Workplace risk assessment (APV): what the Danish rules require from 1 July 2026.

Who must carry out an APV

The duty applies to all employers with at least one employee, and the APV must cover all employees. The employer is responsible, also when others help with the work.

The health and safety organisation (arbejdsmiljøorganisationen) must take part in planning, carrying out, following up on and updating the APV. In companies that are not required to have a health and safety organisation, the employees take part in a similar way. If the company lacks the necessary knowledge itself, it must bring in expert help from outside.

What the APV must contain

The employer chooses the method, but the APV must be in writing and include these parts:

• A survey of the work environment and an assessment of the risks.
• A review of sickness absence, so you can see whether conditions in the work environment contribute to it.
• A written action plan for the problems that cannot be solved straight away. It describes the nature, seriousness, extent and causes of each problem, and when, how and by whom it will be solved.
• Carrying out the plan and following up on whether the actions are sufficient and work.

The action plan must be available to managers, employees and the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet). You will find an APV template and a checklist for the process in the guide to the APV template and checklist.

How often an APV must be carried out

The APV must cover all conditions at the workplace at least every three years. It must also be updated when working methods, processes or tools change in a way that matters for the work environment. That could be a move, new machines, a new organisation or new tasks.

Each year the employer also holds an annual work environment discussion with the health and safety organisation. Here the collaboration for the coming year is planned, last year's goals are followed up, and new goals are set. The discussion must be documented in writing.

The psychosocial work environment is included

From 1 July 2026 the rules on the psychosocial work environment are set out in Executive Order no. 605 (in Danish), which replaces the executive order from 2020. It names these areas, which it makes sense to survey in the APV:

• High workload and time pressure.
• Unclear and conflicting demands.
• High emotional demands in work with people.
• Offensive behaviour such as bullying and sexual harassment.
• Work-related violence, threats and harassment, also outside working hours.

The employer must organise the work so that it is safe and healthy in both the short and the long term. The annex to the executive order names prevention at the source, support, influence and supervision, among others, as examples.

From legal requirement to continuous work

The APV often becomes a task that is done every three years and then put away. The work environment changes faster than that, so a continuous picture can make it easier to act in time and to show the Working Environment Authority that the action plan is being followed.

With APV+ employees can answer in a short conversation, and you get an anonymous, combined picture throughout the year. The responsibility and the role of the health and safety organisation are the same as in an APV on paper.