Exporting to and providing services in Scandinavia

Specific rules concerning health and safety

Scandinavian countries often have specific obligations concerning health and safety at work.

For example, if 5 or more employees perform work on a temporary work site in Denmark, and if such activities last 14 days or more, the foreign employer is required to establish a Health and Safety Organization (in Danish “AMO”). At least 1 member of the AMO must complete a three-day Danish training course in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH).

Finland applies a similar rule: a foreign employer is required to arrange for preventive occupational health care regardless of (a) the duration of a posting and of (b) the number of posted employees.

In Sweden, completion of an SSG Entre Basic course is compulsory in and for the construction sector. The aim is to improve safety at work and to reduce the number of work related accidents. Special training and/or medical certificates, in some cases also a permit, are required in order to be allowed to work with certain materials (for example disinfectants, wood preservatives and asbestos).

Take complexities and long processing times for red tape matters into account, when planning to perform activities in Scandinavia.