Central Ostrobothnia Education Group
Safety thinking as part of teaching at KPEDU
When safe working is instilled during the student years, a strong safety culture is established by the time the young person enters the workplace. In the Central Ostrobothnia Education Group, the management, staff and students are strongly committed to safety thinking.
Central Ostrobothnia Education Consortium The main campus is located in Kokkola on Torkinmäki, but the group also has facilities on Terveystie, in Perho, Kaustinen, Kälviä, and Kannus. The total floor area is currently approximately 70,000 km2. There are just over 400 staff members, with a total student enrollment of 3,500–4,000.
Protect has played an important expert role in the education cluster’s efforts to build a safe working and learning environment.
PRO24 in use for a wide range of purposes
-“We make extensive use of PRO24both as a management tool and as a tool to improve the safe performance of work,” says Petri Rintala, Head of Real Estate, whose responsibilities include occupational health and safety issues at the educational group.
The Education Group was the first to use the PRO24 notification tool. Teachers and other staff can use their own IDs to make a notification with a picture, for example, of an accident or an anomaly they have observed. The matter is then handled in a pre-defined way. Later, the system has been extended to include risk assessment and electronic emergency plans for all buildings.
-“The personal PRO24 safety desktop contains the fire and rescue plans for all sites, explosion protection documents for Atex premises, chemical lists, occupational health and safety desktop, work risk assessments, safety notices and designated meeting places for properties,” says Rintala.
safety has also been improved by appointing a dedicated premises and safety officer for each building. Visitors have not been forgotten either – QR codes can be found on the notice boards in the premises, allowing guests to download an emergency plan to their mobile device. When entering the workrooms, outsiders are identified while ensuring they have the appropriate protective equipment. In this way, students learn about practices that are now part of industry safety protocol. In turn, public safety has been enhanced by the installation of surveillance cameras, mainly in public areas.
Safety work is about responsibility
In developing safety, Rintala emphasises the usefulness of new technologies.
-In the recently completed learning environment at Metal, we have–lighting to communicate, for example, in case of an emergency, as alarm sounds cannot always be heard through the noise from the machinery. Thanks to the new solutions, we now have several different channels to communicate. A safety culture requires commitment, long-term development and a variety of ways of putting things into practice.
– In collaboration with Protect, we have achieved a good level of safety, so we can move forward in a balanced way, addressing each area one by one. We have sought solutions to prevent accidents as effectively as possible in a situation where the students involved are still quite inexperienced in their work. In addition, investing in safety in the work and learning environment is a draw, because it conveys a sense of responsibility, Rintala notes.