Occupational safety and health enforcement tools for preventing occupational diseases and injuries

A comparison of inspection practices within the construction industry between the Danish and Swedish Work Environment Authorities

“…Optimal communication requires that both parties agree on their respective roles and that the roles are complementary (for instance adult-adult or parent-child). Hale (1995) effects found for various types of inspections, it does make a difference how and why an inspection is carried out (Mischke et al 2013). But, from the existing studies it is unclear how the inspections were performed, what the inspectors' instructions were and if or what kind of change process in the inspected companies was set in motion by the inspectors.…”

“…But, from the existing studies it is unclear how the inspections were performed, what the inspectors' instructions were and if or what kind of change process in the inspected companies was set in motion by the inspectors. Thus, there is considerable uncertainty as to what is the most effective and efficient inspection approach (Tompa et al 2007, Mischke et al 2013.…”

“…However, not much is known on what happens on inspections as there is a lack of studies describing the inspection process (Burstyn et al 2010, Mischke et al 2013. So, the aim of the current study was to describe and compare the inspection practices, within the construction industry, between the Danish (DWEA) and Swedish Work Environment Authorities (SWEA) and identify differences related to inspection strategy, role relationship and the inspected parties' reactions to the inspection.…”

“…Thus, in principle a Danish company is inspected four times as often as a Swedish company, although both countries use different selection strategies to focus inspections on the most relevant companies in practice. Nonetheless, if inspections are effective in preventing injuries (Mischke et al 2013), it is surprising that it is Sweden that has the significantly lower incidence of injuries. Several explanations may be given for this.…”

“…A systematic review found limited evidence for inspections being associated with a reduction in frequency or severity of injuries, while there was strong evidence for an association between actually being cited or penalized and a reduction in injury frequency or severity (Tompa et al 2007). Likewise, the tentative conclusion of a recent Cochrane review was that inspections as an enforcement tool have inconclusive effects on the short term but do decrease injury rates after more than three years follow-up (Mischke et al 2013). However, nothing could be concluded on magnitude of the effect, just as the effect of fines and penalties was uncertain.…”