Managers carry out important work environment work for others, but their own work environment often falls between the chairs in the companies’ systematic work environment work. That is one of the conclusions of our report after a major inspection effort of the working environment for first-line managers in the private sector.
In June 2022, the Swedish Work Environment Agency began an inspection effort of the working environment in the private sector for first-line managers, i.e. the managers who are the immediate supervisor of the majority of employees in a workplace. When the effort ended in December 2023, almost 1,100 inspections had been carried out and in 65 percent of the cases we demanded that the inspected workplace remedy deficiencies in the work environment work. The shortcomings were discovered to a large extent in the organizational and social work environment – it was about workload, arrangement of working hours and abusive discrimination – but also in the systematic work environment work.
Managers are not seen as ordinary workers
First-line managers are a professional group with high demands on themselves and who are often pressured both from above and below in the organization – something that can lead to stress and an unsustainable work environment. Despite that, the inspections have identified that managers’ work environment often falls between the chairs in the companies’ systematic work environment work. First-line managers are either completely excluded from employee surveys, safety rounds, employee interviews and incident reporting systems, or they cannot be identified based on their job role. The risk then becomes that the work environment issues that concern the managers are not taken care of.
– The managers’ work environment needs to be lifted and made visible. A manager is also an employee, who needs a good working environment in order to be a good support to others. Our inspectors have noticed that it is not obvious for companies to think of managers as ordinary workers, who should naturally be part of the systematic work environment work, says Malin Cato, work environment inspector and project manager at the Swedish Work Environment Authority’s inspection department.
Protection agents rarely represent managers
During the inspection effort, it has emerged time and time again that there are shortcomings in how companies distribute work environment tasks to those who must manage the work environment for first-line managers. People who on paper are tasked with managing their work environment do not always know about it. There is thus a great risk that companies miss the working environment of their managers and cannot prevent the risks that may arise. Another observation is that there are rarely safety representatives who represent first-line managers.
– The managers are often seen as employer representatives and then sometimes become a counterpart to the protection organization. But the safety representatives have an important role in highlighting and pointing out work environment risks. Even managers may need safety representatives who act for their work environment, says Malin Cato.
Most companies have fixed flaws
The inspection effort showed no major difference between small and large companies. However, it was somewhat more common for larger companies to be required to remedy deficiencies, despite the fact that they often have specialists who work with work environment issues.
At the same time, it has been clear during the inspection effort that many companies want to improve their work environment work and realize the benefits of doing so. Competence is highly sought after in today’s working life, not least at the managerial level, and many employers see first-line managers as important people who they can build on within the company. There are few cases during the inspection effort that have been progressed to injunctions, which means that the employers have generally addressed deficiencies that we have identified.
– Being a first-line manager is often the first step in a career that can mean a higher position in the future. This can lead to cultivating a culture of needing to do a few “dog years” before rising through the ranks and getting a more sustainable work environment. These are some of the risks that are part of the organizational and social work environment, and which workplaces must investigate and risk assess in order to create a good and sustainable work environment for first-line managers. Everyone should be able, able and willing to work a full working life, says Malin Cato.
Read more about the inspection effort in our report: https://www.av.se/globalassets/filer/publikationer/rapporter/forsta-linjens-chefer-rapport.pdf
