Norwegian universities and research institutes choose Workplace Safety

The knowledge sector’s service provider, Sikt, is organized as a government agency under the Ministry of Education and Research. Sikt works to simplify the everyday lives of employees, researchers and students in the knowledge sector by offering stable and efficient shared services.

As a buyer of Workplace Safety, Sikt has contributed to delivering a user-friendly chemical inventory and an effective chemical management system to Norwegian colleges, universities and research institutes.

A chemical inventory for both staff and students

Workplace Safety is an advanced management system used by managers, HSE professionals, researchers, and laboratory staff. Since chemicals are central to both teaching and research, strict requirements apply to safety information, and must be readily available to everyone, both staff and students.

Workplace Safety meets these needs with access management and role customisation, ensuring each user only sees what’s relevant to them. The system provides quick, easy access to safety data sheets (SDS), solving a major challenge in the industry.

A partner for industry-aligned development

With flexibility in mind, Workplace Safety has been developed to easily adapt to the needs of different industries. Through collaboration with Sikt, which represents a broad and important sector, we gain unique insight into shared challenges in Norway.

Insights that lead to better solutions

This approach gives us valuable insight into the specific challenges and needs of the knowledge sector, helping us further develop the solution. By collaborating with a single representative of the entire sector, we gain depth and efficiency that strengthen our ability to deliver a chemical management system tailored to the needs of higher education and research.

– Sikt is an important partner in the further development of Workplace Safety, and we greatly appreciate working with key players in higher education, says Hans Kristian Brekken, product developer with technical responsibility for Workplace Safety.

Collaboration for common practices in the sector

Sikt works proactively on behalf of the company to ensure the best solutions. To achieve this, they have established a working committee consisting of professionals representing the sector. The committee works together to develop a common practice for the use of the chemical management system across the knowledge sector.

Targeted further development

Sikt is the purchaser and contract manager, drawing on expertise from universities and university colleges. This ensures comprehensive and targeted further development of the system.

– The knowledge sector places high demands on both the product and us as an organisation. This has given us a clear direction in our efforts to adapt Workplace Safety to the sector’s needs, says Brekken.

Large-scale implementation and migration of data

In 2024, several of Norway’s universities and university colleges implemented the chemical management system. The process involved migrating large volumes of data and many users, but close collaboration between the Workplace Safety team and the institutions ensured a smooth transition.

– We are pleased to have completed the migration from the old system to Workplace Safety in a safe and efficient way, says Ask Hide, Project Manager at Workplace Safety.

– This marks an important milestone in our joint efforts to strengthen the safety and efficiency of chemical handling across institutions.

Technical implementation and professional advice

Adapting Workplace Safety to a company’s work processes and routines requires thorough mapping and close collaboration.

– A successful implementation requires strong cooperation from both parties. Working closely with customers enabled us to ensure they fully benefit from the system’s capabilities, Hide explains.

The team used a proprietary migration tool to simplify the transfer of safety data sheets (SDS) and system structure. Role assignments were tailored to each company, ensuring users received the right information and access from day one.

– The projects have been extensive, but our main focus has been to deliver quality at all stages, both in terms of technical implementation and professional advice, emphasises Hide.

Pilot project and further roll-out

The pilot project involved leading institutions such as the University of Bergen (UiB), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the University of Stavanger (UiS) and NORCE – Norwegian Research Center. These have now completed the transition to Workplace Safety. The roll-out to the rest of the sector is well underway and will continue with full force in 2025.

At the time of writing, the majority of the companies that expressed an interest in joint purchasing of electronic substance files have been implemented.

Positive effects of digitalisation and automation

The implementation of Workplace Safety in the knowledge sector has demonstrated how targeted system adaptation can deliver clear benefits for both users and companies.

The system can be configured to reflect the company’s working methods, from simple routines to more complex processes. Through close collaboration with the institutions, we have developed workflows that make it easier to comply with legal requirements while ensuring chemical management is more transparent and user-friendly.

Odin Kvam, sector coordinator for the service and senior engineer at the University of Agder, shares his experiences:

– The transition to Workplace Safety gives us a tool that is flexible in meeting the many different ways chemicals are used in the higher education sector. The system integrates easily with the company’s organisation – without an extra login when students and employees visit the chemical inventory. Netpower provides continuous updates and improvements to keep Workplace Safety aligned with Norwegian and European regulations, and to further enhance user-friendliness in key functions such as the exposure register, substitution, and risk assessments.

Feedback that drives improvement

The implementation has generated a wealth of useful feedback, both praise and suggestions for improvement.

– We have worked closely with the companies in the sector to ensure a smooth transition to the new system. Feedback, both positive and critical, is valuable to us. The positive confirms that we are on the right track, while the critical ones provides insights we can use to make the solution even better. Our goal is to develop a system that really works for users in their everyday lives, says Hide.

– We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Workplace Safety team at Netpower to meet future needs and ensure a safe working environment for both students and staff, Kvam concludes.