The Safest Metro Worksite competition is Länsimetro’s own occupational safety competition that encourages worksites to take a preventive approach to their work and to continuously improve safety. The goal is zero accidents.
It’s a hat trick for Länsimetro’s Espoonlahti worksite! This is the third time in a row the worksite, whose project management contractor is SRV, has won the Safest Metro Worksite competition. Länsimetro’s occupational safety competition awards the safest worksite of all the active metro construction contracts. As the developer, Länsimetro wants to focus attention on safety and encourage contractors, subcontractors, the developer’s representatives, engineers and everyone working at the construction sites to develop an occupational safety culture that targets zero accidents. The award is given twice a year.
Safety starts with the right attitude
“With the Safest Metro Worksite competition, Länsimetro encourages construction sites to pay attention to safety by taking a preventive approach and applying corrective measures to avoid accidents. The goal is zero accidents,” Länsimetro’s Risk and Safety Manager, Susanna Laukkanen, sums up.
In the competition, six occupational safety areas are taken into account. These are MVR/TR indicators*, safety observations that lead to measures, near-miss situations, accidents, environmental damage and property damage.
The Espoonlahti worksite gained the most points in the competition in terms of MVR and TR indicators. The Espoonlahti worksite also made the most safety observations that led to follow-up measures, altogether 645. In the previous competition round, Espoonlahti had 793 observations. It is also worth noting that not a single accident occurred at the Sammalvuori depot.
“A worksite can be summed up precisely by its occupational safety culture. At the Espoonlahti worksite, safety is present in all day-to-day work: it can be seen and heard at all times. A safe worksite is no coincidence and it doesn’t just happen – it demands continuous and consistent behaviour. The strong emphasis on safety at the Espoonlahti metro worksite is reflected directly, for instance, in the low number of accidents. Occupational safety also guarantees the progress of the construction project, as employees play a key role in construction,” Laukkanen says, reflecting on Espoonlahti’s third win in a row in the Safest Metro Worksite competition.
Right from the start, SRV’s worksite has had a clear and systematic policy regarding working methods and ground rules. Safety is not built on guidelines alone, however; it really comes down to attitude.
“The most important thing for us at Espoonlahti is that every person working at the construction site makes it home safe and sound every day. Our occupational safety ground rules are apparent at the worksite from one day to the next, and taking occupational safety into account is a normal part of our day and something we don’t mess around with. I believe that attitude is the most important tool in promoting safety. With the right attitude, it’s easy to start building occupational safety,” says Jonne Juutilainen, SRV’s OHS Manager for the Espoonlahti project.
*MVR, known by its Finnish acronym, is an observation-based method for civil engineering measurements to ensure an acceptable level of safety at an earth and water construction worksite. The MVR measurement is used for observing both safety issues that are in order and those in need of improvement. The TR measurement is a method for measuring the safety of building construction sites. The safety measurement focuses on the correct issues, and the positive feedback provides motivation to develop work methods.