Section 5-2. The authority and duties of regional safety representatives
The regional safety representatives shall work in workplaces that have not elected a safety representative or established a working environment committee pursuant to the provisions of the Working Environment Act.In workplaces that have not elected a safety representative, the regional safety representative shall notify the employer and employees of the duty to elect a safety representative pursuant to Section 6-1 of the Working Environment Act. If no safety representative is elected following this, the regional safety representative shall notify the Labour Inspection Authority.Until a safety representative has been elected for the undertaking, the regional safety representative has the same authority as a safety representative pursuant to Section 6-2(1) to (6) and Section 6-3 of the Working Environment Act. The regional safety representative may take part in the Labour Inspection Authority's inspections in the undertaking. Regional safety representatives have the same authority in relation to undertakings with no employees.In workplaces with several employers and where the undertakings have not agreed on which one is to take responsibility for coordinating the individual undertakings' safety and environmental work, the regional safety representative shall notify the employers of the duty to agree in writing which undertaking shall be responsible for the coordination; see Section 2-2 of the Working Environment Act. If, following this, the employers fail to agree on which undertaking is to be responsible for the coordination, the regional safety representative shall notify the Labour Inspection Authority.If undertakings that are obliged to establish a working environment committee pursuant to Section 7-1 of the Working Environment Act fail to do so, the regional safety representatives shall make the employer and employees aware of this duty. If no working environment committee is established following this, the regional safety representative shall notify the Labour Inspection Authority.Regional safety representatives shall prepare annual reports on their activities to the unions.
