This article discusses the concept of network governance as a supplement to the conventional understanding of regulation in the field of working environment. How networks can stimulate change in working environment regulation is studied in two cases in Denmark. The first case concerns the problem with musculoskeletal strains in the care sector - manual handling of people. In Denmark a network has grown from below, and this network has generated a storyline that connects the problem with new solutions, in particular the creation of the 'transfer instructor' - 'we transfer people, we don't lift'. The second case deals with an effort to integrate health promotion with occupational health thinking; two fields (public health and OHS) that for years have been separated in a Danish context. The problem in this case was/is a profound social inequality in health. This network was initiated from above, and has so far not managed to stabilize a network that is able to successfully promote the integrate approach of workplace health promotion. Both cases point at the importance of bridging gaps between various professional groups if the efforts are to be truly innovative and successful. And they point at the importance of the state as a meta-governor in processes that aim at invigorating the regulation; the concept of network governance can be taken to celebrate the absence of the state; our cases don't.
Network governance; working environment; the care sector; workplace health promotion