Health and safety
Kemisektionen’s Safety representative - TryggO
Greetings from your safety representative!
Like most bodies of working people in Sweden, be they students, employees or volunteers, Kemisektionen has its own safety representative (Skyddsombud in Swedish). Our Skyddsombud is titled TryggO and is elected by the chapter members every spring. The current TryggO is Sebastian Svensson - hello! I am responsible for informing the students about their rights and looking out for their health and safety with regards to working environment. As such, if you have any concerns or questions regarding for example lab safety, working hours, discriminating or offensive attitudes, rules or statements, bullying, stress, verbal, physical and/or sexual abuse, or any other elements of hazardous work environment, please contact me at tryggo@k.kth.se, via the form below (where you can submit an anonymous report), or talk to me directly! This applies to issues encountered both at school and in Kemisektionen itself. It is important that any such problems are reported, so that the chapter and school can work with them through the official channels and enforce our students’ right to a safe working environment. I, as TryggO, am sworn to handle matters with professional secrecy. If you prefer to not go through the chapter, you can report and get help directly from KTH - more on this below.
Below is some information about the student health group, which is a special healthcare provider for us students, and about how KTH and THS (of which Kemisektionen is part) manage discrimination and harassment. If you are looking for help with your studies, refer to “Tips from SN”. If you find something in the chapter offensive or excluding, but feel like the matter is not suited for filing a report, you can ask the equality committee to discuss and work with the issue. Contact them at eq@k.kth.se, or ask TryggO if you are unsure or want to remain anonymous.
The student health group
The student health group provides help and support with study related difficulties. There are both nurses and counselors available for counseling and guidance. The staff can also help with contacting other authorities in the society. A visit to the student health group is free of charge but requires an appointment made beforehand.
More information about the student health group is available here: Swedish | English
Address:
Norrtullsgatan 2, 104 30 Stockholm
Metro station Odenplan
Equality, diversity and equal treatment
To refer to matters related to discrimination, equality, inclusion, harassment, equal treatment, diversity, and more, KTH and THS use the umbrella term “JML”, which is short for “Jämlikhet, Mångfald och Likabehandling” (Swedish for “Equality, Diversity and Equal treatment”). THS has a JML-policy which can be found in both Swedish and English here. This policy applies to Kemisektionen as well.
KTH and THS have a zero-tolerance policy against all kinds of discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and insulting special treatment.
Discrimination means that an educational provider or fellow student on unfair grounds treats a student worse than others and the disadvantageous treatment relates to the grounds of discrimination.
KTH and THS considers seven grounds for discrimination, which are:
Sex
Gender identity or expression
Ethnicity
Disability
Religion
Sexual orientation
Age
To get help and support if you have experienced discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment or been subjected to insulting special treatment you can turn to the student safety representative at the chemistry chapter called “TryggO”. TryggO can give you advice and help with how to proceed and who to contact.
You can submit a report to TryggO through this form - you can choose to be anonymous!
Email TryggO: tryggo@k.kth.se
KTH has a helpful page with information about how you can get help and support in these situations: Swedish page | English page
What will happen when you report an incident?
The first step is a conversation with the person you turn to for support, to discreetly find out what happened. Together, you discuss how to proceed. A complaint can be filed either in written form or spoken form.
When a complaint is filed which reports behavior that breaks KTH’s rules, the KTH president will be notified. This gives rise to a so called disciplinary matter, which is handled by the disciplinary board, consisting of the president, a legally qualified member, teacher representatives and student representatives.
The penalties that may come as a result of harassment or discrimination are:
Disciplinary actions (suspension or a warning).
Police investigation.
Some advice for Anyone who has been exposed to discrimination or harassment:
You are the only one who decides if a behavior is unwelcome.
React immediately if you feel this type of behavior has occurred by seeking help and support.
Clarify for those who have subjected you to the actions that they are unwelcome on your part (if you want to).