FAQs about election to the Health & Safety organisation at SDU

Health and safety regulations demand that Health and safety representatives are elected by and from among your colleagues if they are to carry out their function as a spokesperson for employees in their work with managers in the health and safety group.

SDU has made a local agreement lokalaftale, which sets 3 years as the electoral period.

Employees working in the area covered by the Health and safety group can stand for election as Health  and safety representative.
Election of health and safety representatives follows the rules for the election of union representatives. In other words, employees wishing to stand as health and safety representative must:

• be employed without management authority
• have been employed at SDU for at least 9 months
• not be employed as student or apprentice

Health and safety representatives need not be members of a trade union, as is the case with a union representative.
Health and safety representatives can easily be both health and safety representatives and union representatives, as long as the elections take place independently.

The rules for the election of Health & Safety representative can be found under §2 of Cirkulære om Tillidsrepræsentanter i staten mv.

Employees wishing to stand for election as health and safety representative state their intention to their departmental head, head of secretariat or area manager, who has initiated the local election.
The coordination of the election may have been delegated to someone else, in which case that is the person to whom candidates should declare their intention.
If there is any doubt about the conduct of the election, the local unit manager or the current health and safety representative should be contacted.

Health and safety representatives are elected by and from among the employees in the area covered by the health and safety representative.

All employees in that area who do not have management authority can vote. This also applies to apprentices, part-time employees, temporary staff, replacement staff, supply staff and probationers.

The question as to whether someone is a manager is decided through an assessment of the manager’s function and tasks.
It is not the work title as manager that decides whether someone is a manager as regards the rules set by health and safety legislation. Someone is, therefore, a manager even though they may take part in practical work, as long as a significant part of their time is taken up in managing or monitoring the work of others.

The election takes place among the employees in the area covered by the health and safety representative. There may be a group that covers an entire department or a unit in which there are several groups. The local election may takes place according to the following model, with local adjustments:

1. The unit manager informs employees by email that it is possible to stand for election as Health & Safety representative for the period [Time period].  It must be clearly stated which criteria apply in order to be eligible, which Health & Safety group one can be elected to and how one can declare candidacy. In addition, it is important that the registered candidates are eligible for election before the election continues. Relevant information can be found on the service page.
   
   
2. The employees have two options:
   - Employees can email their candidacy to the department head, secretariat manager, or area manager. If a local contact person has been appointed instead, they shall be informed of the candidacy.
   - Employees can hold a meeting to discuss who wishes to stand for the position of health and safety representative. If there are multiple candidates for the position, an election shall be held (see section 3.b). If only one employee stands for the position, the employees may inform the manager that they have chosen by acclamation (see section 3.a).
   
   
3. There can be three election scenarios:
   a. If there is only one candidate standing, they are elected by acclamation (see section 3.a).
   b. If there are multiple candidates standing, an election shall be held (see section 3.b).
   c. If no candidates come forward for the position, it is important for the employees to meet and understand the importance of occupational health and safety for well-being and safety at work. This information can be conveyed by the acting workplace representative or the entire occupational health and safety group.
   
   3.a In case of acclamation, the unit leader informs all affected employees about the acclamation.
   3.b The process of an election is agreed upon locally. An election can, for example, be conducted by the unit leader informing employees about who is standing for the position of health and safety representative and that affected employees can cast their vote via email to the acting workplace representative, union representative, or local contact person. This way, the final election remains anonymous to other candidates, colleagues, and the unit leader. Only the person collecting the votes knows who voted for whom. In the event of a tie, the candidate can be chosen by drawing lots.
4. Unit managers make sure that the election is approved by the dean (the chairman of FAMU) and then the health & Safety Group must be informed.
   
