Assessing Assessment: The Danish Experience of Worker Participation in Risk Assessment

Abstract

The imposition of the 1989 EU framework directive resulted in new Danish legislation on workplace assessment (WPA) to establish a mandatory participatory process to regulate the work environment in all firms. Initial studies of the legislation's implementation show that while smaller firms are not complying with the new requirements, larger firms are. A closer analysis, however, shows that the ambitions behind the law are still not being fully realized. By analysing the results from the perspective of different theories, this article addresses which strategies can be followed in order to develop WPA activities and thereby the participatory programme established by the Danish law on work environment.