Skip to main content

§ 33 Organisation of work

The employer shall ensure that the work is organised so as to avoid hazardous exposure and unfortunate physical and psychological strains for the individual employee, and to reduce the likelihood of mistakes that can lead to hazard and accident situations.
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 affect the opportunity to work safely.
The work shall be organised with sufficient consideration for the employee's opportunities, limitations and need for a meaningful work situation, cf. Section 35.
The work shall be planned such that as much work as possible is carried out during the daytime, and such that the employees are ensured the necessary rest and restitution.
The employer shall reduce unfortunate workloads and risks of injury and accidents based on conducted analyses, mapping and gathered information on the employees' own experience of work-related risk and work load conditions.
Section last changed: 01 February 2019

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 Chapter IV of the Facilities 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. Factors that can influence the psychosocial working environment, can be the interaction between requirements relating to work performance, the employee's perception of control over own work and social support in the working environment.
To avoid exposure that is hazardous to health 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 employers and the employees strive 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.
The requirement relating to carrying out as much as possible of the work in the daytime as mentioned in the fourth subsection, entails that night work shall be limited to tasks and functions necessary to maintain prudent operations.
The requirement relating to necessary rest and restitution as mentioned in fourth subsection, entails that all personnel can sleep undisturbed and normally alone, cf. also Section 19, and that necessary transport in offshore periods, including helicopter transport, takes place during working hours.
For work above ground, Chapter 17 in the Regulations relating to conduct of work (in Norwegian only) should be used.
For work in tanks, reference is made to relevant provisions in regulations under the Working Environment Act, stipulated 6 December 2011.
The purpose of the provision is to prevent unfortunate developments whereby the employee is not assured of sufficient restitution and rest, which could have safety-related consequences.