Tactics, command, leadership

Safety responsibility entails the obligation to take measures to ensu-
re that the working environment is satisfactory and that any risks
are eliminated. This responsibility is distributed among a number
of different roles, with safety responsibility being different for
the different roles and it can be limited to various degrees. The
employer has the most extensive responsibility and is obligated
to take all reasonable measures needed to safeguard employees
from poor health and accidents. Moreover, safety responsibilities
for the various roles do not exclude one another. On the contrary,
it is normal that in each situation that there are several roles,
each with its own responsibility. Additionally, it is often said that
‘everyone is their own safety representative.’ Particularly in con-
junction with emergency response operations, all involved must
be able to determine and asses the risks they subject themselves
to, and when necessary, suspend work. This does not relieve the
person in charge from his or her obligation to make correspon-
ding assessments. During emergency response operations, one
must also weigh what can be achieved against the risks involved.
The employer is also obligated to ensure that personnel are com-
petent and make the assessments that are necessary for safety
responsibility. The risk to personnel must be in reasonable pro-
portion to what can be saved, and this is an assessment made in
each individual case.
Liability responsibility entails establishing who will be held
responsible for any accidents or incidents after the fact. The
internal distribution of labour and responsibility is not a
determining factor in assigning liability responsibility but is nor-
mally of significant importance in court proceedings. When hea-
ring a case, consideration is taken as to whether the responsibili-
ties that a natural person has been assigned are counterbalanced
by sufficient authorities and resources, and that the person has
sufficient competence for working environment responsibility.
The proceedings also concern clarification of whether the person
has acted wilfully or carelessly.
The responsibility issue and distribution of responsibility
are internal matters. It is an aspect of management responsibi-
lity to establish such distribution. This responsibility also in-
cludes following up the distribution that has been made and
ensuring that it functions smoothly, and to intervene if neces-
sary. The distribution of responsibilities and authorities in mu-
nicipal structures for providing rescue services is an issue that