Changing the Workplace to Fit Human Needs: The Norwegian Work Environment Act
In: Economic and industrial democracy, Band 12, Heft 4, S. 487-500
ISSN: 1461-7099
In the late 1970s, Norway established the Work Environment Act which was aimed towards overall improvement of the workplace as well as traditional health and safety issues. The law, which probably remains the most ambitious in the world, is part of a more general movement to empower workers. It broadly defines health to include mental well-being. The scope of the law and its decentralized implementation stands in sharp contrast to its American counterpart, the Occupational Safety and Health Act. So far the law has met with moderate, measurable success, but its long-range implications may be even more important. It could be an organizational 'revolution in slow motion'.