When something serious has happened, special rules apply. You need to know what to report, who to report to and what happens if the rules are not followed.
Report to the Work Environment Authority
Under the Work Environment Act, chapter 3, section 3 a, the employer must without delay notify the Work Environment Authority of:
- deaths and serious personal injuries connected with work
- injuries that have affected several employees at the same time
- near misses that involved serious danger to life and health
The Work Environment Authority says that the report should preferably be made the same day. The report is made electronically through the service anmalarbetsskada.se. It is you as the employer who judges whether an event is serious enough. If you are unsure, it is better to report than not to.
Examples of serious near misses are a fall from a height of a few metres without anyone being injured, or an object falling where someone could have been standing. Psychological harm, for example shock after threats or a robbery, can also count.
Report to the Social Insurance Agency
As an employer you must report all work injuries to the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan). Under the Social Insurance Code (socialförsäkringsbalken), the employer must immediately report a work injury that it has become aware of. These are therefore two different reports with different purposes. The type of event decides which one or ones are needed.
You must always investigate
Whatever the Work Environment Authority decides, the employer must investigate for itself what happened and take measures so that it does not happen again (sections 12 and 13 of AFS 2023:1). After a report the Work Environment Authority decides whether to inspect, review the employer's investigation or do nothing. If the Authority has not been in touch within three weeks, it has normally chosen not to act.
What happens if you do not report?
Anyone who intentionally or through negligence fails to make a report under chapter 3, section 3 a can be sentenced to a fine (chapter 8, section 2 of the Work Environment Act).
Inspections and penalties
The Work Environment Authority carries out inspections. It can issue orders and prohibitions so that the law and the regulations are followed (chapter 7, section 7). They can be combined with a conditional fine (vite), that is, an amount that must be paid if the decision is not followed. If an order is not followed, the Authority can also decide that the matter is to be put right at the employer's expense.
In some cases a sanction fee (sanktionsavgift) can be charged. The person who ran the business then pays a fee even if the violation was not intentional or negligent. Under chapter 8, section 5, the fee is at least SEK 1,000 and at most SEK 1,000,000. The fee only applies to the rules that the Work Environment Authority has specified in its regulations, for example certain rules on the construction work environment and on pregnant and breastfeeding employees. The general requirements of AFS 2023:1 on policy, procedures and risk assessment are not among them, but they can still be followed up with an order and a conditional fine.
When should you call the Work Environment Authority?
The Work Environment Authority has its own switchboard and e-services for reports and questions. You do not have to be sure that something is a serious near miss in order to contact them. Write down what has happened, when and who was affected, and both the report and your own investigation will be easier to do.
The safety representative and the accident
When something serious has happened, the safety representative must be told. The safety representative watches over the work environment on the employees' behalf and must take part when action plans are drawn up. Involve the representative in the investigation and in finding measures.
What you still have to do yourself
The course cannot report, investigate or put anything right for you. Make sure you know who reports, how quickly and to whom, and that the investigation gets done.