As a contractor with employees, you have an employer's responsibility. You are responsible for ensuring that the work environment is safe and healthy for both your employees and hired staff. You are also responsible for ensuring that the work they carry out does not lead to risks for others on the construction site.

In order to be able to fulfil your work environment responsibility, you need to

• investigate the work that your company will carry out in the construction project
• risk-assess the work
• take the measures necessary to prevent the risks.

The work environment must be safe for your employees, any individuals you hire, and all others present on the construction site.

Your responsibility for the work environment is not diminished by the responsibility of others

Your responsibility for the work environment concerning your own staff remains unchanged, regardless of the presence of others who also bear responsibility, such as the client, the building work environment coordinator for the construction phase (Bas-U), or other contractors on the site. While multiple roles may be accountable for complying with the same work environment regulations, the capacity to influence the work environment may vary depending on the stage of the construction project.

Provide employees with instructions and information on safe working practices in the construction project

You must provide employees with clear instructions to enable them to carry out their work safely. This includes informing them of applicable rules and the measures that have been implemented or are planned. You need to ensure that your employees have understood the information. Therefore, the instructions need to be comprehensible and tailored to the employees' needs, for example:

• ensure they receive oral briefings and visual aids that illustrate the key points.
• provide translations of the instructions if your employees or subcontractors do not speak the language in which the information is given.

You must also ensure that your staff follow the construction site's common order and safety rules and actively participate in the joint work environment management.

Achieve a better work environment through systematic approach

As an employer, you must manage the work environment systematically, so as to improve it. Our provisions for systematic work environment management apply to all employers – regardless of the activities or risks that you and your employees could be exposed to.

Systematic work environment management

Employees and safety representatives are important for a positive work environment

Employees and safety representatives have an important role in work environment management. As an employer, you must give all employees the opportunity to participate in work environment management. For instance, you can encourage employees to suggest measures or offer feedback on measures you have implemented.

If you are self-employed and engaged in building and civil engineering activities, you are subject to the same work environment rules as employers in construction projects.construction project. This is essential to ensure that you do not suffer from illness, injury, or fatalities related to your work. The same applies to family business owners without employees and those running a business with a business partner without employees. Like other contractors, you need to familiarise yourself with the work environment rules that apply to your assignment in the construction project.

Contribute to joint work environment management of the construction project

It is a good idea to find out as early as possible what will be required for your work in the construction project, so that you can set aside the time and commitment needed for the tasks in the construction project's coordination work. This may involve:

• participating in coordination meetings
• contributing to effective communication and a positive collaborative climate
• submitting the necessary documents and background material in time.

You must provide information about work environment risks associated with your tasks and the measures to prevent these risks, just as other contractors in the construction project do. You must do this to get the go-ahead to start your work from Bas-U.

When hiring staff, both the company hiring in and the company hiring out have responsibilities for the work environment. The company that hires out staff serves as the employer responsible for its employees. Meanwhile, the company hiring in staff must implement the necessary safety measures for the work.

If you as a contractor hire in staff, you are responsible for ensuring that their working environment in the construction project is safe for the duration of their employment with you. Clearly outline the skills you require so that the staff possess the right experience for their assigned tasks.

If you hire out staff, it is important to find out, for example, what tasks your employees will undertake in the construction project to ensure they have sufficient skills and experience.

Bas-U is responsible for coordinating the work of different contractors to prevent that they create work environment risks for each other. Before starting work on the construction project, you must prepare and submit the following information to Bas-U:

• what risks your company's work may pose to others in the workplace
• information about tasks that present special risks requiring a work environment plan, as well as proposals for preventive measures
• your company's work environment risks that need to be addressed through coordination.

It is advisable to inform Bas-U about when you intend to carry out the work so that it can be coordinated with other activities.

Bas-U needs to know if your company will undertake any tasks with special risk that requires measures detailed in a work environment plan, since Bas-U is obliged to update the work environment plan continuously. 

Examples of risks your company may cause to others

Examples of risks that your work may create for others are noise or dust from construction activities . If you plan to move heavy machinery in a shared workspace, you must also ensure that safety measures are in place to protect those around you.

Examples of work with special risk

Work where a fall could occur from a height of two metres or more is classified as high-risk, and you are required to inform Bas-U about it. The provisions require that measures to prevent such risks must be included in the work environment plan. Also inform Bas-U about how you plan to address these risks.

