Citation

Eriksson O. Pol. Pract. Health Saf. 2004; 2(1): 75-89.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (Great Britain))

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

Evaluation of the outcome of different kinds of intervention (eg legislation, information, inspections) in the government sector in Sweden can be analysed in terms of its ambition to implement a new philosophy on directing the role of its agencies. The government and Riksdag (parliament) want to steer away from the situation in which they direct agencies in every respect, to one in which the agencies are guided by government-set objectives, leaving the means to meet these objectives to the agencies' discretion. The downside of this freedom, however, is increasing demands on agencies to report how their objectives have been met. Evaluation thus becomes a tool for the delivery of this demand. Evaluating different types of governmental intervention is not only costly in terms of labour and other resources but is also, perhaps - given the high scientific standards enjoined - a difficult undertaking. In the case of the work environment, the paper suggests that literature and international experience indicates that there is not one instance of a study that unassailably and scientifically demonstrates a direct link between supervision in the work environment sector and effects in quantitative terms, eg reduced absence from work or a decrease in work-related injuries. At best there are studies demonstrating connections between official initiatives and links in the cause-and-effect chain which might lead to such an effect. Evaluation is here viewed as part of the governmental philosophy of management by objectives and results. In this paper, the author argues for a general reinforcement of the evaluation sector, a sector in which responsibilities are shared between different players on different levels.