitment to work environment issues in the workplace and are the employees’ representatives in these matters. They work together with the employer to find the most suitable solutions for that particular workplace. Work environment issues that they deal with include well-being, cooperation, communication between different groups, different kinds of risk at work and changes in the workplace. In addition to working with the employer, health and safety representatives also work closely with the employees, as well as with the local Saco-S/AkademikerAlliansen association. They can also help initiate discussions about important common issues at workplace meetings or other meetings with staff.
Health and safety representatives do an important job, but they never take over the responsibility for work environment management, which lies with the employer/managers.
Information about and contact details for the health and safety representative(s) are at your workplace must be easily accessible so that you can quickly get in touch with the right person if necessary. Unlike the local Saco-S/ AkademikerAlliansen association, which only represents members, the health and safety representatives represent all employees at the workplace, regardless of whether they are members of a trade union or not.
Feel free to contact a health and safety representative at your workplace if you do not receive a satisfactory response from your manager about your work environment issue or if you feel that you cannot talk to them about the matter.
As an employee, you have an obligation to follow instructions and tell the employer if you see or feel that your work or the work of others involves danger or risk to life and health. You should also have a continuous dialogue with your immediate manager about your work situation.
– Do you have enough time to perform your work duties?
– Have new needs emerged after the planning stage? This may include such matters as additional work tasks or the need for training in new IT programs and systems and/or administrative systems. For more tips, see Heavy workloads – time for recovery is essential.
Every year, you must also have a development dialogue with your manager in which you discuss how your work situation has been during the past year and what is to be done in the coming year. Your work task plan, (sometimes known as a service plan or a duty plan), is a good tool to support this dialogue.
- Make a habit of talking to your manager whenever you have questions or wishes and when you see a need for changes and improvements for you to be able to perform your work.
- Prepare thoroughly for your annual development dialogue with your manager. Be clear about any needs you have or knowledge and skills you need to acquire or improve.
- Do not hesitate to contact your local Saco-S association or health and safety representatives if you need support in any of these matters
To help employers in their work environment management, there are one or more health and safety/work environment committees at different levels of the organisation. These are the collaborative bodies where the employer and the employees work together. A health and safety committee might also be called a work environment committee, work environment group or similar. To keep things simple, we have chosen here to use the term health and safety committee.
The health and safety committees participate in the planning and monitoring of the work environment at the workplace. They also work with fundamental and general work environment issues. The committees include employer representatives and health and safety representatives.
Health and safety committees do important work, but they never take over the employer’s responsibility for the work environment.
The local Saco-S association/ AkademikerAlliansen association can help you if you feel that your manager is not listening to your concerns, or if you do not feel able or willing to discuss the issue with them. The trade union representatives are in regular contact with the health and safety representatives and can also raise the issue with them. Examples of issues could be problems with work task planning, not having enough working time to do the work that needs to be done or co-operation problems with a colleague. The local trade union representatives can also help to initiate discussions on important common issues at meetings in the workplace.
The health and safety legislation does not assign a specific role to trade union representatives. However, the trade union has the right to negotiate with the employer on most matters, and it can therefore act on many of the issues that arise.
You are always welcome to contact your local Saco-S/ AkademikerAlliansen association.