Short answer
Every business with employees must have a safety representative (verneombud), elected by the employees. With fewer than five employees you can instead agree another arrangement in writing, including having no safety representative. From five employees, one must be elected. The employer must provide training and time, and pay the costs.
What does the law say?
Section 6-1 of the Norwegian Working Environment Act says that a safety representative must be elected at every business the Act applies to. The safety representative represents the employees in working environment matters. The employer still has full responsibility for a safe working environment.
Five employees is the threshold
- Fewer than five employees: The parties can agree in writing on another arrangement, including having no safety representative. The Labour Inspection Authority can still order one after a specific assessment. The agreement lasts two years from signing, unless something else is agreed.
- Five or more employees: A safety representative must be elected.
- More than ten employees: More than one safety representative can be elected. The number should reflect the size of the company, the nature of the work and the working conditions. With departments or shift work, there should in general be at least one per department or shift team.
- More than one safety representative: You must have at least one chief safety representative to coordinate.
The Labour Inspection Authority writes that all employees are counted, including part-time and temporary employees. If you write an agreement on another arrangement, it should describe how the safety work is handled, for example who the contact person is and how often you meet. When you reach five employees during the agreement period, you must elect a safety representative.
Who elects, and who can be elected?
The employees elect the safety representative. According to the Labour Inspection Authority, the employer or the person who runs the business cannot be elected, and the term is two years. Who the safety representative is must be announced on a notice at the workplace. Details of the election are in chapter 3 of the Regulations on Organisation, Management and Employee Participation. Read them on Lovdata (in Norwegian), and check whether a collective agreement says something different.
What does the safety representative do?
The safety representative looks after the employees’ interests in working environment matters and checks that the business is set up and maintained so that the work can be done safely. This covers, among other things, machines, chemicals, protective equipment, training and instruction, and the psychosocial environment. The safety representative must be consulted when measures in their area affect the working environment, must be told about accidents, occupational illness and defects found, and may take part when the Labour Inspection Authority inspects.
If there is immediate danger to life or health that cannot be averted in another way, the safety representative can stop the work until the Labour Inspection Authority has decided. The stop must not go further than necessary, and must be reported to the employer at once.
Training: what is required?
The employer must make sure the safety representative gets the training needed to carry out the role properly (section 6-5). The Act itself does not state a number of hours. The regulations do: the training must last at least 40 hours, but the parties can agree shorter training if they agree it is adequate. The Labour Inspection Authority writes that such an agreement must rest on a joint written assessment, and that disagreement means 40 hours.
The training must be given as soon as possible after the election, mainly during working hours. The employer pays the costs. The safety representative must not lose income because of the role. See sections 3-18 to 3-21 of the regulations for what the training must contain, and the Labour Inspection Authority for how time and pay are handled.
Safety representatives can choose courses from the employee organisations, and the employer can use other course providers. Either way, ask whether the course covers what the regulations describe.
How to keep order
- Count the employees, and decide whether to elect a safety representative or write an agreement on another arrangement.
- Document the election, the announcement and the term.
- Set aside time and budget for the training, and note when it was completed.
- Give the safety representative access to deviations, safety inspections and risk assessments. See the guides on deviations, safety inspections and risk assessment.
- See also the guide on HSE requirements for what else applies at certain sizes.
How the portal helps
In the HSE system you can collect what the safety representative needs: deviations, safety inspections, risk assessments and working environment committee meetings. In the HR system you can record competence per employee, so you can see who has completed which training.
Sources
The rules change. Always check the current text with the sources below. Most sources are in Norwegian. This guide is general information and not legal advice.
- Working Environment Act section 6-1 on safety representatives (Lovdata, Norwegian)
- Working Environment Act section 6-5 on training of safety representatives (Lovdata, Norwegian)
- Regulations on Organisation, Management and Employee Participation sections 3-18 to 3-21 on training of safety representatives and working environment committees (Lovdata, Norwegian)
- Safety representatives (Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, Norwegian)
- Working Environment Act section 7-1 on working environment committees (Lovdata, Norwegian)