Election of safety representatives at KI

The Swedish Work Environment Act states that the employer and the employee should work together in the work environment management. Even if the employer has the utmost responsibility for the work environment, it is a stated requirement that the organized work environment management should be run together with the employees and their representatives. 

The safety representative shall be thoroughly familiar with the work being performed in their safety area and have insight into and an interest in work environment matters. 
The safety representative must be employed at KI, but not necessarily unionized. The safety representative can only operate within his/her protection area. 

Routines for electing and appointing safety representatives

• Safety representatives are elected by the employees at the workplace and then formally appointed by the employee organizations at the workplace (if he or she is not a member of the union Saco will appoint).
• As a rule, the election of safety representatives is performed via an open or closed ballot.
• Within KI the local safety representative or other initiator, e.g. the work environment group at the department, bring the personnel at the workplace (safety area) together and elect a safety representative.
• A safety area can include everything from one or several departments/equivalent to a specific working group or a geographical area such as a corridor or floor of a building.
• The safety representative represents all employees within the safety area (regardless of they are a member of a union or not).
• Information about the safety representative election shall be sent to all concerned at the workplace well in advance of the election. The election process during the current mandate period follows the same routine.

Mandate period

Mandate period is three years and applies uniformly throughout KI. Employees who have been appointed as safety representative can enter or leave their post at any time during the current mandate period. The chief safety representative shall inform the workplace when the mandate period is drawing to a close and when it is time to elect a new safety representative.

Registration of safety representatives

Once the SR is elected and the digital form (see below) is submitted, the registration process will begin. The Chief Safety Representative and our trade unions will then automatically receive a notification that a new SR has been elected. The unions then formally appoint the safety representative and notify the Chief Safety Representative of the decision. Once the safety representative is formally appointed, the Chief Safety Representative notifies the new safety representative in writing and a notification is sent to the employer (KI), in this case to the central HR department for registration. Only when the safety representative is clearly notified/registered with the employer (KI) is he/she entitled to act in the role, in accordance with the Work Environment Act. Please note that locally, the safety representative notifies his/her immediate supervisor himself/herself. Also remember to inform and announce the protection organisation (template available for this).