Employers are obliged to make a so-called incident report if staff have been exposed to or been harmed by the coronavirus at work.

During the first week of the year, the authority received 361, which is the highest number for a single week since the corona pandemic broke out.

-It is a high number that follows the infection situation in the country.

It is worrying, says Ulrika Scholander, section manager at the Swedish Work Environment Authority.

The peak has been preceded by a steady increase.

The week with the most registrations in 2020 was week 52 with 283, after a steady rise for several weeks.

In April and May, the level was also at a relatively high level with over 200 registrations a week.

Between colleagues

During autumn and winter, the most common type of report applies to the spread of infection between colleagues, where no symptoms were shown at the time of infection.

-If we say that you and I have a meeting at work, in the evening I get sick and do a quick test that shows that I have corona.

Then I was probably contagious when we met and it must be reported, says Ulrika Scholander.

The high levels are a direct consequence of increased spread of infection, but Ulrika Scholander also believes that more widespread testing contributes.

This spring, not as many had the opportunity to be tested for active infection, while more can now discover if they have covid-19.

Cases for the police

Throughout the pandemic, most corona-related reports have affected health and care workplaces, as well as now.

Recently, attention has also been drawn to several cases where staff ignored the rules and came to work despite symptoms, which, among other things, led to dismissal.

However, this type of case constitutes a minority of the notifications received and does not form the basis for inspection by the Swedish Work Environment Authority, as other cases can do.

-In such cases, we look at whether employers have had functioning and sufficient routines to prevent the spread of infection, but if an employee actively chooses not to follow the routines, the employer has not breached work environment responsibility and then it will rather be a criminal investigation for the police, says Ulrika Scholander.