Fall risks are often shared among multiple contractors and the work environment regulations state the use of common safety devices, such as railings or scaffolding, over personal fall protection measures. Therefore, it is essential for Bas-U to coordinate measures addressing fall risks that affect various contractors.

Example of risks requiring coordination

To effectively manage work environment risks, coordination is sometimes necessary. You need to provide Bas-U with information about these risks. This could, for example, be work that involves health hazards or physically demanding tasks related to material transport. Timely communication is crucial, as joint planning is often required to handle different building materials in an ergonomically sound manner. This includes coordinating different lifting devices, scheduling lifts into a building under construction, and establishing access routes within the shared workspace.

On the other hand, Bas-U does not need to be informed of all the work environment risks your own staff may encounter. This responsibility falls to you as the employer, in accordance with regulations on systematic work environment management.

Do not start your work on the construction project until you receive approval, ”the go-ahead”, from Bas-U. Bas-U needs to know which work is ongoing and planned. This step is essential for coordinating the activities of various contractors and ensuring safety on site.

Bas-U needs to ensure that the work environment risks are managed before the go-ahead can be given. Therefore, as a contractor, you must submit information about risks associated with your work prior to starting. In this way, you contribute to safety and good coordination.

Tip for securing approval, ”the go-ahead”, from Bas-U in a smooth way

To facilitate a swift approval process, prepare the necessary documentation for Bas-U to review.ensuring a safe construction site.

You are best positioned to identify potential risks and the measures needed to mitigate them, so please provide a written description of these risks and your planned measures for submission to Bas-U. Be ready to present any work preparations if requested.

Some tasks require specific skills or education and training certificates. Ensure you have the relevant certificates available to show before beginning your work.

Verify that all work equipment, lifting devices and other technical equipment your company uses are inspected. Any issues noted in inspection reports should have measures and you must be able to present the inspection report before commencing work. Also ensure that all other equipment is safe and well maintained..

Since your work on the shared construction site can impact the work environment of others, you must plan and design your tasks in such a way that they do not pose any risk to others.

While Bas-U is responsible for coordinating the overall work, you, as a contractor, are required to consult with other contractors and collaborate to create a safe working environment. You must follow instructions from Bas-U, for example regarding work planning and the necessary protective measures to ensure safety on the site.

You have a responsibility to participate in the joint work environment management of the construction project. This collaboration ensures that your work aligns with others to create a safe working environment. Allocate time and plan for this joint management in addition to your own work environment tasks.

Active participation allows you to share information about your work and relay relevant updates from the coordination efforts to your employees.

Joint work environment management activities may include:

• introduction to the shared construction site
• coordination meetings
• safety reviews
• safety inspections
• collaborative work preparations to prevent work environment risks.

Additionally, you must contribute to maintaining order and ensuring regular cleaning on site. This is essential for promoting collaboration and advancing the construction project.

When you participate in planning and design of the building or structure within the scope of your assignment as a contractor, you are also counted as a designer. You must then follow the provisions on

• Design and building work environment coordination (AFS 2023:3)
• Design of workplaces (AFS 2023:12)

The work environment rules for design exist to ensure a safe and healthy work environment both at the construction site and during the future use of the building or structure. 

The principal contractor. or another contractors in the construction project, is often appointed by the client to be the building work environment coordinator for the construction phase, Bas-U. If you are appointed as Bas‍-‍U, you will receive many new tasks connected to the coordination of the contractors and the joint work environment management of the construction project. You then need to allocate enough resources for these tasks.

Find out more about the role of Bas-U:

Bas-U

You can take over the client's work environment responsibility automatically when the client is a private individual

You automatically become the client's delegee if you are the sole contractor in a construction project for a private individual or if you carry out a construction project with an overall responsibility in an independent assignment, unless otherwise agreed. You are then counted as the client's delegee as referred to in chapter 3 section 7c of the Work Environment Act.

This means that you take over the client's work environment responsibility and must carry out the client's work environment tasks in the construction project. Among other things, you must

• ensure that there are sufficient resources for work environment management
• appoint building work environment coordinators
• control and follow up the work environment management
• inform everyone involved in the project that you are the client's delegee.

You can take over the client's work environment responsibility in other construction projects

Also in construction projects where the client is not a private person, the client and you can make an agreement that you take over the client's work environment responsibility. But in these construction projects as well, you are required to be independent and control the work environment management without interference from the client.

The client then also needs to have an agreement where this is stated and must be able to show that you are so independent that you have the capacity required to make the necessary decisions about work environment management.