SAFETY OFFICER
| FINLAND |
| TYÖSUOJELUPÄÄLLIKKÖ
[ARBETARSKYDDSCHEF] SAFETY OFFICER |
Under the 1973 Health and Safety Supervision Act the employer is required to appoint an individual to act as a safety officer responsible for health and safety activities, unless the employer acts personally in that capacity. Employers operating at the same workplace can appoint a joint safety officer. The individual concerned must be conversant with health and safety matters.
It is the duty of safety officers to initiate and maintain co-operation within the enterprise on health and safety issues. They must acquaint themselves with the statutory provisions on health and safety and conditions at the workplace concerned and maintain contact with the safety representative. They must also supply any necessary information to the employer and make proposals to the latter on aspects of health and safety. The arrangement of adequate conditions for safety officers to exercise their function is mentioned in health and safety agreements, and independent protection for them is laid down in the Framework Directive on Health and Safety (89391EEC). In their capacity as part of the co-operation system safety officers do not, however, possess any authority to make decisions on health and safety at the workplace concerned nor, consequently, are they answerable for it, unless they simultaneously possess authority on the basis of their position as head of the enterprise. See co-operation in health and safety matters.)
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.