Occupational safety and health 

Our role in respect of occupational safety and health is to make sure that working conditions in Finland are safe, healthy and fair. We conduct inspections at workplaces to ensure that employers comply with their legal obligation to provide a safe and healthy work environment. We also provide advice and guidance. We work in close cooperation with employers’ organisations and trade unions. Information and answers to work-related questions are available through a national helpline and a website dedicated to occupational safety and health at Tyosuojelu.fi. 

We track labour market trends and focus our work so as to also take any emerging phenomena into account. Our priorities for the next few years are working conditions, work-related stress and the increasingly fragmented nature of work. We help to prevent the risk of accidents, physical and psychosocial risk factors and other work-related hazards. We also help to ensure that all workers − regardless of the industry or the nature of the work involved − are treated fairly.  

We advocate a proactive approach to occupational safety and health. The responsibility for workers’ health and safety always ultimately lies with the employer, and we encourage employers to introduce preventive occupational safety and health policies in cooperation with, for example, their occupational health care provider. 

Finland’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration employs around 450 people in total. We have officers in the Divisions of Occupational Safety and Health of five Regional State Administrative Agencies in Southern Finland, Eastern Finland, Southwestern Finland, Western and Inland Finland and Northern Finland. We report on our performance to the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. 

Regional State Administrative Agencies’ occupational safety and health responsibilities 

• We carry out inspections to ensure employers’ compliance with the relevant regulations. 
• We grant different kinds of work-related permits, licences and authorisations. 
• We investigate serious occupational accidents and occupational diseases. 
• We enforce compliance with laws and regulations such as the Finnish Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out. 
• We participate in court proceedings relating to criminal labour law. 
• We ensure the regulatory compliance of machinery, tools and personal protective equipment intended for professional use. 

Find out more about our work 

• on our website
• by calling us on +358 (0)29 501 6620.

 Tyosuojelu.fi