Work environment for students - systematic work environment
Karolinska Institutet, as an education provider, is responsible for students’ working environment. Here you will find information on how systematic working environment management can be carried out and what support is available to you in this work.
The work environment includes the environments and conditions that affect students’ learning, health and wellbeing during their studies. This may include the physical, digital and psychosocial study environment, as well as issues relating to accidents and injuries.
What is expected of KI as an education provider?
KI must carry out systematic work environment management, which means that the work environment and study environment must be continuously organised, examined, risk assessed, addressed and followed up in collaboration with students and student safety representatives. The aim is to prevent ill health, accidents and other risks in the study environment. Systematic work environment management can be divided into three areas:
- Physical work environment: Examples include premises, ventilation, lighting, sound and assistive devices
in a workplace. - Organisational work environment: describes how the programme should be organised, managed, communicated
and how decisions should be made. - Social work environment: The way we interact and talk to each other on the course/programme. This
also includes communication in digital networks such as email, text messages, chats and so on.
What is expected of KI’s students?
Everyone has a responsibility for the work environment, including students.
This means that students are expected to:
- Follow instructions
- Use protective equipment
- Report shortcomings in the work environment
- Report accidents and near misses
- Contribute to a good working climate (study climate)
Delegation (allocation) of work environment tasks
Work environment tasks should be managed as close to the operations as possible.
- Individual administrative officer:
Investigation of student cases should be delegated to an administrative officer, e.g. undergraduate education coordinator, programme director, etc. - Course coordinator and examiner
These roles/functions include responsibility for the student group and the teaching environment for the course in question.
Read more in the documents Instructions for delegating roles and tasks in a department or equivalent and Course and programme responsibility (swe).
Anyone assigned a task related to the work environment must possess sufficient knowledge, authority, and resources to carry out that task. This includes working systematically and proactively to promote a good work environment and to prevent ill health and accidents. All managers are required to undergo training in work environment management. Course coordinators and examiners are encouraged to take the Canvas course "Introduction to the Work Environment for Students." The course provides concise information on the work environment and about student safety representatives. It serves as both a step-by-step guide and a resource to consult as needed.
Information regarding the Head of Department’s allocation of work environment responsibilities concerning students must be easily accessible to students. This information must also include the names for the department’s student safety representative and the chief student safety representatives.
Systematic work environment management
In first- and second-cycle education, systematic work environment management can be carried out in different ways. A good study and work environment is a foundation for students’ learning, wellbeing and the quality of education. The improvement and quality assurance work carried out in education is also part of systematic work environment management. It needs to be supplemented by other measures, such as risk assessments, investigations and safety inspections.
Examples:
- Discussions with students and student groups in course councils, programme councils, and education/programme boards.
- Information and meetings with the department’s student safety representative.
- Course evaluations (sample questions are available in the question bank) and other evaluations.
- Evaluations conducted as part of quality assurance work often include questions regarding the study and working environment for students.
- Evaluation reports.
- Walk-throughs/inspections of physical study environments (departmental) and digital study environments (Canvas sites).
- Investigation of accidents and incidents.
- Risk assessments regarding changes to the study programme, pregnant students, etc.
- Clear, accessible information and communication.
- Staff meetings with discussions on what constitutes a good working environment for students.
- Equal opportunities in teaching.
Karolinska Institutet is responsible for investigating and addressing incidents and situations that affect the health of our students within their study environment.
Students may report deficiencies in the study environment directly to the course coordinator, examiner, study counsellor, or other staff members they trust. They can also provide feedback via course evaluations and other surveys to highlight aspects of the study environment that require improvement. Urgent incidents must be addressed immediately.
An investigation should be initiated as soon as possible by contacting the student. Incidents must be reported and documented in the IA system. The system is designed with a step-by-step structure to support the investigation process. The investigation is handled by the designated staff member at the department responsible for investigating incidents involving student matters.
Safety representatives for students and PHD-students
Student safety representatives provide support on working environment matters and incidents.