For people working in Denmark

Arbejdstilsynet is the Danish Working Environment Authority, whose work revolves around providing a safe and healthy working life for everyone. A good working life means not only creating a safe physical environment, but also promoting mental health in the workplace.

Arbejdstilsynet conducts workplace inspections in Denmark. We visit workplaces to see how work gets done and make sure employees are working in safe and healthy conditions. Arbejdstilsynet has the right to enter any business in Denmark, and both managers and employees are required to answer the questions we ask. When Arbejdstilsynet conducts inspections, we consider occupational health and safety from physical and psychological perspectives. This means that Arbejdstilsynet can take action in response to a working environment that puts employees' mental health at risk, too.

Arbejdstilsynet's role and tasks

If you have any questions about occupational health and safety, you can call or write to Arbejdstilsynet's Call Centre. The Call Centre is staffed by employees who speak both Danish and English.

You also have the option to file a complaint about your own or others' working environments. We recommend that you first try to resolve any issues locally in your organisation. For example, start by talking to your manager or contacting your health and safety representative. When filing a complaint with Arbejdstilsynet, you have the option to remain anonymous. If Arbejdstilsynet follows up with a visit to the business in question, we won't mention that we're there to investigate a complaint.

Arbejdstilsynet handles complaints about all kinds of occupational health and safety issues, including offensive behaviour, such as bullying and sexual harassment.

Do you have questions about health and safety? Contact Arbejdstilsynet's Call Centre

In Denmark, occupational health and safety initiatives are organised in collaboration between you, your colleagues, and management. Employers have a duty to involve their employees in this work, and most workplaces in Denmark have a designated health and safety representative.

The health and safety representative represents all employees at that workplace. You can always go to this person if you have any questions or input regarding your work environment. Your representative may answer your questions directly or pass them on to be handled by the appropriate person.

When should there be a health and safety representative?

In workplaces with 10 or more employees, there are special requirements related to occupational health and safety:

• There must be a health and safety organisation (abbreviated "AMO" in Danish). The AMO is a group dedicated to occupational health and safety work, where both management and employees are represented.
• A health and safety representative must be elected. The health and safety representative is the employees' voice in the workplace's health and safety organisation.
  At construction sites, there must be an AMO and a health and safety representative if the company has 5 or more employees on site simultaneously for 14 days or more.

Read more about health and safety organisations

It is your employer's duty to ensure that you receive the necessary training and instruction. This means that your employer must instruct you on how to perform your various tasks. This is usually done verbally, but in some cases, verbal instruction must be supported by written material, such as when employees are at risk of being exposed to particularly hazardous substances and materials, and in the case of particularly complicated work processes and situations. Instruction can also consist of pictograms, videos, or other materials.

Instruction manuals for machines and technical equipment must be available in Danish and other relevant languages, so that everyone – including foreign employees – has access to manuals they can understand. These manuals must be available in the location where work is performed.

As an employee, you are obliged to follow your employer's instructions, but it is the employer's responsibility to ensure that you have understood the instructions. For that reason, instruction must be provided in a language you understand.

If you feel unsafe or unsure of how to perform a task, ask your supervisor or health and safety representative.

It is your employer's duty to plan and organise work so that it can be done in a fully safe manner. For example, this means that your employer must determine which technical aids and personal protective equipment are necessary for you to perform work tasks. 

As an employee, you are entitled to receive the necessary personal protective equipment from your employer. Personal protective equipment is designed to protect you from risks at work and is used when it is not possible to plan and perform the task safely in any other way. 

Learn more about the types of protective equipment and when to use them

All companies performing work in Denmark must conduct a health and safety risk assessment (abbreviated "APV" in Danish). It is the employer's responsibility to conduct the assessment, and employees must be involved in the process. The APV involves mapping out the company's working environment, identifying areas where action is needed, and making a plan for how to improve health and safety in these areas.

The APV is a key element in the company's ongoing efforts to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for you and your colleagues.

You can read more about the legally mandated health and safety risk assessment here:

Read more about the health and safety risk assessment (APV)

Start by reaching out to your employer, your supervisor, or your colleagues. Many workplaces also have a health and safety representative and a health and safety organisation you can go to. You can also file an anonymous complaint with Arbejdstilsynet.

You can file a complaint if you suspect a violation of Danish working environment legislation, or if you or your colleagues are experiencing offensive behaviour, such as bullying or sexual harassment.

Contact Arbejdstilsynet here