1.2 Employer responsibilities

The employer has the primary responsibility

The employer must prevent employees from being exposed to ill health or accidents.

This means that work involving fall risks must be planned and organised so that the risks are addressed before the work begins.

The employer must, among other things:

• examine the working environment and identify hazards,
• assess the risks,
• take the necessary measures,
• follow up to ensure that the measures are effective,
• ensure that employees have sufficient knowledge,
• provide clear instructions where the work involves serious risks,
• select personal protective equipment suitable for the risk, workplace and user,
• ensure that equipment is used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Work environment management is therefore not separate from normal operations. It must form part of how work is planned, performed and followed up.

Knowledge and instructions

The employer must ensure that employees have sufficient knowledge of the work and its risks.

Where the work involves serious risks, written instructions must be available describing how the work is to be performed safely. The instructions must be adapted to the intended users and kept up to date.

When personal protective equipment is used, the employer must also provide information about the risks the equipment is intended to protect against and arrange the training and demonstrations needed for the equipment to provide the intended protection.

Personal fall protection must suit both the work and the user

Personal protective equipment must not be selected solely because it is approved or belongs to a particular product category.

The employer must ensure that the equipment is:

• appropriate for the risk,
• suitable for the workplace conditions,
• suitable for the working positions and movements involved,
• appropriate for the employee's state of health,
• properly fitted to the user.

It must also be used only for its intended purpose and in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Remember

The employer is responsible not only for making fall protection available, but also for ensuring that the work is planned, the equipment is correctly selected and the user has the required knowledge.

Sources

• Swedish Work Environment Act (1977:1160), Chapter 3, Sections 2 and 2a
• AFS 2023:1
• AFS 2023:11, Chapter 15