State-owned mining company LKAB has acknowledged failing to report multiple serious workplace safety incidents to Sweden's Work Environment Authority, according to an investigation by the newspaper Arbetet. The company's workplace safety manager Annika Kruuna admitted the failures in an internal communication, stating that the company is now in contact with Arbetsmiljöverket.
The investigation revealed that LKAB had not reported several near-death incidents at its mining operations. Employees described dangerous situations including someone throwing a detonator cap near 1.5 kilograms of dynamit and colleagues nearly being buried under a 15-meter-long rockfall.
When we have started looking at these cases, we see that there are some that we now in hindsight judge should have been reported.
Kruuna stated on the company intranet: 'When we have started looking at these cases, we see that there are some that we now in hindsight judge should have been reported.' She previously indicated that she hoped and believed the company had refrained from reporting due to different assessments rather than intent to conceal.
The revelations come from internal documents reviewed by Arbetet, showing a pattern of unreported serious workplace safety violations at the state-owned mining giant.
She previously indicated that she hoped and believed the company had refrained from reporting due to different assessments rather than intent to conceal.