What are the Norwegian Internal Control Regulations?
Written by Nicolai Bjerknes Slinning, Founder, Sydera.io Technologies AS. Last reviewed .
The Internal Control Regulations are the rules stating that health, safety and the working environment must be governed systematically in Norway — and that parts of that governance must be in writing. They are short, they apply to almost every employer, and they are the reason undertakings have an OHS handbook at all.
What the regulations are
The Regulations on systematic health, environmental and safety activities in enterprises, commonly called internkontrollforskriften, were laid down in 1996. They tie together several statutes — including the Working Environment Act, fire and explosion protection, pollution control and electrical supervision — and require the undertaking itself to have a system ensuring those requirements are actually met. Internal control here means the undertaking's own governance of OHS, not financial control.
Who they apply to
They apply to undertakings covered by Norwegian HSE legislation — in practice anyone with employees, in any industry, of any size. There is no headcount exemption. Scope is adapted to the nature, activities, risk and size of the undertaking: a hair salon and a construction workshop carry the same duty, but not the same volume of documentation.
What they require
The core is section 5: OHS objectives, an overview of responsibilities and tasks, mapping of hazards with risk assessment, plans and measures, routines for detecting and correcting breaches, and systematic monitoring and review of internal control itself. These must be documented in writing. The regulations also require employees to take part in introducing and exercising internal control.
Relation to the Working Environment Act
The Working Environment Act states what must be achieved: section 3-1 requires systematic OHS work, section 4-1 sets the requirements for the working environment. The Internal Control Regulations state how the undertaking shows it is governing towards that. The Act is the objective; the regulations are the trace. That is why a document can read correctly and still be thin exactly where verifiability is required.
Common mistakes
Confusing it with certification: internal control is not something you are approved for, it is something you run. Borrowing documentation from another industry. Writing responsibility without names. And most common of all: deviation routines and review of the system are the two items missing — precisely the two that make internal control something that learns.
What to do first
Find out whether anything exists in writing, and read it with section 5 beside you. Mark which items you can locate. What you cannot find is your starting point. Then use a simple structure to write the missing parts.
One governance document reviewed free of charge. We read the governance logic, not employees. The document must not contain personal data.
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Frequently asked questions
- What does internal control mean in OHS?
- That the undertaking itself has a system ensuring statutory OHS requirements are met — objectives, responsibility, mapping, measures, deviation routines and review.
- Do they apply to sole traders?
- The duty follows from having employees. A sole trader without employees is normally outside the employer duties of the Working Environment Act, though other HSE requirements may still apply.
- Can you be certified against them?
- No. Internal control is a requirement the undertaking meets itself and can be inspected against; it is not a certification scheme.
- Who does the regulation apply to?
- Every undertaking covered by the Working Environment Act and the other Norwegian HSE statutes, regardless of size. The scope is adapted to risk, nature and size, but the duty applies from the first employee.
- What happens at an inspection if internal control is missing?
- The Labour Inspection Authority can order the undertaking to prepare and document internal control within a deadline. An unmet order can be followed by a coercive fine, and serious danger by a stop-work order.