“We have organised safety campaigns for our service providers in two-year intervals. Last autumn’s campaign combined the best practices from previous campaigns under the theme ‘plan, evaluate, think before you act’,” says Markku Pöysti, Occupational Safety Expert at Fingrid.
The campaign period was three months. In September, the campaign encouraged safety toolbox talks, while October’s topic was hazard identification and risk management, and in November, the focus was on ensuring electrical safety based on the ‘think before you act’ model.
The goal of the campaign was to activate worksites to conduct safety observations and work risk assessments, to hold regular safety toolbox talks and to report them on Quentic.
“There is evidence that as the number of these preventive measures increases, the frequency of occupational accidents decreases,” states Pöysti.
Worksites were encouraged to participate in the campaign with a competition and prize draws.
“It was a pleasant surprise to see how actively the worksites participated and how the themes were incorporated into their activities. A huge number of reports were filed. By analysing them, we are looking for opportunities to further improve safety on the worksites.”
Dialogue drives safety
Occupational safety has developed in the right direction, although the goal of zero occupational accidents was not reached last year.
“We pursue the goal through a culture based on dialogue, which is supported by the topics of the Triple Jump Towards Zero campaign. The aim is to encourage more and more employees to make observations, participate in safety toolbox talks and risk assessment and to discuss workplace safety,” says Pöysti.
He reminds that improving the occupational safety culture is a long-term effort.
“Safety must be constantly highlighted, otherwise it is easily forgotten. The autumn campaign laid a good foundation for us to take a step closer to zero injuries this year.”
