Swedish Work Environment Authority: No space for work near covid patients without mouth guards

Following the notorious so-called Serafen decision, the Swedish Work Environment Authority emphasized in several contexts that the requirement for mouth protection under the visor should not be perceived as a general requirement. It would be decided locally before each work step if a plastic visor was enough. (See fact box.)

Locally, the bar was sometimes set very high. In Gothenburg, a district director said that they were only allowed to produce mouth guards in the event of "extreme danger of splashes and splashes". The term "splash" came from the Swedish Public Health Agency's recommendations, which the Swedish Work Environment Authority's management has made an effort not to conflict with.

But this summer, the Swedish Public Health Agency has come to the conclusion that the local risk assessments do not work. They have therefore tightened their recommendations, and now want mouth guards to always be used under the visor.

The Swedish Work Environment Authority tells SVT that it welcomes the announcement, and that it is in line with decisions made by the authority after the Serafen case. It is emphasized that local risk assessments are still needed, but there is no room for an employer to find work steps where oral protection would not be needed.

- No, we make the assessment that a visor and fluid-repellent mouthguard are required for all work near patients with a suspected or infected covid, says Peter Burman, acting head of the inspection operations.

During the summer, the authority posted its own recommendation on mouth protection and visors for work within a two-meter radius from a covid patient.

The term "splash" has been passed on to the trash. When the Swedish Work Environment Authority recently followed up on its notorious decision about the Serafen nursing home, it was discovered that internal instructions within the city of Stockholm still said that mouth protection was only required in the event of "risk of splashing".

The authority pointed this out to the municipality's responsible and the reaction came immediately. "Within one hour after the end of the inspection, the city had revised the said instruction," it is stated in the visit protocol.

Watch SVT's review of the dispute over mouth protection.