Language and communication on construction sites

The Construction Client Regulations describe the duties of the different parties of a construction project (see especially Sections 19 and 19a on the obligation to inform and the requirements for language proficiency).

Employers must inform their workers and safety representatives, in a clear and easily understood manner, about all safety, health and working environment measures that must be implemented on the construction site.

The principal must ensure that considerations of safety, health and the working environment are taken into account on the construction site, and must, among other things, ensure that employers fulfil their duties under these regulations. The principal therefore shares the responsibility to ensure good communication on the construction site.

The Working Environment Act requires employers to implement systematic health, safety and environment work in collaboration with the employees and their representatives.

Workers must be informed of potential accident and health risks and must receive necessary training. For the performance of work that may entail particular risk to life or health, written instructions must be prepared, detailing how the work is to be performed and the specific safety measures that must be implemented.

When necessary in order to maintain safety, workers who do not understand Norwegian must receive the information described in the instructions in a language they understand.

The Workplace Regulations provide details requirements for the training of and information to be provided to workers, and employers must ensure that their workers have the knowledge and skills required. Training must be repeated as needed, and must be provided in a language the workers understand. Day-to-day information about risk factors in the work must be designed in such a way that it is easy to understand for the individual worker. What each worker is able to understand is individual, and, if necessary, the information must be provided in different languages.

In case of risks that cannot be eliminated by other means, the employer must ensure proper safety signage and signals. When safe performance of an activity requires signals in the form of verbal instructions, the employer can only use workers who are able to understand the instructions given. Employers must ensure that their workers are proficient in the language used, so that they are able to give and understand verbal instructions correctly.

Employers must ensure that all work equipment is marked with necessary warnings and instructions for safe use. These markings must use recognised symbols or text in Norwegian. Additional languages must be added if this is necessary for the workers to understand.

Manufacturers also have a language responsibility. Equipment must be delivered with necessary and easily understandable user manuals in Norwegian, which must include information about transport, storage, assembly, use and maintenance. When workers who do not understand Norwegian will be using the equipment, employers must consider making relevant parts of the user manual available in a language the workers understand.

Enterprises using harmful chemicals must establish a chemical inventory. In Norway, this chemical inventory must be in Norwegian. It may be necessary to also include information in another language in order to ensure that workers who do not understand Norwegian are also able to understand the content. They need to know whether a chemical product is harmful and what to do if they are exposed to it.

Containers and packaging material used for hazardous chemicals must be properly labelled. While labels and warnings on chemicals must be in Norwegian, employers must consider whether to also add labels in other languages if they have foreign workers.

The principal is responsible for preparing a plan for safety, health and the working environment – an SHA plan. This plan must include specific measures to reduce risk. Risks attributable to poor communication can be the result of the principal’s choices, e.g. by signing contracts with contractors who use different languages. The individual contractors can also introduce risk by using workers who use different languages. The party introducing the risk bears responsibility preparing specific measures.

In the bidding documents, the principal can require employers to describe measures to prevent increased safety risks due to a lack of shared languages. The principal can then incorporate these measures into the SHA plan.

The principal must:

• consider whether the organisational model (type of contract) entails any potential language challenges
• incorporate measures to prevent risks identified in the planning phase into the bidding documents

Employers must plan their activities before construction begins. Key considerations include personnel use, e.g. use of foreign labour. If foreign labour is used, employers must map the workers’ language proficiencies and ensure that all workers, including hired-in workers, have received the necessary training. Employers must implement measures to ensure that communication problems do not lead to increased risks when activities begin. Among other things, employers can

• offer Norwegian language training
• promote a safety culture and language development by integrating foreign-language workers in different work teams
• implement mentor/buddy systems for better integration
• separate activities to ensure that only workers who understand each other work together

Regardless of which language workers use, employers must ensure that the workers have all necessary information, knowledge and training, so that the work can be performed safely.

Examples of areas where employers should emphasise good communication:

• job descriptions
• HSE procedures
• safety protocols
• product information
• user manuals for tools and equipment
• chemical inventory

Employers must also establish procedures for how necessary information, both written and verbal, will be provided in case of injuries and/or accidents, to ensure that the correct medical treatment is administered.

Foreign employers who post workers to Norway to perform services here, must ensure that these workers have a safe and sound working environment while working here. If necessary, they must be provided with the necessary information and training in order to safely perform work. Anyone who contracts a foreign enterprise should specifically include provisions on how to ensure that a lack of a shared language does not pose a safety risk.

The principal must monitor compliance with the SHA plan. The principal must also update this plan as needed. This includes new, specific measures if there are significant changes in the risks associated with communication challenges on the construction site.

The individual employer bears primary responsibility for making sure workers have a safe and sound working environment. When the workers speak different languages, safety must be maintained in such a manner that language differences do not prevent safe work.

There are multiple ways to ensure this:

• translate procedures/checklists into a language the worker is proficient in
• impose language proficiency requirements, e.g. when hiring-in or outsourcing a job
• use interpreters, e.g. in connection with preparing safe job analyses (SJA)

In connection with activities where there is a risk of serious incidents, employers must ensure that all persons involved are able to recognise signs of danger and act accordingly to prevent unwanted incidents. In such activities, all persons involved must have sufficient proficiency in a shared language to both give and understand verbal instructions.

Examples of such activities include:

• activities in which suspended loads, components, formwork panels, etc. are involved
• communication with crane and machine operators
• activities involving blast hazards and explosion risks
• activities involving hazardous chemicals

Employers must handle language-related risks as part of their internal control. This is especially important if language-related risks are not addressed in the SHA plan.

Employers also have duties to workers beyond their own employees, including hired-in workers or self-employed workers, when they perform activities in connection with the employer’s activities or facilities on the construction site. Such workers should be able to perform their work just as safely as the employer’s own employees. This includes specific measures to ensure that language problems do not increase risk.

The enterprise hiring labour from a staffing enterprise must ensure that the hired-in workers are provided with necessary training and an introduction to established procedures. Training must be provided in a language the hired-in workers understand.

The staffing or production enterprise is the employer of these workers. They are responsible for making sure the enterprise hiring the labour protects the hired-in workers the same way they do their own employees, in accordance with the language proficiencies of the hired-in workers. Hired-in workers must be provided with information and training in a language they understand. This means that the staffing or production enterprise must establish an agreement with the hiring enterprise for how safety is to be handled.

Workers must contribute to reducing the risk of accidents and injuries due to poor communication. This includes a duty to:

• participate in any language training provided by the enterprise
• familiarise themselves and comply with relevant procedures (e.g. internal control procedures)
• report non-conformities and suggest improvements
• notify their superiors if poor communication poses a risk

Workers tasked with leading or supervising other workers, e.g. work supervisors, managers or foremen, must ensure that considerations of health and safety are taken into account during planning and execution of activities within their purview. This includes being able to communicate well with the workers they lead. If the supervisor, manager or foreman is unable to communicate well in the same language as the workers they lead, all important information must be translated.