Safety gone mobile

3 minutes

For Fingrid Oyj safety is a top priority. Fingrid Oyj is Finland’s transmission system operator. Responsible for maintaining and developing the Finnish power system, contractors are an integral part of operations, and ensuring that they adhere to health and safety practices is a key part of the company’s EHSQ management. Karri Koskinen, a safety expert, is aiming to realize a goal of zero accidents. As he explains: “We have responsibilities as a client to our contractors, so we have to ensure that these contractors are meeting our requirements for occupational safety. It’s very important for us to prevent accidents.”

About Fingrid Oyj

Fingrid Oyj is the enterprise which takes care of the functioning of Finland’s nationwide high-voltage grid, which is the backbone of electricity transmission across the country. They transmit electricity continuously from electricity-generating companies to distribution network operators and industrial companies, and also maintain cross-border connections and promote the electricity market. Fingrid secures reliable electricity for their customers and shape a clean, market-oriented power system.

Going mobile was a priority

With so many sites of activity and on-site workers, Fingrid began to consider the way in which it monitored and reported its safety performance, knowing improvements could be made to its previous system of relying on manual paperwork—an approach that was far from ideal. For Fingrid Oyj, partnering with Quentic in 2014 represented long-awaited progress towards a mobile EHSQ platform. Having made the decision to source a service that could offer both a mobile application and a comprehensive reporting system for all aspects of health and safety, the Quentic App soon emerged as the ideal solution to fulfil Fingrid’s needs. Besides the app’s capability for different use cases, its usability also played a big role, as Karri Koskinen notes: “The possibility to go mobile was a priority for us, and it was easy to use. It looked very simple, and also fun.”

An essential daily tool

Today, the Quentic App is used for every project at Fingrid, with more than 500 users. The company’s decision to go mobile was well-received, and the on-the-go nature of the app has proved to be invaluable at remote locations. 

“Our construction sites, such as our transmission line sites, can be in the middle of the forest, which makes it very difficult when reports are written on paper. You have to transport them to the office, scan them and then send them by email. But with the Quentic App, we just do the report on-site and immediately send it through the system. ”One of the main applications of the Quentic App for Fingrid is recording and checking site diaries. Previously compiled on paper, the new digital approach has revolutionized this essential daily task for the company.

Real-time monitoring

Karri Koskinen is pleased that Quentic has given Fingrid more control over all aspects of its safety efforts, not just site diaries, but also in monitoring accident and near miss statistics and undertaking site inspections: “The biggest benefit is being able to check what is happening on-site online and in real time. We can check their statistics from the system to know how many accidents or near misses have happened. Our service provider will send us an accident or near miss notification on the Quentic App, and then we can classify how severe it was and the potential risks in that particular incident. After we have done the classification we can do the investigation in the system. It is easier to work this way now.”

Impressive results from an engaged workforce

In fact, the ease of use and improved convenience provided by the Quentic App has been noted company wide, and has been credited with producing a dramatic increase in the frequency of reports made. Karri Koskinen says: “Near miss reports have dramatically increased; in 2016 there was around three times more near miss and hazard observation reports compared to 2015.”In fact, the ease of use and improved convenience provided by the Quentic App has been noted company wide, and has been credited with producing a dramatic increase in the frequency of reports made. Karri Koskinen says: “Near miss reports have dramatically increased; in 2016 there was around three times more near miss and hazard observation reports compared to 2015.”