According to the Swedish National Board of Health, drug use will cost society SEK 44 billion in 2020. The Social Services Act requires municipalities to prevent and combat the abuse of alcohol and other addictive substances, including drugs.  

The Swedish Work Environment Authority has no rules on drug testing at work. However, if the work involves a high risk of accidents, the assessment is that drug testing may be justified in both the public and private sectors.

In order to take preventive measures against drug abuse, or to find out whether a community or workplace has a problem with drug use, it is necessary to have a reliable basis on which to build the measures. Analysis of drugs in wastewater can provide an objective picture of the extent of the problem.

"Water analysis is a cost-effective way of finding out about drug use on a large scale. But it can also be used to see differences between different areas of a city, or even between different departments or buildings in the same workplace," says Louise Karlsson.

Several strengths over individual sampling 

The strengths of water analysis are its objectivity and cost-effectiveness, and the fact that it is possible to follow developments over time.

"Water analysis can provide answers on how to prioritise efforts and resources. It is a very good complement to surveys and other data from the police or health services," says Louise Karlsson.

Unlike personal sampling, which can be perceived as offensive, water analysis also respects personal privacy and anonymises any drug users.  

"If a company or municipal organisation judges that drug use is unlikely to be a major problem in a workplace, for example, it can avoid individual sampling, which could violate privacy," says Louise Karlsson.

How water analysis works 

Put simply, there are two main methods of analysis. The most common is to set up a panel where laboratory staff look for specific substances in the water and quantify them.

"We normalise the results to amounts per thousand people so that we can compare different times or places. For some drugs, we can also convert the results into a number of doses based on how much is excreted in urine," says Louise Karlsson.  

The second method of analysis is to identify unknown substances in a sample.

"We are developing this, but we already have methods for finding new drugs in samples. An example of this is when we discovered that the new drug 'crystal' had arrived in Sweden. It can be a tool for the police to see routes of entry and distribution. When customs receive a seizure, we can see where the drug is appearing."

Work on water analysis often starts with a municipality contacting RISE, which advises the municipality on how and when to take samples.

"If they have a specific question or want a general overview, we set up a sampling strategy. For example, we can take a 24-hour sample on both a weekday and a weekend for comparison," she says.

"We recommend taking a 24-hour sample at least twice a year, and preferably four times a year. Doing it continuously and spread out allows you to capture seasonal variations as well as other factors such as tourism or student flows.

Large amount of data on pharmaceuticals in wastewater 

RISE has already collected data from municipalities and companies across the country. This makes it easy to see how big the problem is for a particular community compared to an anonymised community of similar size elsewhere in the country.

And while it is one thing to collect the data, it is equally important to explain it.

"We want to explain the results and guide our customers so that they can make the best use of the data," says Louise Karlsson.

"We are an accredited laboratory and work with quality all the time. One of our strengths is the breadth of our expertise. We have toxicologists, chemists and a large department working with AI and computational chemistry. This allows us to bring together teams with specific competences depending on the question." 

Tachographs must be inspected and calibrated regularly, which is crucial for ensuring the reliability of the information they provide. Not adhering to these regulations can be costly for both the driver and the transport company. Calibration is carried out by an accredited workshop.

"The workshop uses a so-called tachograph calibrator to perform the calibration. The calibrator pretends to be the truck and generates signals to the tachograph about, for example, distance, speed, and time. By comparing the information in the tachograph with the calibrator, we ensure that the tachograph is accurate," says Omer Alkarkhi, TIC engineer at the National Laboratory for Electrical Quantities.

But how do we know that the tachograph calibrator is accurate? To trust measurements, a chain of calibrations is required all the way up to the definition of the unit. Through this traceability chain, we can expect, for instance, a meter to be a meter worldwide, which is a prerequisite for international trade, research, and production.

"This is where we at RISE come in with our new service for calibrating tachograph calibrators. Workshops send their equipment to us, and we calibrate it, primarily concerning time and frequency," says Omer Alkarkhi.

RISE Meets the Need

Previously, a private company offered this service, but now RISE is the go-to for workshops.

"It's easier for us, working in many different adjacent metrological areas, to maintain the necessary expertise. This is an example of RISE's important role when industry and business cannot themselves meet the existing needs," says Maria Hammarquist, research and development engineer.

