How to elect a safety representative

The safety representative is a representative of the employees and is elected by the employees at the workplace. Anyone who is elected needs to be a member of a trade union organization that has a collective agreement with the workplace, since it is the union organization that appoints the safety representative (Work Environment Act, Chapter 6, Section 2, paragraph 2). The safety representative's appointment is a comission of trust and is protected by both the work environment legislation and the trustee legislation (Swedish: Förtroendemannalagen).

The following is a guide to facilitate the election of safety representatives at Uppsala University - a "who-does-what" that the trade unions have prepared and agreed on May 12th, 2020.

Different roles when electing a safety representative

The role of the resigning safety representative

It is the resigning safety representative who should normally summon all employees in the workplace to choose a new safety representative. It is also good if the resigning safety representative has a handover to the newly elected safety representative. In addition, the resigning safety representative needs to send in a notice of the resignation. The union will then inform the employer and the chief safety representative about this.

The role of the chief safety representative

The chief safety representative deals mainly with matters concerning several departments at the university or divisions within the University Administration. This may involve rebuilding, reorganisation, relocation of employees at several organizational units. In exceptional circumstances, the chief safety representative may "jump in" and take safety representative cases where a safety representative is missing. If necessary, the chief safety representative can assist in the election of a safety representative by summoning all employees at a department/division to the election and participating as chairperson/voter in the election, if the employees so wish. The chief safety representative coordinates all safety representatives within a certain area, provides support and advice to individual safety representatives and arranges meetings/training/etc. for the safety representatives (Work Environment Act, Chapter 6, Section 3).

The role of trade union organizations

The trade unions with collective agreements at Uppsala University, that is, Saco-S, ST/OFR and Seko, are the only ones who can appoint safety representatives at the university. The role of the trade union organizations in electing a safety representative (and the chief safety representative) is to ensure that the election was made correctly, that the safety representatives are union members, and also to inform the employer of which safety representatives that has been appointed. Saco-S is working to keep an up-to-date list of all safety representatives at the university. Our goal is to be able to remind safety representatives, chief safety representatives or head of departments/managers that it is time to elect a safety representative when the appointment ends or if there for some reason is no safety representative. This is something that one of the other trade union organizations could do.

The role of the head of department/manager

The main rule is that it is the employees who choose the safety representative. The head of department/manager should not propose a safety representative, should not participate or even attend the election itself. This also applies to managers under the head of department. On the other hand, it is good that the head of department/manager informs the employees that a new safety representative needs to be elected. The head of department/manager or another person whom they have appointed can call for a staff meeting where the election of a safety representative can be carried out. The head of department/manager should not be a contact person on the document "Registration for safety representative" sent to the trade union organization.

Choosing a local safety representative - approach

Who can/should summon for the election of a safety representative?

In order for it to be an election of a safety representative, one must have summoned for an election. It cannot be another issue at a staff meeting. This is so that all employees are given the time and opportunity to propose candidates and to participate in the election itself. The notice can be sent out by the resigning safety representative, the chief safety representative, the union, the head of department/manager or other person whom they have appointed. See the description of the different roles above. The notice can advantageously indicate if there already are proposals for safety representatives, but it should always be possible to declare your interest for the position in connection to the election.

Who is eligible?

The person elected must be a member of a trade union organization that has a collective agreement with the workplace, because it is the trade union organization that appoints the safety representative. The underlying reason for this is because union membership is needed for the safety representative to be protected by both the working environment legislation and the trustee legislation. It is not appropriate that a person with an employer responsibility is a safety representative.

Who can elect?

The safety representative is the representative of the employees and is elected by all the employees at the workplace. The head of department/manager should not attend the election of a safety representative. Elections should be in the form of closed elections.

What do we do when we select a safety representative?

The person who held the election - the resigning safety representative, the chief safety representative or an employee at the workplace - fills out the form Registration of safety representative (PDF, only available in Swedish) pdf, 195 kB.. The form indicates which protection area/workplace to which the safety representative has been elected, as well as the term of office and personal data. Then the form is sent to the newly elected safety respresentative's union organization, ie Saco-S, ST/OFR or Seko at Uppsala University.

What happens when the registration arrives at the trade union organization?

• When the trade union organization receives the form for registration of a safety representative, one of our trustees will reach out to the person who has been proposed, to ask about how the election went and to consult with the proposed safety representative if there are any questions regarding the appointment.
• When all issuess have been cleared, the relevant trade union organization decides to appoint the safety representative. It is from this point the safety representative has the statutory security that comes with the work environment legislation and the trustee legislation.
• Then, the relevant trade union organization that informs the employer, the chief safety representative and the other trade union organizations that a safety representative has been appointed in the workplace.

Questions about choosing a safety representative

If you have any questions regarding the election of a safety representative, please contact one of the unions at Uppsala University:

• Saco-S: saco-s@uu.se
• ST/OFR: ofr@uu.se
• Seko: seko@uadm.uu.se

Protection areas (Swedish: skyddsområden)

1. Ekonomikum, Uppsala University Library, Gamla torget Campus, the Munken Block, Musicum, Gustavianum
2. The Segerstedt Building, English Park Campus, SCAS, Blåsenhus
3. Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC; including the Erken Laboratory and Klubban Biological Station), Geo Centre, Uppsala Botanical Garden (including Linnaeus' Hammarby)
4. Biomedical center (BMC)
5. The Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University Hospital
6. Polacksbacken
7. Campus Gotland

Safety representative term of office

The term of office is three years and usually ends on December 31 the year in question.