   
5. The unit manager inform the Health and Safety Team of the approved election result by sending an email to arbejdsmiljoe@sdu.dk

The newly elected health and safety representative:

• receives confirmation once their election has been approved by management.
• are requested to inform their union (if applicable) of their election with a view to receiving information and support from them.
• participates in the nomination and election of health and safety representatives for the main area’s coordinating health and safety committee (FAMU), campus health and safety committee (CAMU) and the general occupational health and safety committee (HOAMU).
• apply to attend the obligatory health and safety course.  The mandatory health and safety training must be completed within the first three months and a copy of the course certificate must be emailed to SDU HR’s health and safety team at arbejdsmiljoe@sdu.dk. The health and safety team enters the training certificate in the health and safety representative's personnel file. 
  The choice of course venue is made by the individual manager in consultation with the newly elected health and safety representative. SDU organises mandatory occupational health and safety training at the beginning of a new election period. Next time is in autumn 2024.

The electoral period is from 1 August 2024 until 31 July 2027.

Health & Safety representatives are protected from dismissal and from other adverse effects on their working conditions in the same way as are union representatives in the relevant or corresponding area. The situation of Health & Safety representatives may not be worsened as a result of activities associated with their duties. The rules concerning Health & Safety representatives follow rules for union representatives agreed contractually for the area in question. The rules for union representatives can be seen on Cirkulære om Tillidsrepræsentanter i staten mv.

Normally, it is not possible to step down from a position as Health & Safety representative during the electoral period. Nor can colleagues dismiss their Health & Safety representative – the election means commitment from both sides. If the Health & Safety representative’s occupation in the area where they have been elected ceases, then their position as Health & Safety representative also terminates.

If, as a Health &Safety representative, you wish to resign from your post, you must contact the Health & Safety team at arbejdsmiljoe@sdu.dk. The health and safety team will then contact the person concerned with a view to clarifying the options for leaving the profession.

No, it is not possible to choose a deputy.

The unit manager’s task is to initiate the election.

The manager can encourage the group of colleagues to have themselves represented in health and safety work by, for example, informing them about wishes for a future collaboration on health and safety and about examples of current and future tasks. The manager must nor influence a particular election by, for example, encouraging or singling out individuals to stand as health and safety representatives.

In addition, it is the unit manager’s task to pass on the result of colleagues’ choice to the Health & Safety team.

As a newly elected occupational health and safety representative, you have the right to receive an offer of supplementary occupational health and safety training corresponding to 2 days in the first year of your work as a occupational health and safety representative and 1.5 days each of the following years of your work. It is possible to pool the offers, eg that one year is held 3 days, and the following year no training days are held.

Every year, SDU holds various offers of supplementary work environment training:

• The annual general meeting of the Work Environment Organization
• Offers within both psychical and physical work environment on an ongoing basis at SDU employee courses (in Danish only)
•  The Universities' Health and Safety Conference is held every two years, and AEU – the universities’ joint continuing education programme also has other offers within occupational health and safety (external side - in Danish only)
•  Also, check out the courses offered by your trade union or the supplementary health and safety training offered by the Confederation of Danish Employers (external side).

You are encouraged to report your choice to your union, where you have the opportunity to attend relevant courses and get help and guidance in your role as a work environment representative. Contact your union for more information on how to report your choice and what options they can offer you.

The choice of course location is made by the individual manager in consultation with the newly elected work environment representative. The compulsory work environment training must be completed within the first 3 months of the work, and a copy of the course certificate must be sent to The health and safety team at arbeidmiljoe@sdu.dk.

The health and safety team records your course certificate on your personnel case.

If it is not possible to participate in a course every three days, you can complete a training course externally.

Once the election of occupational health and safety representatives has been approved by the management, it is recommended that:

• you report the election to your union,
• you sign up for the compulsory work environment training as soon as possible.

When you join, you and the work environment manager must hold a meeting as soon as possible. Here you will be introduced to the tasks, and you can agree on what should happen first. At the meeting, you also discuss cooperation and roles in the work environment group.

The health and safety team recommends that you:

• informs you in the introduction to the health and safety organisation on SDU’s Co-determination and involvement portal,
• informs you in the APV mapping and the time and action plan for your area, as well as in the working environment group's annual discussion.