A full year with no injuries for Posiva – and luck had nothing to do with it

A year completely without injuries at Posiva is a really big thing. And something that nobody could ever achieve alone. This is quite literally an accomplishment of the whole team.

On course, there are lottery wins that are all about incredibly good luck – that is, somebody just happens to pick the right numbers against all odds. However, the news from Posiva today is not in this category. It was based on a much more “mundane” reason than luck: methodical and hard work.

ABC of well-earned victory

The kay factor contributing to this accomplishment is the ongoing transformation of the corporate culture at Posiva, started last year. Our objective is to be an even more professional and productive company of high standards. This journey to change our corporate culture includes several focal areas, but safety and safety management have been one of the most important of these. The ongoing transformation has seen us investing a lot of efforts in not only preventative work, but also in communication. To give an example, we have introduced various safety messages which are reviewed or discussed in information events held every three weeks for the entire personnel. Another example is the one-page rapid report sent to the whole staff within 24 hours of all injuries, including situational information, photos, and root causes. Or rather, one is now available to be used, but there has not been any need for one yet.

Work has indeed been carried out on several fronts. We organised a safety seminar, increased the showcasing of safety culture on all levels of the organisation, and have included points of view related to safety strongly in our everyday dialogue, for example. In conclusion: everybody at Posiva has not only had an opportunity but also the duty to make an impact on our shared safety.

Maybe the most concrete example of this are the development discussions that apply to the entire personnel of Posiva. In these discussions, every member of staff was asked how safety could be further improved, not only for the individual but also in one’s own team and the whole company. This generated excellent ideas which we have introduced into practice over the year.

Hard figures

I wish to further emphasise that a whole year without any injuries is not a given in a company like Posiva, an organisation which is implementing an industrial large-scale project worth literally about a billion euros. On the contrary. The finishing stage of our final disposal facilities involves a large amount of both installation and testing activities – phases that are particularly critical in terms of industrial safety. For this reason, this year has most of all proven that safety can be assured also in challenging conditions when efforts are invested in it comprehensively and determinedly.

For everybody working in our business locations, this has meant 2,000 assessments of work-related risks and more than 1,500 recorded safety observations in a year, for example. All of these have played a key role in preventative actions which – I dare say – produce the best possible enabler of safety. Safety comes from making sure.
And I am not talking only about Posiva’s employees. The fact is that our period without injuries would have been reset had there been any injuries, whether they happened to one of our own employees, a subcontractor, or a visiting expert – no matter how small the injury.
In other words, slipping and falling in the car park, for example. And the conditions in the Finnish autumn and winter are rather too favourable for that. And these slip and falls are the number one cause of injuries in terms of numbers, also for us in Olkiluoto. Not a single of these occurred, however, at Posiva. Not by chance; we prepared for the winter in our communication and by reviewing the plans for the maintenance of the outdoor areas before the onset of winter. A good tip: non-slip shoes. In our conditions, definitely an investment and not a cost item.

This is a good point to continue from in autumn

I wish to thank the entire personnel of Posiva and all our partners – we accomplished this together. At the same time, I must point out that we are never ready in terms of safety. It is not a goal, but a journey that starts again every morning. We cannot rely on yesterday’s success but need to earn a smooth and safe day-to-day operation every day – through our choices and our attentiveness, and by not compromising our principles. We want to keep our whole staff healthy throughout the working day, and every single day.
I firmly believe that every injury can be prevented. This requires continuous improvement and, most of all. the will to achieve it. We have proven that we have the will at Posiva – and now it is demonstrated also by the results.
With these thoughts I wish everybody a very energetic and safe summer. The majority of use are enjoying the annual holidays, so I wish you a nice time off and summer. Let us make the rest of the year as good as the past 12 months, to maintain the excellent result.

Text is written by Ilkka Poikolainen President and CEO of Posiva

Photo: Tapani Karjanlahti