The chain structure of the construction industry poses challenges for safety. In the 2025 occupational safety competition of the Uusimaa District of the Finnish Building Construction Industry, the chain held, as the same construction site won in no fewer than three competition series.
In the renovation project at Elielinaukio 5, the Holiday Inn hotel was updated to meet the needs of the Scandic hotel. In addition to the renewal of surfaces, other renovation work was also carried out. The site won the awards for best subcontractor, the large company site category and the developer. In addition, awards were given in the large and small company category and the small company site category.
Long-term employment relationships with the best subcontracting company
At the end of the chain of the Elielinaukio renovation project is Laatta- ja kivikracken Suorsa, which won the award for best subcontractor, which renovated the bathrooms and did other tiling work in the Eliel project. Tiling work is the 30-year-old family business's unique expertise. It covers three-quarters of sales, and it also does renovation construction and small-scale contracting.
The company has never had any competitive success before, but a good result is not the CEO's fault. Juha Suorsa still managed to surprise.
“We have seen this level of safety in construction site measurements in general,” he says.
Then Suorsa knocks on wood to be sure before continuing that the company has not had a single work accident in five years, if you don't count the plasters.
The work is done by the company's own employees, who currently number over 20. The length of the employees' employment relationships is exceptional in the company.
“The oldest tiler will be 30 years old this spring,” Suorsa says proudly of his employees.
"I would believe that our staff is coping and doing well. In a small company, we have to take turns when it comes to holidays and recoveries, but these are agreed upon together. We try to avoid weekend work," Suorsa says.
For a small subcontracting company, the safety practices of the main contractor and the safety culture prevailing on the construction site are important for the safety of its own employees. One day of absence due to an accident costs the company about a thousand euros.
"Staggering from the platform, various strain injuries in demanding physical work are safety pain points in our work. Sometimes you may have to be on your back, your back and knees are put under a lot of strain," Juha Suorsa reflects.
Tiling work involves mixing a lot of dusty mortars.
"We always try to do the mixing in a vacuum. Quartz dust is a big problem for tilers, but it can be treated quite well."
This year's order book for tile and stone construction company Suorsa looks full even at the beginning of the year, despite the difficult economic climate in the construction industry. It shows that a company that operates safely is also productive and successful.
The builder is involved in safety work
At the beginning of the Elielinaukio construction site chain is the real estate investment company Exilion, which acted as the developer.
“From our perspective, this was a significant renovation of the hotel section and a comprehensive renovation of the building’s building services. The renovation site was ongoing for 12 months,” says Exilion’s property director. Jussi Ojamo.
"Responsibility and risk management are key principles in our operations. Both on-site occupational safety and healthy and safe finished facilities are primary factors in our operations, and at the same time part of our responsibility program," says Ojamo.
"Safety must always come before other criteria. Only then do schedules, quality, costs and other factors come into play," he emphasizes.
"The safety aspect is already taken into account at the tender and contract stage. Contractors must present to us safety management practices and metrics and the organization of safety matters in general," he assures.
Exilion had a construction consultant on site who also served as a safety coordinator. However, this did not reduce the client's own responsibility or interest.
"As the client, we participated in all site meetings. The project steering group reviewed the progress of the project with the main contractor and other relevant stakeholders. Occupational safety was always on the agenda at site meetings and steering group meetings," says Jussi Ojamo about the winning site's safety practices.
The winning construction site of the major series progressed at a pace
The third win from Eliel's construction site went to NCC, which acted as the main contractor for the site.
The commercial building renovation site used synchronous production. In this method, construction work is structured into work packages of approximately the same duration, for which a precise schedule and production targets are defined. It is well suited to a site with similar recurring items. Its impact on the good safety results of the site can also be considered.
“Time-based production is well suited to a hotel project like this. Our goal was to complete three hotel rooms per working day. At that time, things were always the size of three hotel rooms, not the size of an entire floor. That way, things are easier to track, work can be carried out smoothly, and supervision can be carried out in smaller areas,” says NCC’s Mika Mensalo, who served as the foreman of Eliel's repair site.
"Everything starts with advance planning. Occupational safety is discussed during the tender negotiation phase. Then, when the shops are opened, safety planning really gets started," Mensalo says.
"Safety plans are made together with the contractors, with the participation of their top managers. We go through how the work is done, how the goods are transported to their locations and how the locations are kept in order. And what risks are involved in all of this, how they are eliminated or prepared for," says Mikan Mensalo of the winning construction site.
