Sarlin receives top scores in HSEQ audit – focus on safety, quality and well-being at work

1. Health and Safety
2. Environment
3. Quality

The audit also assesses how the areas connect to the company’s management practices.

We received a high score for our HSEQ efforts:

• We earned the rating of Excellent with our total score of 565 points.
• The minimum score for Excellent is 450, and the maximum total score is 750 points.
• At the time of the audit (1 July 2022), the average score of all audited companies was 381.

Our excellent results in this external assessment show that we have done many things correctly. We could not have reached such a high score in our first HSEQ audit without persistent, long-term effort.

“Receiving an excellent grade from an independent third party is important recognition for us for all the work we’ve done. We’ve long invested in HSEQ, and it’s great to see both our successes and development needs in black and white,” says Eija Halonen, Quality Manager at Sarlin.

Sustainability is increasingly important for our customers as well as our partners. Few operators are willing to choose a partner who lacks proof of following sustainable practices and practising continuous improvement. We follow the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards, and this HSEQ audit is important for the maintenance and development of our quality management system.

In addition to the excellent score, we could also pinpoint concrete targets for development in which we should invest.

We will not be resting on our laurels despite our excellent score. We will maintain our good performance in daily work with the commitment of our full team.

→ We live up to our promises through our daily work.

Aiming for zero accidents

Because occupational safety has long been at the core of our sustainability policy, the recognition we received from a customer was especially satisfying.

“We aim for zero accidents. We encourage everyone to report risk and safety observations so we can develop our operations. For example, it’s sensible to observe any safety risks before starting every new task,” says Halonen.

Occupational safety takes cooperation above all, both between Sarlin employees and in customer facilities where our maintenance services are mostly performed.

“Safety is based on day-to-day choices that build up a safe workplace culture. Management are not the only ones responsible for safety: everyone has a role to play in making our work community safer,” says Halonen.

We develop our occupational safety with an emphasis on open communication, including personnel briefings and reports with concrete figures.

“We have a counter available to all personnel that shows how many days have passed without accidents resulting in absences. In September 2022, we had already passed 530 days!”

We should not be lulled into thinking that safety is guaranteed – it should never be neglected. We work continuously to improve our safety culture, tools and ways of working.

Well-being at work supports everyone’s careers

The HSEQ audit also analysed our occupational healthcare and well-being at work. Giving our employees a good workplace experience heavily influences our customer satisfaction as well.

“We aim to be the best workplace in our industry, which is a high bar for sure, but we’re determined to work towards that goal. For example, we have completely renewed our efforts in HR with new recruitment,” says Halonen.

In accordance with our strategy, we continuously develop our company culture to support a good workplace for all.

The role of leaders and organisers is to support all positions and duties to allow our employees to grow as professionals as well as people. We have made several recent changes to promote the welfare of our work community and the career paths of every employee in a trusting atmosphere.

The HSEQ audit also analysed our ethical principles and environmental liability. Commitment to the values of the European Union is an important theme that we have taken a step further in our purchasing policy.

We require the ethical principles of all of our product suppliers and service providers to match ours and for them to commit to our Supplier Code of Conduct.

“The current global situation highlights the importance of sustainable suppliers and functional supply chains. We wish to participate in creating a business environment where ethical conduct and transparency are integral to high-quality service.”

Led by our new head of purchasing, we aim to further develop our purchasing policy. Our goal is to ensure that our values permeate the whole supply chain so we can guarantee operational continuity and sustainability. 

Measuring and verifying matters related to environmental liability is a substantial undertaking which we will address in the future as well. At heart, our services are eco-efficient: we are Finland’s largest community of experts in energy-efficient compressed air and one of the country’s first suppliers in the biogas industry, and we always keep an eye on the energy efficiency of all our technologies. In future, we will develop how we measure and communicate the impacts of our environmental handprint.

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