Closer to the End Customer

Usually, laboratories that perform calibrations for customers turn to the national laboratories at RISE to calibrate their equipment.
"But here, we work closer to the end customer, meeting the workshops that will actually use the equipment, which is very enjoyable," says Omer Alkarkhi.

The washing machine that tells you when electricity is cheapest, the industrial robot that tells you when it's time for maintenance, and the security alarm that tells a worried relative where an elderly parent is. IoT is everywhere, making our everyday lives better, easier and cheaper...  

But in reality, the technology is also creating security gaps large and small in our homes, cities, industries, agriculture and transport.

Tomas Bodeklint, Research and Business Developer at RISE and responsible for the institute's Cyber Test Lab test and demonstration environment, explains how an ordinary office printer can be used as a tool for a large-scale hacking attack:

"Cybercriminals scan the Internet for unprotected devices. When they find a connected, unprotected printer, they implement software that allows them to use the printer for purposes other than those for which it was intended. It can become part of a 'botnet', an army of devices that work together to launch denial-of-service attacks. In this case, the infected IoT devices are used to bring down specific servers.

Cost focus leads to limited security thinking

 The Swedish Defence Research Agency, FOI, was commissioned by the Swedish Civil Defence Agency, MSB, to map the risks of IoT. One of the conclusions was that much of the IoT equipment has been designed without security in mind*. Tomas Bodeklint believes there is a simple explanation for this.

"A big part of the problem is that many IoT devices must not cost too much for the end user. Manufacturers focus more on functionality and ensuring that a product does what it is marketed to do, rather than ensuring security. This is an issue that has become more acute as cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors use digitalisation to influence society in different ways," says Bodeklint.  

The threat has been addressed at EU level, with the Radio Equipment Directive and the forthcoming Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) in the Union's toolbox of countermeasures, which together cover all types of products that contain some form of software. The aim is to prevent devices with security vulnerabilities from reaching consumers.

"Manufacturers need to consider cybersecurity at the design stage. It is often difficult to add security features after the fact. A good start is to review the threat landscape for your product and analyse the risks and possible attack vectors. Then you can apply various solutions to prevent them, such as encryption and multifactor authentication," says Tomas Bodeklint.  

Disruptions can jeopardise road safety 

RISE helps companies with this type of threat and risk analysis and conducts penetration tests to find weaknesses in IoT products. Among other things, vehicles and charging points have been examined to identify potential security holes. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) was also measured. The latter tests whether the electronic product interferes with or is interfered with by other devices and equipment in the vicinity.  

"We have seen it in the past, and we are seeing it now, that the electronics in a car are affected by radio interference. If you haven't thought about EMC issues before, consider the following scenario: your children are in the back seat watching a children's programme on their tablets and suddenly the car crosses the road. Or you're sitting in a traffic jam talking on the phone when the car accelerates into the car in front of you. The more automated the technology in the car, the more complex the risks become," says Tomas Bodeklint.  

"The car is one example of many connected products that have a positioning function. This also increases vulnerability. MSB has identified 'antagonistic electromagnetic threats' to the satellite navigation system as an emerging risk. In the winter of 2023/2024, several jamming incidents were reported in Sweden, with Russia identified as the source." 

"We help the industry with positioning in their products with simulated spoofing and jamming tests - jamming and deceiving the GNSS signals (see box). "This type of testing will of course become increasingly important as we move towards fully automated driving," says Mr Bodeklint.

"It's not enough to plug a hole" 

There have long been requirements for electronic products to be electrically safe to prevent people from being injured. In addition to an overarching legal text, rules and standards have been added to describe how this should be ensured.

"In the future, we will need legal requirements, methods and structures to ensure cybersecurity in all areas. At the same time, we need to raise the level of knowledge. It is not just the engineer building a product who needs to think about security in the design phase, but the whole organisation needs to think about cybersecurity all the time. And plugging a hole is not enough. Hackers are always finding new ways in," says Tomas Bodeklint.  