Winner of the SME Construction Site Series emphasizes caring
The small company construction site category was won by NHK Rakennus. The competition site was the renovation of the Hösmarinpuisto school, after which the entire building will serve only kindergarten children. NHK Rakennus is still acting as the main contractor for the ongoing construction site. The kindergarten will operate normally in part of the building throughout the renovation.
“Agreements, meetings and responsibilities are things that guide safety, but ultimately good occupational safety comes from communication,” says the CEO of NHK Construction. Kalle Nurmi.
“When there is a good atmosphere on the construction site and people care about their colleagues’ work, safety remains at a good level and the results of the work are better.”
According to Nurmi, safety must be integrated into all company operations.
"Working must be such that everyone acts in a professional manner. Even at the employee level, we think that we want to work for these people, that we have a common project here that everyone wants to finish safely and with honor, with high quality," Nurmi says.
Recently, the company has focused on developing risk assessment and proactive actions. The risk assessment carried out at the beginning of a project has been taken more seriously, with the aim of finding risks that have not been noticed before.
NHK Rakennus has previous wins in occupational safety competitions from 2016 and 2021.
"Again, a big thank you goes to the construction site personnel. The victory shows that we have succeeded in achieving the occupational safety goals we have set for our operations," says Kalle Nurmi.
The CEO promises lunch to the winning construction site staff. That's also caring.
The best SME wants dust-free construction sites
The trophy for the safest SME was won by EKE-Rakennus.
“We are known for not only building houses, but also developing entire regional development projects,” says EKE-Rakennus’ Construction Director. Hannu Niemi.
Winning the occupational safety competition in his own category was a pleasant surprise for Nieme.
"First of all, everyone should have the right to a safe workplace. And when you invest in safety, it also has a positive impact on the quality of construction," he says.
According to Niemi, the basic building blocks must be in good condition at all times so that a good safety culture can be built on them. High-quality site orientation, adherence to common rules, or supervision and monitoring are not enough.
"How to get common rules of the game across to subcontractors so that they are visible every day on the construction site, that's the real challenge," says Niemi.
Currently, EKE's construction sites are focusing on dust control and cleanliness. All construction sites have their own supervisors to drive things forward.
"Ultimately, the individual employee is our most important factor in occupational safety. A motivated person with a sense of professional pride also wants to work safely," Niemi believes.
Safety needs to be improved every day, and to help with that, Niemi needs more safety observations from employees.
NCC grabs investments
"Achieving a good level in the TR measurement depends on the management of the construction site. The conditions for safe work must be in place every day at all times. And then when the TR measurement comes, we also get good measurement results," says NCC's safety manager. Arto Huhtanen.
What sounds simple is at the heart of the matter when chasing the top result in occupational safety. And that's what NCC achieved when it won the construction site category and the large company category in the competition. In the construction site category, it took the top four places in Norwegian style.
So how do you keep things in order every day in the ever-changing construction site conditions?
"Participatory management is about identifying different responsibilities and tasks. What belongs to the main contractor, what belongs to the subcontractor, that this job is taken care of by the foreman, and this by the employee. It is really important to get everyone involved in building a common safe construction site," Huhtanen answers.
Over the years, NCC has developed many good practices to ensure everyone is included.
"For example, the Daily Safety Briefing is a daily, free-form procedure that only takes a few minutes, which subcontractors produce themselves by actively and independently participating in the maintenance of the construction site. It involves the work team reviewing the nature of the work task before starting, whether the agreed matters and the site are in order, identifying danger areas, whether the work can continue or whether any measures are needed," he lists.
The procedure has been in use at NCC for a long time, but in recent years it has been updated and highlighted. There is no need to reinvent what works.
Proactivity is Huhtanen's favorite word when developing safety. A proactive, self-directed and initiative-based approach instead of reacting to incidents only afterwards.
"The TR meter is good and defends its place as a condition meter, but it is still a reactive meter. All the measures have already been taken and then the measurement tells you what the condition level is."
Arto Huhtanen wants to emphasize the importance of professional cooperation in advancing safety.
"It starts with suppliers, partners, even visitors to the construction site, so that everyone knows their own responsibility. It requires us to go through things with subcontractors, but it also requires the subcontractor to raise their own level of occupational safety. So that the main contractor doesn't have to tell and monitor everything, but each actor knows their own responsibilities and the means to carry them out. And then acts accordingly, of their own free will."
Text: Tommi Ahlberg