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    The content concerns Finnish legislation.
     

    Occupational Safety and Health in General

    Under the Finnish Employment Contracts Act, the employer has a general obligation to ensure safety at the workplace as required by the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health Act. By ensuring safety at work, the employer must aim to protect employees from accidents and health hazards. The employer must also intervene in any harassment that comes to its attention.

    In addition, the employer has a special obligation to protect a pregnant employee. If the working duties or conditions of a pregnant employee endanger the health of the employee or the foetus and if the hazard cannot be eliminated, the employee shall be transferred to other suitable duties for the period of pregnancy.

    Occupational safety and health are regulated in more detail in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Occupational Health Care Act and Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces. The objective of occupational safety and health is to maintain and promote the health, safety and working capacity of employees and to prevent accidents and occupational diseases. Achieving these objectives requires cooperation between the employer and the employees. The focus is on preventing problems by improving the working environment and working conditions.

    The employer has a duty to ensure that the employee's work is safe and does not cause health hazards. The employer must actively implement the measures that maximise the safe working environment for employees and continuously monitor the work environment and the impact of working methods and working hours on safety at work.

    Every workplace must have, at least, an occupational health and safety policy, which sets out the guiding principles for the promotion of occupational health and safety. The policy must identify the needs for improving working conditions in the workplace and the effects of factors related to the working environment. The objectives set by the occupational safety and health policy must be considered in the development and planning of all aspects of work of the organization, and these objectives must be developed with the employees or their representatives, see [Occupational Safety and Health Policy]⁠ for more details. It is also possible to formulate a more detailed occupational health and safety policy at the workplace.

    The occupational safety and health organs at the workplace are the occupational safety and health manager and the occupational safety and health representative. In larger companies, it is often required to have an occupational health and safety committee and an occupational health and safety ombudsman, see [Occupational Safety and Health Personnel in a company]⁠ for more details.

    Occupational safety and health supervision is the responsibility of the Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the occupational safety and health departments of the Regional State Administrative Agencies. In addition, many other authorities, such as the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority and the Social and Health Product Safety Authority, carry out occupational safety and health inspections. An occupational health and safety inspection may be carried out at the workplace either on the authority's own initiative or based on a tip-off from the workplace.

    Effective occupational safety and health requires cooperation between the employer and employees in matters of occupational safety and health. Ideally occupational safety and health is part of the day-to-day life of the workplace, as part of the actual work itself.

    Laws (FINLEX)

    • Employment Contracts Act⁠
    • Occupational Health Care Act⁠
    • Occupational Safety and Health Act⁠

    External sources

    • Occupational Safety and Health⁠
    • Advice, guidance and enforcement⁠

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