Open Workplace Health and Safety Data (DK0065)

What is the social problem that the commitment will address?
Data about working environment can produce insights into important working environment risks in relation to geographic location, industry, job types etc. The working environment sector holds large amounts of data that, as open data, has the potential to help motivate and qualify companies’ and other actors’ working environment commitments, while also helping to produce a basis for well-functioning, productive companies, new solutions and services, as well as societal growth. There is a general lack of qualified data in this field. The expert com-mittee for improving working environment initiatives drew attention to the large potential for strengthening knowledge by working with the collection and processing of existing and new data in a more system-atic manner.

What does the commitment entail?
The overall goal of this commitment is to collect data about the work-ing environment of companies and the Danish Working Environment Authority’s findings in a joint database and to make that data available to the public as open data. The Danish Working Environment Authority possesses various pieces of information which are integrated into case management systems, etc., that have not yet been made available. Examples include infor-mation about feedback to Danish Working Environment Authority or-ders, data about working environment complaints and data from in-spectors’ inspection notes. If this data is to add value in our society, it needs to be activated. The database should not only hold the Danish Working Environment Authority’s current data. It should also be enriched with new data that can indicate the general state of the working environment and the po-tential in regards to preventative measures at companies. This may in-volve new internal data from registrations and new data from external actors, such as inspections data from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, the Danish Safety Technology Authority and the Dan-ish Business Authority, salary and other information from the Danish Customs and Tax Administration (SKAT) about ability and willingness to pay etc. Open working environment data is made available as presentations on the Danish Working Environment Authority’s website and on a new API solution. Benchmarking data is also presented for the individual companies in the ADVI self-service solution. To produce value from this commitment to qualify and present working environment data, the Danish Working Environment Authority will engage in ongoing dia-logue with other public authorities, organisations, companies and other stakeholders about requirements for, use and value of data.

How will the commitment contribute towards solving the social problem?
It is expected that opening access to working environment data will re-sult in that a broader group of people, public organisations and private operators will be able to access relevant knowledge and insights about working environment. This access can motivate and qualify working environment commitments and support preventative measures, as well as enabling the development of new services, prod-ucts and more effective solutions, including new business opportuni-ties for certification and working environment operators. A combined database containing qualified and new data would addi-tionally support the work of the Danish Working Environment Author-ity, including strengthening focused inspections and preventative measures, by selecting companies for inspections and communica-tions-based initiatives based on better-qualified selection criteria.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
The commitment will help to improve the quality of working environ-ment data and the public sector’s ability to access it. Open, more ac-cessible working environment data can improve transparency in this area and increase trust that potential working environment risks will be addressed in a fast and efficient manner. The commitment also con-tributes towards qualifying the knowledge base and decision-making basis for companies and other working environment stakeholders, thus helping to support development and innovations processes to-wards a better working environment for all.

Additional information
The “Open Public Working Environment Data” commitment is part of the initiative towards productive, responsible companies in “Ready for the Jobs of the Future” report that collected the work done by the “Disruption Council” (Disruptionsrådet) and was published on 7 February 2019. https://www.regeringen.dk/media/6317/rapport-klar-til-fremtidens-job.pdf

2. Open data on workplace health and safety

Main Objective

"The overall goal of this commitment is to collect data about the working environment of companies and the Danish Working Environment Authority's findings in a joint database and to make that data available to the public as open data.

The Danish Working Environment Authority possesses various pieces of information which are integrated into case management systems, etc., that have not yet been made available. Examples include information about feedback to Danish Working Environment Authority orders, data about working environment complaints and data from inspectors' inspection notes. If this data is to add value in our society, it needs to be activated.

The database should not only hold the Danish Working Environment Authority's current data. It should also be enriched with new data that can indicate the general state of the working environment and the potential in regards to preventative measures at companies. This may involve new internal data from registrations and new data from external actors, such as inspections data from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, the Danish Safety Technology Authority and the Danish Business Authority, salary and other information from the Danish Customs and Tax Administration (SKAT) about ability and willingness to pay etc.

Open working environment data is made available as presentations on the Danish Working Environment Authority's website and on a new API solution. Benchmarking data is also presented for the individual companies in the ADVI self-service solution. To produce value from this commitment to qualify and present working environment data, the Danish Working Environment Authority will engage in ongoing dialogue with other public authorities, organisations, companies and other stakeholders about requirements for, use and value of data."

Milestones

• Development of technical platform
• Develop API
• Development of data about complaints, working environment, company statistics and work-related illness
• Clarification of how users are using existing solutions and the need for new data and data solutions with a view to the plan for 2020.

Editorial Note: For the complete text of this commitment, please see Denmark's action plan at https://digst.dk/media/21659/ogp-nap-2019-2021-english.pdf, pp 13-14.

Commitment Analysis

This commitment aims to improve the quality and availability of data on workplaces by creating a centralised database administered by the Danish Working Environment Authority. With data from the Danish Working Environment Authority and from other relevant stakeholders such the Danish Safety Technology Authority, the database is expected to contribute to new, data-driven solutions and insights into work-related risks and opportunities in both the private and public spheres.

Currently, available data on workplace environments in Denmark is limited, not centrally located, and not in machine-readable format. Consequently, it can be difficult for workers and authorities to predict or determine safety risks and challenges at individual companies in different sectors. The lack of data in this area ultimately inhibits insight into how different working environments impact individuals. In 2018, an expert committee on working environment recommended that the use and quality of data in the area should be harnessed to improve the understanding of risks related to working environment and safety. [5]

This commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information as it plans to improve the public's access to workplace data through a digital solution. The Danish Working Environment Authority also plans to "engage in dialogue with other public authorities, organisations, companies and other stakeholders about requirements for, use and value of data", thus also making the commitment relevant to the OGP value of civic participation. The platform will display new information such as data on workers' exposure to chemicals and on complaints on working environments. Furthermore, the platform will display data by combining multiple datasets which could enable new insights into correlations and trends in workplace environments. The Danish Working Environment Authority plans to expand available datasets on a yearly basis and undertake subsequent analyses by user groups to facilitate better application of the platform. [6]

If developed, the new database could facilitate better access to new and improved data on workplaces in an open format. This could be highly beneficial for technical advisors and labor inspectors who seek to improve working conditions and reduce accidents. It could also benefit journalists and academics who study trends within the Danish labour market for public information and research. While citizens are not necessarily the primary intended user group of the platform, it may provide them with an easy way to obtain insight into working conditions in specific sectors, such as the number of work-related accidents or use of chemicals in a given company. Therefore, the commitment is likely to contribute to more proactive working environment initiatives and more effective labour inspections as it could become easier to identify risks and map factors detrimental to workers' well-being.

To enhance the value of new and enriched working environment data, the IRM researcher recommends that the Danish Working Environment Authority undertake creative awareness-raising activities, such as hackathons, to broaden interest and render data available to different user groups. This could be done with support from organisations such as Open Data.dk, who facilitate open data seminars and inter-municipal data coordination.