A safe working day is about more than preventing accidents – EuroSafety highlighted the human side of working life

What would a workplace look like if the goal went beyond zero accidents to ensuring that every working day runs smoothly? On the first day of EuroSafety in Tampere, speakers explored safety from the perspectives of individuals, workplace communities and a changing world of work. A strong safety culture is about more than physical safety. It is also shaped by how workplaces respond to change, stress, failure and human interaction.

Maijaleena Merivirta, Senior Specialist, and Riikka Ruotsala, Development Manager, both from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, highlighted the need to take a broad view of safety culture. Workplace safety is not simply about preventing accidents, but about supporting both physical and mental wellbeing.

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s Zero Accident Forum aims to reduce accidents while also promoting goals such as zero tolerance for workplace bullying. Merivirta encouraged organisations to look beyond statistics when assessing safety.
– Every working day should feel safe, and everyone should be able to feel good about doing their work. One of the major goals of the Zero Accident Forum is to help create workplaces where every working day runs smoothly. Numbers give us something concrete to measure, but ultimately, people’s own experience of their working day is the best indicator, Merivirta said.

Harri Gustafsberg: Resilience under pressure can be trained

Mental performance and resilience expert Harri Gustafsberg approached safety through the themes of change and coping under pressure. According to Gustafsberg, resistance to change is part of human nature: we tend to conserve energy and can easily perceive sudden changes as threats or challenges.

– When something serious happens, that is when organisations make changes. The rest of the time, we typically hope that nothing will change, Gustafsberg said.
In a changing world of work, being able to prepare for situations before they arise is therefore essential. We can also influence our stress responses and improve our ability to cope under pressure.
– The way we talk to ourselves affects how our stress response is activated. This is something we can practice. We can also practice anticipating different situations at work, and that is one of the mind’s superpowers, Gustafsberg said.
For Gustafsberg, mental strength and resilience are not fixed qualities but skills that can be developed. In occupational safety, this can mean maintaining situational awareness and making sound decisions even in challenging circumstances.

The workplace community also affects burnout

Eira Roos, Chief Physician in Occupational Health Development at Aava Medical Centre, encouraged the audience to look at burnout from a broader perspective than individual recovery alone. Sleep, exercise, nutrition and recovery are all essential to wellbeing, but Roos noted that the role of the workplace community is often overlooked.

– We are social beings, and the way the whole community functions affects us. Values, norms and rules shape our experience at work. People want to experience success, while failure is something we tend to fear, Roos said.
When the fear of failure becomes too strong, people may start holding back and stop voicing their ideas. Over time, this kind of strain can also have physical effects.
– Stress itself is not a bad thing. It becomes harmful if we do not recover from it, Roos reminded the audience.

Preventing burnout therefore means looking beyond the individual to the structures of work and the workplace community. Improving the way everyday work functions can support both employee wellbeing and better results.

A strong safety culture is built before something happens

One idea ran through the presentations on the first day of EuroSafety: anticipation. A strong safety culture is not something that is created only after a hazard or problem has emerged.
It is built into everyday working life: in the way work is organised, in psychological and physical safety, in the ability to discuss difficult issues openly, and in how individuals and communities prepare for change.
At its best, a safe workplace strives for more than zero accidents: the goal is to create as many safe, smooth and positive working days as possible.