Developing a safety culture is also a common goal that unites different industries. Collaboration with other companies offers new perspectives and inspiration for improving operations. The teams from Metsä Fibre and Outokumpu met in the autumn of 2024 to share experiences and learn from each other about safety communication.
"Continuous improvement is one of the key principles at Metsä Fibre. In this work, benchmarking and sharing experiences – learning from others and sharing our own insights both within our organization and with different actors – are important tools," says Tiina Tassi, VP, Communications and Marketing at Metsä Fibre.
"Benchmarking helps us identify best practices and apply them to our own operations. The goal of the collaboration with Outokumpu was to find new ideas and practices for even more effective and impactful safety communication."
Outokumpu's safety organisation communicates actively
At Outokumpu's Tornio steel plant, the safety annual clock structures communication, organising themes and goals throughout the year. This helps keep the safety discussion actively present at all levels of the organization.
The safety organisation plays an active role in planning and implementing communication. The company has established regular practices for reviewing safety issues with the entire organization. Additionally, a visual summary of 20 years of safety work concretizes the key measures and achieved results at a glance. These practices also provided inspiration for Metsä's safety communication development.
The commitment of Metsä Fibre's personnel to safety is reflected in their everyday actions
In return, the Outokumpu team had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the safety communication at our Kemi bioproduct mill. Our various safety videos were particularly praised for their quality and engaging content. The videos successfully communicate the importance of safety in a concrete and memorable way. Our modern communication channels, such as info screens and QR codes readable on mobile devices, also piqued the interest of the Outokumpu team. These tools offer a quick and visual way to share important safety information with the entire employees.
Discussions with control room employees at the Kemi bioproduct mill received praise from the Outokumpu team. According to the Outokumpu team, the genuine desire of employees to participate in safety development was evident in the discussions. Safety communication is not just about rules and instructions; it is continuous and open dialogue that occurs at all levels of the organisation. This approach lays the foundation for a sustainable safety culture.
Developing a Safety Culture Together
During the visits, we learned good practices from both sides. Developing a safety culture is continuous work, in which learning and collaboration are at the core. The safety communication benchmarking between Outokumpu and Metsä Fibre reminded us that close cooperation between safety and communication is key to better results. Collaboration can produce concrete results that are visible in daily operations and in the long-term development of a safety culture.
"Deficient safety communication is instantly recognizable, you can't get enough of relevant and timely safety communication. Close cooperation between safety and communication is key to increasing safety awareness and improving safety operations," concludes Sami Pikkarainen, VP, Safety at Metsä Group.