The workplace under scrutiny

These are some of the questions that Nordea's new workplace risk assessment (WPA) asks.

"I am very pleased that we have now created a questionnaire where colleagues have the opportunity to go in depth with their psychological, physical and ergonomic working environment, so that the work environment representatives and managers have something real to work with," says Louise Have Lund, member of the board of Finansforbundet in Nordea.

Confidential, but not anonymous

Unlike People Pulse, the WPA is not anonymous.

"Your immediate manager will only receive a proposal for an action plan that contains anonymised responses. The response will only be seen by the work environment group, which treats all information confidentially. This is to better handle the input that comes – and you can also mark in the questionnaire if you would like to be contacted," says Louise Have Lund.

On the basis of all the WPA responses in a unit, your local work environment group will prepare an action plan.

Workload and indoor climate

The WPA is not carried out simultaneously throughout Nordea in Denmark. Some departments have responded a long time ago, while others are in the process. As it looks now, the biggest challenges are indoor climate and workload/time pressure.

"For a number of years, employees have had to run extra fast. It is important to make action plans to reduce the workload so that employees do not end up on sick leave with stress. A sustainable working life requires that you can also take breaks and that you can recharge your batteries after a period of busyness," says Louise Have Lund.

It is her impression that the bank wants to prioritise a good indoor climate, and there are continuous improvements in Hermes Hus and Metro:

"That said, there is certainly room to improve some of the existing conditions, so that there is less noise, for example. It can also be better opportunities to move to cozy surroundings when you need a break where you can look at something other than white cabinets and walls."

The work environment representatives provide extensive assistance

At Nordea, there are a number of local work environment groups with work environment representatives (arbejdsmiljørepræsentanter, AMR). Compared to union representatives (tillidsrepræsentanter, TR), AMR discusses the physical working environment. When it comes to the psychological working environment, TR will typically handle person-specific cases, while AMR has an eye on conditions that affect larger groups of employees. And while TR only helps members of Finansforbundet in Nordea, AMR helps everyone regardless of membership.

Elections are held for the positions of health and safety representatives in January 2026.