SD on the authorities' oral protection case: "Remarkable"

In April, SVT told us that the Swedish Work Environment Authority has dampened the importance of the staff's use of certain protective equipment.

The background is that the Swedish Work Environment Authority had stipulated that the employees at the Serafen retirement home should wear both visor and mouth protection at work. Subsequently, SKR called the Swedish Work Environment Authority, the National Board of Health, IVO and the Public Health Authority to a meeting where they then together prepared a statement where they suddenly had a much softer attitude to the importance of protective equipment.

The union council now has JO-notified the Work Environment Authority, which politicians from several parliamentary parties welcome.

- We think it's good that it is investigated. We got a major outbreak and did not have enough protective equipment. After that, the requirements for the type of protective equipment to be used were changed, says the Swedish Democrats group leader Henrik Vinge, and continues:

- You have to wonder, did they lower the requirements because they did not want to lose face because they were not prepared?

Karin Rågsjö, the Left Party spokesperson on health policy issues, also thinks that an investigation is appropriate.

- We need to get a fair page on this. There have been so many tours, it's almost like a dick. If you work with covid patients, be sure not to become infected or infect others, says Karin Rågsjö.

The Swedish Work Environment Authority is accused of giving in to pressure from other actors, what do you think about it?

- An authority must make its own assessments. But we do not know what has happened between SKR and the other authorities, so an investigation is needed. But the important thing is that the staff is protected.

Håkan Olsson, deputy head of the Swedish Work Environment Authority, denies that they would have been pressured.

-It's good to get a further review. We regret that we feel that we would have changed our decision ( on protective equipment, ed. Note ). But we make our decisions ourselves, no one else has participated in the decision making itself. But we are adamant about being able to work healthy and safe.

Can you understand that it may appear that you have been pressed?

- I do not comment on it now, it must show the JO notification.