The Eastern Finland occupational safety competition for the building construction industry, which has been held for over ten years, will not be held this year. However, it is still too early to say that it has completely passed into history. The entire national occupational safety competition for the construction industry will continue as normal, but its results criteria are different from the increasingly strict competition for organized building construction companies in Eastern Finland.
"Even though there is a gap year in the competition, I hope that occupational safety will not deteriorate in companies, because then many years of very meritorious development work would be wasted. Now we are asking for responsibility for the continuity of occupational safety work from all parties involved, i.e. company management, superiors, employees and safety professionals. We should not forget the occupational safety unit of the new Licensing and Supervision Agency, which hopefully will have enough resources for inspection activities in Eastern Finland. The effects of the new situation on occupational safety will be reflected in accident statistics towards the end of the year, hopefully not in a gloomy way," says the regional manager of the Eastern Finland district of the Finnish Construction Industries Federation. Kimmo Anttonen.
The Eastern Finland occupational safety competition was organised by the Eastern Finland District of the Finnish Building Industry Association, which represents construction companies in South Savo, North Karelia and North Savo, the Finnish Construction Federation, the workers' organisation Rakennusliitto and the Eastern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency AVI with its occupational safety and health authority. With the abolition of the Regional State Administrative Agency, occupational safety and health supervision was centralised nationwide to the new Licensing and Supervision Authority LVV from the beginning of this year.
Chief Inspector of the Licensing and Supervision Agency Janne Hokkanen says that the agency reform will not significantly affect the implementation of occupational safety and health supervision.
"Operating methods are still being standardized nationwide and efforts are being made to make the use of resources more efficient. In principle, they should not change nationwide or perhaps even regionally, but due to the cost-cutting pressures of the central government, the future is uncertain," says Hokkanen.
"The construction industry is in a prominent position in terms of occupational safety compared to many other industries, because in the construction industry, special attention must be paid to occupational safety and its supervision due to the relatively high number of occupational diseases and accidents. The industry's own legislation itself obliges this. Therefore, supervision resources should not be reduced or transferred away from supervision of the construction industry. However, the pressure to save money and the retirement of occupational safety inspectors are of concern," says Hokkanen.
He reminds us that when there are large differences in occupational safety between companies in the construction industry, resources should be directed more specifically to where the problems occur most.
"Large corporations and organized companies have better control over occupational safety issues than others on average. The same applies to professional developers, who also require occupational safety to be taken care of in their contract agreements. However, the group of developers and builders is so diverse that not everyone has the same level of occupational safety. More attention needs to be paid to this in supervision, because the differentiation seems to have only increased," emphasizes Hokkanen.
According to him, maintaining good occupational safety in Eastern Finland after the competition is over is in the interest of the construction industry, so that its reputation and attractiveness are not weakened by accidents. When the construction industry's economic cycle turns up, reputation is important when recruiting new employees. Also, as the number of working hours and factors increases, it would be important that accidents do not increase. This is influenced by maintaining a good occupational safety culture and attitude.
Chairman of the board of directors of Kuopio-based renovation company Kumoni Oy and the Building Construction Industry Eastern Finland District Pasi Pitkänen reminds us that companies must invest as much, if not more, in occupational safety as they do during competition.
"There is no room for compromise on safety, no matter which way occupational safety supervision develops. The level of occupational safety in organized construction companies has developed to an excellent level, especially among the leading companies, but also for others, thanks to competition, and the achieved level must not fade. There is also a fear that occupational safety differences will start to increase. There will continue to be safety deficiencies and shortcomings on construction sites. We must invest in finding them and preventing accidents in an encouraging manner. Everything starts with safety management in companies," emphasizes Pitkänen.
Regional Director for Eastern and Central Finland at Lapti Construction Company Ltd. Nora Sokero stresses that the end of the prestigious competition is a regrettable setback. However, safety starts on construction sites every morning and continues the following morning, whether there are competitions or not.
"Everyone's goal is to come home healthy every day. The fact that the competition is on hold does not reduce our work on safety. TR measurements and safety observations will continue as before, and our goal is to maintain the high level of occupational safety achieved during the competition, if not even improve it," says Sokero.
"In the future, TR measurements will also be carried out by parties outside the relevant construction sites. Safety walks by company management at construction sites will continue at least once a quarter. We will continue to reward employees for good occupational safety, including zero accidents and safety observations," concludes Sokero.
"Although the occupational safety competition has ended, I believe that the safety culture that developed during it will remain strong, as long as the matter continues to be given attention and importance. We must not rest on our laurels. Mere fear of the supervisory authority is not the beginning of safety. Safety starts with everyone's attitude," emphasizes Sokero.
Head of Rakennusliitto's northern service area Marko Niskanen is also disappointed that the occupational safety competition has ended. He hopes that this is a gap year, because the competition's almost continuous improvement and even excellent results show its usefulness. The competition was able to be developed and both company management and personnel were very committed to it.
Niskanen also hopes that the good tripartite cooperation between the Eastern Finland District of the Building Construction Industry, the Finnish Construction Federation and the supervisory authorities will be maintained and that the Licensing and Supervision Authority will have sufficient resources to supervise occupational safety. When construction starts to pick up, resources should be increased, as inexperienced workers and new entrepreneurs will enter the sector.
Vital safety practices for construction sites
The Construction Industry RT published Vital Safety Practices during Safety Week on May 4, 2026.
"By implementing vital safety practices, we prevent risks from happening in advance. If risky or even dangerous work is detected on construction sites, it must be stopped immediately. Over the past ten years, 52 people have died on construction sites, or an average of more than fifty per year. That is a terrible number," emphasizes the Regional Manager of the Construction Industry Eastern Finland District Kimmo Anttonen.
He reminds us that the construction industry must be more effective in preventing the dangers and risks that cause fatal and other serious occupational accidents:
- Relegation
- A lifted load falling on a person
- Being run over by large machinery
- Getting caught under or between falling elements/pieces
- Trench collapse on a person
- Uncontrolled release of energy
Critical safety practices define measures that can be incorporated into management systems and safe workflows.
- Prevent people and objects from falling – prevent threats in advance
- Lift in a controlled manner – plan and carry out lifting work safely
- Disconnect from energy – disconnect unnecessary energy sources at the work site from the electrical grid before starting work and after finishing it
- Manage site traffic and machinery
- Identify and demarcate danger areas on the construction site and exit and remove people from the danger zone