Swedish agency opened 50 cases tied to Microsoft datacentres

Sweden’s Work Environment Authority opened 50 cases since 2021 into working conditions at datacentre sites involving Microsoft and Irish firms, the Guardian and Investigate Europe said in an investigative report published Oct. 30.

The findings matter because Europe has more than 2,300 datacentres, at least 500 in the UK, and the report linked the buildout to injuries, disease concerns and pay disputes.

At Google’s Saint-Ghislain site in Belgium, Sandu, a 34-year-old electrical tester, said he had worked almost 10 hours in March when he was asked to perform another electrical test. “I had no choice. People have been fired after saying no,” he told the outlets.

Sandu said managers confirmed the lines had no power before a second test sent 400 volts and 12,000 amps through his body. An ampere measures electrical current, while voltage measures electrical pressure; the report described the incident as an arc flash electrocution, an electrical discharge through air.

Hospital records seen by the Guardian and Investigate Europe said Sandu suffered burns to 12% of his body, including second- and third-degree burns. The report said no company or contractor had been found liable for the incident, and the local labour inspectorate closed its investigation in late October after finding no wrongdoing.

Dornan Engineering, the Irish company overseeing Sandu’s contractor, said it was “committed to maintaining safe working conditions, complying with applicable labour laws and continually learning to help prevent incidents like this from happening again”.

The investigation also examined Microsoft’s datacentre expansion near Gävle, Sweden, a 130-hectare project begun in June 2024 and described in the source material as a €3 billion plan. The area equals 1.3 square kilometres, a metric conversion based on 10,000 square metres per hectare.

One subcontractor at Gävle, BenBau, is among 148 firms working under Collen Construction at the site, including 28 direct subcontractors. Workers cited by the outlets described crowded accommodation, including 24 people using one kitchen and 14 men sharing one bathroom.

Medical records cited in the investigation said one Romanian worker tested positive for active tuberculosis in February 2026. Freedom of information responses from Sweden’s work authorities and Public Health Agency said no outbreak had been reported.

More than 30 workers showed the outlets hundreds of payslips that appeared to show weeks of 50 to 60 hours without overtime pay and missed holiday pay, according to the investigation. Solidariska Byggare, a union representing 70 Romanian workers at the Gävle site, brokered a settlement with BenBau days before publication that it said would provide back pay and union access.

BenBau said it “takes all concerns regarding the welfare, health and safety of our people extremely seriously” and has procedures to report and address workplace concerns. Collen said it expects safe and respectful conditions across its supply chain and has “zero tolerance” for conduct inconsistent with those principles.

The same reporting said serious accidents have also been recorded this year at datacentre-related projects in Italy, Sweden, Norway and Belgium, as Europe’s cloud and AI infrastructure buildout expands.

Source: investigative report, The Guardian and Investigate Europe, Oct. 30, 2026.