*Sources: Swedish Defence Research Agency, FOI. https://www.foi.se/nyheter-och-press/nyheter/2018-10-08-sakernas-intern…  
Swedish Civil Defence Agency, MSB. https://rib.msb.se/filer/pdf/29057.pdf https://rib.msb.se/filer/pdf/30061.pdf  

Roofing with rafters provides a stable base for roofing with roofing felt, tiles and sheet metal. The use of prefabricated underlayment shutters allows for faster roofing. The unprotected roof surface and building are exposed to climate and external influences for a shorter time, reducing the risk of future problems in the finished building. Prefabricated underlay shutters produced in a controlled production environment provide the conditions for consistently high quality.

A type approval for the manufacture of underlayment shutters allows you to demonstrate that the product has been manufactured under controlled conditions and fulfils the requirements for its intended use, giving you a competitive advantage. The certification rule for a product describes the certification process when applying for a type approval, the requirements, checks and labelling to be done for the product. To minimise the risk of different interpretations, the certification rule for the type approval of underlay shutters was updated in September 2023.

Type approval of manufactured products is done by an authorised independent party. Boverket has appointed RISE as a competent organisation to issue type approval for construction products and accredited by Swedac for it. Type approval of underlay shutters is unique in the market and RISE is the only organisation that can issue type approval, perform accredited inspection and offer accredited testing of all the properties included in the certification rule for underlay shutters. 

RISE develops certification rules for type approvals and certifies product type approvals.

When RISE develops new rules for type approval, we start from the rules and regulations developed by authorities, in this case the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, and RISE's long experience of testing and type approval of products in the field. When you then hire RISE to issue a type approval for your product, you can be sure that an issued type approval maintains a high level and that the type-approved products meet the requirements of the building regulations. Type approval is carried out according to the certification rule through testing and review that ensures that materials, function and documentation have the conditions to fulfil, such as for underlayment shutters, applicable requirements for durability, moisture and roof safety.

This is an article from our magazine Trävärden, view it here! (Link)

By 2030, almost all new cars on the road could be electric. This is according to scenarios developed by advocacy organisation Power Circle as part of the energy research project 'An Electricity System for Electric Vehicles'. But for a fully electrified vehicle fleet to be feasible, the infrastructure - the network of charging stations from north to south - is of course crucial. At the end of 2023, there will be about 34,400 public charging points in Sweden, spread over about 4,700 charging stations.  

"I think most consumers take it for granted that these charging points are controlled in a similar way to petrol and diesel stations, that they are safe and that you get what you pay for. But charging stations are not yet regulated in detail," says Anders Nilsson, Senior Business Developer in Electrification and Reliability at RISE.  

"Ensuring reliable infrastructure" 

Deployment has been slow, and the regulatory framework has not kept pace. It takes time to revise international guidelines. While waiting for comprehensive EU requirements on how charging stations should be regulated, some countries have opted to develop national guidelines. In practice, this can create technical barriers to trade as regulations differ in different markets and create a complex situation for industry players, says Anders Nilsson.

Manufacturers have also recognised the need to have the electricity meter module in the charging station tested by an independent certification body. "There is a clear regulatory framework for electricity meters, the Measuring Instruments Directive (MID), but it does not yet specifically cover charging stations.

However, despite the lack of regulation, it is already possible to test entire charging stations. This is what RISE engineers do when they go out to existing charging stations and carry out checks. Using calibrated measuring equipment, they can see whether the charging station is delivering the energy for which the customer is being charged.  

"Checking the stations ensures a reliable infrastructure. Of course, operators are also interested in ensuring that everything is in order. "This can be a selling point to the market: when you charge with us, you get what you pay for because RISE has checked it," says Anders Nilsson. 

Can have a negative impact on trust

During the inspection, engineers also check that cables and plugs are in good condition and meet electrical safety requirements.  

"There have not yet been any incidents related to charging stations in Sweden, but it only takes one injury to make headlines. Once an accident happens, it could affect confidence in the charging infrastructure, which in turn could slow down electrification," says Anders Nilsson and continues:  

"The stations are relatively new now, but over time the cables will wear out. Someone will forget to unplug and drive away, as has happened with petrol stations. So when we go out to measure, we also want to see how the equipment looks. The inspection is as much about consumer protection as it is about safety."

RISE maintains a close dialogue with Swedac, the Swedish regulatory authority for regulated measurement technology, to follow developments in the implementation of charging stations in the EU's Measuring Instruments Directive (MID). As RISE is already testing new products under development and existing products in the field, Anders Nilsson can announce that the team will be ready when new comprehensive regulations are introduced.