Stories can be used to describe goals and build a safe operating culture. Aleksi Laine's blog post, director of YIT's Infra segment, is the fourth in a series where company management representatives reflect on what makes a safe and prosperous construction industry.
A rainy morning and an autumn dark construction site ditch. Event and consequence. Many people working in the construction industry, including me, have experience with high operational risks and events that one would never hope would happen.
We work in a very interesting, versatile and socially significant field, which we can truly be proud of from many perspectives. However, we have to constantly remind ourselves and each other that the industry is prone to accidents, dangerous and sometimes fatal.
As an industry, we have done a lot of work to reduce operational risks and develop the operating environment and operating methods, but are we still aware of what will be required at all levels of operations in the future in order to manage risks? We often look for good examples from other industries, and we have found a large number of targets to develop in operating methods and practices.
Change has progressed and is progressing, but slowly. When we look back, we recognize that many things have changed for the better, but how do we want to see the safe working environment of the future? We can define guidelines and regulations, increase requirements - and this should be done - but when it comes to safety, a deep and lasting change can only be achieved by changing the culture. There is a saying that culture is how we act when no one is watching. In this case, the unit must be aware of how to act, what is required of each and what is the norm of the operation - be aware of the risks of the operation.
Many methods are used to increase awareness, one of the most common of which is probably the storytelling of things or phenomena. When we want to ensure people's interest, describe the cause-and-effect relationship of events and leave a memory, we describe what has happened, for what reason and with what consequences. Stories can be used to describe goals, build a culture, teach and guide operating methods or, for example, lead change. I started this writing with only part of the story fifteen years ago and I would guess that at least some of the readers can, based on what they have already experienced or heard, form an understanding of what could have happened on that autumn morning.
Of course, the power of a story alone is not enough to change the way an individual, project organization or industry operates. We know from experience that even the implementation of a single change in an organization requires increasing awareness of the need for change, participation, increasing understanding of how change can be influenced, and the development of ability and competence. In the end, a commitment to change is required from all parties to ensure permanent change.
Increasing understanding is ultimately about how we can spread awareness of operational risks to every operator. I've been thinking about the change in behavior in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, a major change in recent years. It is amazing that awareness of the contagious virus caused the entire global world to change its ways almost overnight; two-meter distances, hand hygiene and the use of face masks becoming a part of people's everyday life is an extreme demonstration of how increasing awareness and identifying risks can concretely change people's behavior in an instant.
It is, of course, utopian to assume a similar change to the occupational safety culture of construction - and we do not hope that we need a shake-up on the same scale. However, the change requires that every player in the industry takes it upon themselves to share good practices across organizational and company boundaries and maintain a constant discussion in all situations about the risks of our operations and how to minimize them. When we speak with one voice, we achieve a permanent change in the occupational safety culture.
With the broad participation of operators, we can increase the understanding of risks by all operators, and through this we can build a culture. Involvement is also a way to understand how each actor can make an impact in their own task and what needs to be changed in their own work in order to achieve the goals of a safe working environment for everyone. I strongly believe that a closer integration of the parties, from the end user to the subcontractor, and from the designer to the material supplier, helps the industry and all actors in understanding the risks of operations, developing skills and promoting change.
In my opinion, continuous development and permanent change have at least one common factor that must be in order – commitment. The event with which I started writing has remained in my mind forever. This summer, I am in a situation where my own offspring will start their first summer internships in the industry, and although I am proud of the industry, I am also aware of the risks associated with the everyday work in the industry. Ultimately, commitment to occupational safety is everyone's personal responsibility, and I hope that you, like me, will play your part in changing our industry every day in a direction where we are a better and safer operating environment for everyone who works below, and more broadly for everyone who is affected by what we do.
RT's safety group ended up challenging people working in management positions in the construction industry to share their own vision and experience about why safety must be managed, by what means, and what good it brings. Through the challenge, we want to send a message to the entire construction industry that good management plays a decisive role in promoting occupational safety and well-being.
Aleksi Laine, the head of YIT's Infra segment, took up the challenge in fourth place, who will challenge next, according to Lujatalo.
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