Are

Introduction

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Falcony was introduced at Are at the beginning of 2022, when the company's previous safety management system was to be replaced with a modern alternative.

All Are employees can use Falcony, which has been received very positively. The new system has been found to be easy to use, flexible and clear, meeting Are's needs at exactly the desired level.

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‍Company

Are is a 109-year-old Finnish family business operating in the building technology industry. It offers services and solutions for the entire life cycle of a property, from building technology contracting to maintenance modernisation and renovation construction. The company works closely together with customers, always looking for the best solutions for their properties, whether it is an office, hotel, hospital or industrial plant. Are's goal is to create energy-efficient spaces with pleasant indoor conditions for their users, implemented cost-effectively.

Are's values ​​have been drawn up together with the staff and operations are constantly being developed. A positive work environment encourages the people of Are to try their best every day, which guarantees their customer a high-quality end result every day of the week.

Are has 2,800 employees in 22 locations in Finland. They also have operations in Sweden, where approx. 700 people work.

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Challenges before Falcony

Are's previous reporting system was not flexible, and it did not work properly on mobile devices, so safety reporting became a chore for end users. Users also couldn't get the necessary reports out of the system, so they had to constantly use Excel in the analysing phase.

The system also began to reach the end of its technical lifecycle, so change was inevitable. Are wanted to find a safe and functional solution that would lower the threshold of reporting and involve the personnel better than before thus increasing the annual number of 15,000 safety observations.

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Implementation

The criteria for the new system were primarily ease of use, clarity and customizability of the contents. The goal was to get all personnel involved in reporting observed safety deviations, near misses and accidents, and to bring possible initiatives and measures to everyone's attention. The main idea was that the easier reporting was made, the more quality data would be obtained to support better conclusions.

"In the procurement process, Falcony stood out from its competitors especially with service coverage and mobile features. The possibility to integrate into the system of the insurance company we use also brought great added value, as claim procedures for accidents could be opened automatically. Since there was also a ready-made Power BI interface available, the choice was ultimately easy," says Are's Safety Manager Mikko Tiainen.

Falcony was implemented at Are in the beginning of 2022 and it has been found to meet the desired criteria excellently for both management and end users. Falcony is available to all Are employees and supervisors use the data produced by the system to support daily management. For senior management, the system offers a more accurate overall picture on how the safety management is performing.

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Results & Benefits

The implementation of Falcony has led to better transparency and, consequently, to constantly more accurate observing and reporting. The reporting delay has been shortened and the management of corrective measures is now more efficient. In turn, the ease of use has brought time savings, whereby personnel have been able to focus more of their resources on the work tasks themselves.

Information about risks can now be collected more comprehensively and made available to everyone through near-miss situations. Consequently, the new system has made it possible to better prevent accidents in addition to the previously closely monitored accident frequency.

"Among other things, Falcony has enabled us to easily monitor the frequency of accidents and the notification delay. The insurance company integration and a more straightforward process has shortened this delay significantly. The registration delay has also halved from what it was previously," Tiainen praises.

Safety-related communication has increased overall among Are employees, as information about deviations and risks can now be shared better throughout the whole organisation. According to Tiainen, there have been many reasons for the successful involvement of the personnel, but the most significant one is the ease of use, from the single sign-on built on Azure to reporting deviations and correcting them: "The easier a platform is to use, the lower the reporting threshold is for the end user."

In the near future, Are plans to expand the use of Falcony to risk assessments and safety walks. They are also looking into using the platform to support the development of responsibility, which is a core part of their operations.

"We value Falcony's honest solution orientation. They don't promise the impossible, but always do what they promise," Tiainen concludes.