At the same time, the number of occupational accidents in the country as a whole increased.
The Zero-Accident Forum is a network of Finnish workplaces, and its aim is to reduce occupational accidents and improve work safety. The forum consists of 206 member workplaces, which employ a total of about 250 000 people. The activities of the Forum are coordinated by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Safety.
The Zero-Accident Forum's Effects and Experiences research project investigated the Forums impacts and good practices in member workplaces. Between 2004 and 2007, the workplaces of a trial group made up of the Forum members had reduced occupational accidents by 20% on average. No significant change took place in the control group, however.
On the other hand, whilst the national statistics used for comparison showed an increase of 4.3% in workplace accidents during the observation period of 2005 - 2008, occupational accidents in the member workplaces decreased by 15% at the same time. The investigation considered accidents that had caused a loss of at least one full workday.
The positive development in the member workplaces indicates that it is perfectly possible to prevent occupational accidents. In 2008, the level of zero workplace accidents was reached by 16 member workplaces. However, this does not mean that all member workplaces of the Zero-Accident Forum would have been of high quality in this respect already when joining: In 2004 the highest number of accidents in the trial group was 215 accidents per million work hours, but in 2007 the amount was no more than half of that.
Genuine commitment by the management is necessary
The research identified the following factors that can be used in improving occupational safety:
- the top management must genuinely commit themselves to and participate in safety issues.
- accidents as well as dangerous and near miss situations must be registered, investigated and the resulting knowledge utilized
- even the smallest accidents must be reported
- communication, flow of information and information systems must be in good condition
- one should always intervene when coming across dangerous or wrong work methods or habits
- safety training must be arranged for the staff
- safety inspections must take place in regular intervals
Workplace's own activeness is always in a key position
Development work for occupational safety must always take place in workplaces, in cooperation between the management and the staff. Support offered by the Zero-Accident Forum network, knowledge about good practices in other member workplaces and the tools and materials created to support development are in active use in the member workplaces. In well-managed workplaces, safety becomes a collective issue for all the staff, and cooperation with other member workplaces also takes place.
The project was funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund and by the Finnish Government's occupational safety fund (Valtion työsuojelurahasto) under the Ministry of Finance.
More information:
Research Engineer Henriikka Virta, +358 46 850 8238,
Team Leader Markku Aaltonen, +358 40 506 7918
Finnish Zero Accident Forum