Technical and operational regulations § 46

§ 46 Organisation of work

The employer shall ensure that the work is organised such that hazardous exposure and unfortunate physical and psychological strains are avoided for the individual employee, and such that the likelihood of mistakes that can lead to hazard and accident situations, is reduced. The organisation shall be based on an individual and overall evaluation of acute and long-term effects from the various working environment factors, and on an evaluation of how technology and organisation affects the opportunity to work safely.
The work shall be organised such that the employee's opportunities, limitations and need for a meaningful work situation are sufficiently addressed, cf. Section 47.
The employer shall reduce unfortunate strain conditions and risk of injury and accidents based on performed analyses, mapping and gathered information on the employees' own experience of work-related risk and strain conditions.
Section last changed: 01 January 2011

As regards organisation of work, reference is also made to the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority's guidelines regarding organisation and arrangement of work – guidelines for Sections 4-1 through 4-4 of the Working Environment Act.
The organisation as mentioned in the first subsection, should, inter alia, take into account the need for individual adaptation, including work capacity and age. Cf. also Section 21 and Chapters II and III of these regulations, and Sections 18 and 19 of the Management Regulations.
Hazardous exposure and unfortunate loads as mentioned in first subsection, mean exposure and loads that result from ergonomic conditions, chemical influences, radiation, noise, vibrations, climatic conditions and psychosocial conditions.
To avoid hazardous exposure as mentioned in the first subsection, measures or solutions should be selected at the highest of these levels:
  1. elimination of the causes of the exposure,
  2. technical measures that reduce the likelihood of exposure,
  3. technical measures that reduce exposure,
  4. operational measures that reduce exposure.
Organisation as mentioned in the first and second subsections, should be a continuous process where both employer and the employees attempt to improve the working environment, cf. also Section 23 of the Management Regulations.
Organisation of work should be based on accessible knowledge of the characteristics and needs of humans, so that the interaction between people, technology and organisation is optimised, cf. Section 13 of the Management Regulations. The ISO 6385 standard should be used in such organisation.
As regards work above ground, Chapter 17 in Regulations relating to conduct of work (in Norwegian only) should be used.
As regards work in tanks, reference is made to relevant provisions in regulations pursuant to the Working Environment Act, laid down 6 December 2011. In addition, reference is made to the lawmirror (in Norwegian only) of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, in which the requirement of the regulations that are being repealed upon entering into force of the new regulations in pursuance of the Working Environment Act, are included.