The Work Environment Authority has evaluated the OSA regulations that were introduced in 2016. The evaluation was carried out in collaboration with researchers and reported in two stages, with the first interim report published in 2022 and the second final report and summary published in November 2023. The results show that many of those who use the regulations in working life, such as trade union representatives, managers, safety representatives and occupational health care, are positive about them.

The OSA regulations are thought to help work with issues around social ill health and highlight workplace problems linked to this, but problems have arisen in the application of the regulations. Employers as well as trade unions and safety representatives say they are unsure of how to use the regulations, especially when deciding on effective measures for different situations. The evaluation also claims that the manager leading health and safety work does not always have the mandates required to solve the issues:

“In several of our documents there are observations that the regulations underline the central role of the immediate manager. For example, integrating measures required to achieve a balance between requirements and resources into operational decisions can be problematic, and the immediate manager can seldom decide on such measures.”

We may need to be clearer about what applies with respect to the regulations.

The first interim report indicated that there was a need for more information about how to act on abusive discrimination in the workplace, which is also supported in the final report. The Work Environment Authority points out in the evaluation that the regulations govern preventive health and safety work, but they do not provide support for measures in individual cases:

“We may need to be clearer about what applies with respect to the regulations, and maybe guidance material needs to be updated and more specific information on drawing boundaries with respect to the discrimination act.”

The evaluation of the OSA regulations also included an assessment of whether their introduction had any effect on sickness leave linked to mental illness. No effect has been seen so far and according to the measurements that have been made, the number of cases of mental illness was actually slightly higher two years after the introduction of the reform, compared to two years previously.

On the other hand, the regulations have led to increased awareness of mental illness in working life, and a media analysis showed that they had a major impact when they were introduced in 2016. It is also stated that information about OSA issues must be regularly updated for managers and safety officers. In shipping, the Swedish Transport Agency is the authority responsible for health and safety on board, and the OSA regulations only started to apply there in 2019.

The evaluation of the OSA regulations can be found on the Swedish Work Environment Authority’s website.