Maria Svanberg is a human resources specialist and has worked with health and safety issues for most of her professional life. She worked in the municipal sector until recently, but since mid-May she has been a work environment expert at Transportföretagen, of which the Swedish Maritime Employers’ Association (Sarf) is a member.
“Work environment is an incredibly broad area and even though I have worked with it for many years, there are always new things to learn,” says Maria Svanberg. “That’s one of the things that makes this work so much fun, you never know it all. It’s also important work where you can get involved and actually make a difference.”
At Transportföretagen she advises the organisation’s 9,200 member companies, which together represent around 200,000 employees. She also leads training courses and keeps up to date on health and safety regulations. The type of help requested by member companies varies, but in general the questions are related to the size of the companies, says Maria Svanberg.
“Small companies often have more basic questions, such as how to structure their systematic work environment management or where to find supporting documents and checklists. This is something that larger companies usually keep track of themselves. When they reach out to us, it’s usually about more complex issues that they aren’t able to solve themselves.”
Regardless of the size of the companies or the sector in which they operate, Maria Svanberg has noticed over the years that there are certain factors that distinguish companies with well-functioning health and safety management, one of them being knowledge.
”Knowledge is key to proactive and preventive work as it should be carried out under the Work Environment Act. This is not so strange, of course, because you need to know what the risks are and where they occur in order to take the right actions.”
It’s very important to work systematically and have good collaboration with the safety officers.
Another aspect that often distinguishes companies with a good work environment, according to Maria Svanberg, is that they have a good atmosphere of collaboration.
“It’s very important to work systematically and have good collaboration with the safety officers. Work environment management is an area where we must work together and not act in conflict. You need to think in terms of ”we” in work environment management, then it works out well.”
The Swedish Confederation of Transport Enterprises organises information meetings and training courses to raise awareness of health and safety issues. Maria Svanberg wants to encourage managers and safety officers to attend such courses together.
“You then get a shared platform of knowledge that helps collaboration on health and safety issues. It is always the employer who is ultimately responsible for the work environment, but as a manager, you also need help from safety officers in the field.”
This year, Maria Svanberg will focus more on the new regulatory structure of the Swedish Work Environment Authority which will enter into force on 1 January 2025, but it is already available on the authority’s website for those who want to prepare.
“During the spring, we will provide information about what our member companies need to do to adapt to the changes. Above all, it is a matter of looking over the references in various health and safety documents, since the current regulations are rearranged in a new format. We will also be doing this here at the Swedish Confederation of Transport Enterprises.”
Maria Svanberg on health and safety issues she finds particularly important
“Issues relating to the organisational and social work environment are important and are strongly linked to leadership. The employer or manager must ensure that employees know what jobs need to be carried out and what outcome is required. It must also be clearly stated where employees should go for support and help with their work, and if necessary, help with priorities so that workload and recovery are balanced well in the long term.”