Annual report Promoting occupational safety is an essential part of VR's operations
Occupational safety was systematically improved during the year. The focus has been on accident investigation, preventive action and safety communications targeting all employees.
Weekly text messages focusing on safety issues helped to highlight topical safety themes and guidelines. There were monthly bulletins on accidents and near misses and the information was also used as teaching material in regular safety briefings and weekly meetings.
In a new operating model aimed at preventing accidents, VR introduced safety plans for work tasks, which help to ensure that safe working practices are used. They cover the most dangerous work stages and are jointly prepared by all parties involved before the start of the work.
The targets set for the indicators concerning anticipatory safety measures, such as safety observations and safety briefings were met. There was a reduction in the number of serious accidents and the average length of sick leaves caused by accidents. However, there were also setbacks: the accident frequency rate increased from 13.8 to 14.7.
Safety a key objective in the Lielahti-Kokemäki alliance project
In March 2014 the H. Roos Foundation awarded an occupational safety prize to the VR Track official responsible for safety during the Lielahti-Kokemäki alliance project. The award was given for important work to promote occupational safety during the project. VR Track was the principal project contractor. Safety had been defined as one of the key objectives of the project. In 2014, the project had an accident frequency rate of 0 and the overall figure for the project, which started in 2012, was 6.2.
