Risk management in a multidisciplinary service company

Palmia Oy was originally founded in 2003 as a City of Helsinki public utility company. They started their shareholder-based business in 2015. The City of Helsinki -owned Palmia produces cleaning, real estate, restaurant and security services for communities, businesses and public operators.

In addition to Helsinki, Palmia also operates in the areas of Espoo, Riihimäki, Hämeenlinna, Turku, Pori and Lahti. Palmia has over 1,000 locations and the number of employees has increased to over 1,700 in recent years. The service company's turnover is approximately EUR 90 million.

As a multidisciplinary company, Palmia is involved in people’s lives in many ways, from the workplace and leisure time to even the cityscape. The customer and service are at the heart of Palmia’s business practices. The goal is to enable customers to concentrate on their own activities and to create prospects that support prosperity and employment.

It is especially important for this forward-looking and growing organization that modern and efficient risk management is indispensably involved in both decision-making and the development of operations.

In many organizations, risk management begins with traditional spreadsheet methods. However, in larger companies like Palmia, such tools are inadequate because of the scale of operations. Systematic development of successful business practices cannot be achieved through rotating papers and following inconsistent operational models.

Palmia began using Granite’s risk management services even before commencing limited liability company operations. The company’s risk management needs require that the chosen system tends to Palmia as a whole, all functions and operating areas included. The modern IT risk management system allows for the introduction of all operations into the same system.

Ease of use was also an absolute key issue when assessing risk management services. According to users, execution of risk management is directly correlated to the smoothness of the service. It is impossible to utilize the results produced by a risk management service if its usability does not facilitate its extensive and easy deployment.

For these needs, Granite’s risk management system has proven to be an excellent choice.

Originally, Palmia acquired Granite’s risk management system to support their business development. The service provided a view of the entire organization’s risk situation, which enabled for the allocation of resources toward the most important objectives. Palmia’s organizational change in 2015 resulted in a need for operational development in other business areas as well. In addition to comprehensive risk management, Granite's range of services included solutions developed for evaluating safety, risk, and hazards at the workplace.

Systematic risk management gives strategic direction to Palmia’s business. Assessing a situation with the appropriate service offers a clear view of the direction in which the company is going, what should be considered when developing services, and how to prepare for the risks that arise. Palmia's management has adopted Granite's use as part of its operations, which has provided a more systematic approach to problem situations.

Evaluation of work risks has helped prevent accidents at work. Palmia's operations extend to many different areas, and in many locations, co-operation is also carried out with a large subcontractor network. Granite's work risk assessment service has helped to create an up-to-date picture of the risk situation of different sites.

As an employer, Palmia is responsible for demonstrating each work site’s safety situation, which is made possible with Granite's security-related document management features. Workplace reports and safety round documentation for each location can be easily accessed by over 200 managers. In addition, centralized safety documentation management facilitates audits by public authorities.

At Palmia, all employees play a part in developing their operations. The realization of the opportunities offered by Granite's services has been facilitated by a training module introduced by Palmia, which has helped minimize user error. When workers practice using Granite’s services in the training environment, they benefit most out of the service’s ease of use, while the need for separate training is reduced to zero.

Palmia's organization has been built in such a way that each manager is responsible for risk and occupational safety at their own premises. Job hazard and risk assessments are supervised by personnel responsible for occupational safety and health. At Palmia, work hazards and risks are assessed at least once a year, and the work risk situation will be analyzed completely anew every three years. With the help of Granite’s services, it is easy to track the development of situations and actions on a daily basis.

All Palmia employees and officials are equipped to help develop work safety. Safety observations and occurrences can easily be reported without signing into Granite. All reports are delivered straight to the manager, whose daily task is to monitor the situation and provide instructions for how to proceed.

Another benefit of Granite’s services is that the system allows for the utilization of one’s own risk assessment scale.

Development of operations is always accompanied by its own challenges, but the right equipment helps in overcoming them. Granite’s services are great and easy to use. They have simplified the development of operations and the achievement of goals significantly.

At Palmia, the development of a risk situation is monitored systematically. Reporting tools allow for the reporting of results to the company’s management. By examining the clear and understandable reports, one can see the nature of current risks and actions, their progress, and, of course, the results.

Any major risks that arise in reports are easily raised at the management level. Thus, Granite’s services help in providing the business with a more profitable direction. The results of risk management arise from the consistency of operating models and principles, which Granite's services also support. It is easy to identify and locate common factors in operational risk, which allows for the efficient allocation of resources, but also for the measurement, specification, and enforcement of actions.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to create a modern digital risk management solution with an up-to-date view for multiple business areas at once. Granite’s services have greatly advanced Palmia’s work safety development. In addition to environmental assessment, employee stress levels are also displayed.

Granite plays an important role in Palmia’s business, which is committed to responsible business practices, environmental awareness and sustainable development.